Unplanned Urbanisation

Facing the doom

A satellite picture of Bangladesh taken during the night, displaying the major cities through access to electricity and highlighting the high density of unplanned development.

Uncontrolled urbanization of Dhaka, one of the fastest growing megacities in the world, is set to cause a devastating impact on the living conditions of millions of people.
Dhaka is already listed as the world’s least livable city and experts fear, if unchecked, every citizen, rich or poor, young or old, shall be vulnerable to various hazards stemming out of this unhealthy growth. Incidents of violent crimes may rise and people en masse might become ill due to poor sanitation or degrading environmental conditions around them. Physical movement in this overcrowded megacity is already severely impeded, putting a dent to its economic growth.
These concerns with Dhaka are just the beginning of the forecasted problems of the country. With 170 million people crammed into an area of 147,570 square kilometers (less than half the size of Japan) and a booming economy embedded in perennial corruption, Bangladesh’s challenges have no match in the world.
Dr. K.A.S. Murshid, Director General of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) says this haphazard growth is nothing but “suicidal”.  “Politicians, bureaucrats and almost everyone at the top know about the consequences of such unplanned urbanization, but no one acts,” says Murshid.
“Bangladesh is a unique case and there is no role model in the world to gain an insight from, in order to solve our problems. We have to find our own solution,” he adds.
Dr. Murshid suggests that it is still not too late to introduce a strict land-use policy to save our future generations. “The civil society has the biggest role to play in this regard. It requires drastic change in our mindset to face the devastating effects of our unplanned growth.”
According to United Nations population division, 35 million people or about 25 percent of our entire population have now moved into big cities of the country; Dhaka being the leading host, among five others. The number is expected to soar to a staggering 80 million by 2030.
Let us take a glimpse into the infrastructure we have in Dhaka, to deal with the present situation. According to a research done by Mizanur Rahman in 2011, in supervision of the Sweden based Lund University’s Center for East and South-East Asian Studies, within the 360 square kilometers of the Dhaka City Corporation area, 2050 million liters of water is required every day. Dhaka WASA, the sole service provider, is only able to supply 1700 million liters a day, a daily shortfall of 350 million liters.
The dismal scenario is also prevalent in the drainage system of Dhaka, which is covered by only 140 square kilometers against a requirement of 360 square kilometers. With about half a million people migrating to big cities every year, the situation has worsened since the research was completed four years ago. In fact, every sector of civic amenities is as bleak as the other.
Mile after mile in all directions from the capital Dhaka, paddy fields, canals, low lying lands, and flood plains have all been taken over by influential real estate developers. No one has stood up against this. Some of these lands have already been filled up and many are in the process of being sand filled. A few of these projects are even launched with banners representing public organizations like the police and the army.
Dr. Abu Sayeed M Ahmed is the president of the Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB), and a senior lecturer at the Department of Architecture, University of Asia Pacific in Dhaka. He warns of an “infrastructural collapse at a colossal level” if this trend of haphazard urban growth is not checked. “We (policy makers) need to immediately realize that this kind of haphazard growth is suicidal for a land-craved, overpopulated country like ours,” Ahmed says.

Yet another venture of a real estate developer, where the sand filling has been rampant.

In the last twenty years many urban localities have grown without any control whatsoever. “Look at Kazipara, it has grown within the last 15 to 20 years to look exactly like the old part of the city, where roads are extremely narrow, drainage non-existent and living conditions appalling,” he adds.
The architect points out that the most important issue here is how best to manage our scarce deltaic land area. “With the simultaneous growth of the economy and population, demand for land has risen phenomenally, but this development has to be monitored and put through a system.”
“Real estate projects, both private and public, are developing small plots over vast areas. In our context, allocating three or five Kathas of these plots to a single individual does not solve the problem. Here some sort of precondition should be attached to the allotment procedure,” he adds.
Rajuk (the capital’s development authority) is the highest regulatory body of the megacity Dhaka. Over the years, Rajuk’s reputation has been marred by its corrupt practices in all spheres of the city’s development. It carried out multi-million dollar foreign aided projects such as Detailed Area Planning (DAP), Structure Plan, Urban Area Plan with the noble intent to formulate a decent system. But it failed miserably. By the time DAP and other plans were in force, it was too late for implementations. Growth of the capital defied all rules and regulations while Rajuk snoozed on the driving seat. Currently, Rajuk has embarked on yet another multi-million dollar project called City Regional Development Plan, incorporating 1642 square kilometers around the capital. The plan will be in force from 2016 till 2030.
Akter Mahmud, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP), says, “It has never been the shortage of funds, but the mindset of our policy makers that brings us to this stage of no return.”
Report and Photos by Morshed Ali Khan

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Posted by Reportsbd on Nov 18 2015. Filed under Home Slide, National, Special Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry