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Kazi Khaleed Ashraf, the director general of Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes, and Settlements, at a seminar on Thursday emphasised that Dhaka’s development plan should prioritise water flow. 

Highlighting that Bangladesh is home to the world’s largest delta, where lives depend on the river flow, Kazi Khaleed said, ‘If you really want to talk about planning Dhaka, the number one priority should be identifying the water. But that’s not how planning works in Dhaka—water flow ranks the 13th or 14th on the list of priorities.’

He shared these views while delivering the keynote speech titled ‘Architecture is Bigger than Architecture: The Making of Healthy Cities’ at an event held at the ICDDR, B auditorium in the capital’s Mohakhali, marking the international health research organisation’s 64th anniversary. 

He said, ‘Water flow should be a new theoretical orientation in designing plans,’ but noted that Dhaka’s floodplains, agricultural lands, and wetlands have been gradually encroached upon in the name of development, which he described as ‘a wrong way to go’. 

He emphasised that buildings should be designed to allow proper ventilation and act as tools for healing, embodying the concept of ecological architecture by harmonising with nature.

To create a healthier and more liveable city, he proposed 11 actionable ideas, including regional planning, preserving riverbanks, protecting floodplains, planting and conserving trees, improving housing, and fostering collaborative city-making.

In his welcome remarks, Tahmeed Ahmed, executive director of ICDDR, B, highlighted the organisation’s role in the World Health Organisation’s approval of Cecolin, the fourth HPV vaccine for single-dose public use.

He described this milestone as a significant step forward in combating cervical cancer, a disease that claims a woman’s life every two minutes, with 90 per cent of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. 

Edwards Cabrera, first secretary for Development-Health of Global Affairs Canada, also spoke on the occasion.