ARBITRARY changes in the use of land in Dhaka continue to erode the city鈥檚 planned character and have pushed it to the brink of unmanageability. Once planned as an orderly and liveable city, Dhaka has been steadily stained by unregulated commercial expansion, ill-considered zoning amendment and the persistent capitulation of the authorities to vested interests. The result is visible in every part of the city: worsening congestion, poor civic services, shrinking open spaces and an environment that has become increasingly unfriendly to its residents. Over four decades, Dhaka鈥檚 residential and industrial zones have gradually turned into commercial hubs. Neighbourhoods such as Wari, Dhanmondi, Mohammadpur, Mirpur, Gulshan and Uttara聽 planned as residential enclaves have been transformed into disorderly commercial belts while areas such as Tejgaon, Tongi and Shyampur, once dedicated industrial zones, have undergone similar shifts. Such changes in land-use rules by Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha, often justified as responses to rising demand, have not improved liveability and, instead, enabled real-estate and business interests to override any semblance of coherent planning. Dhaka鈥檚 ranking as the third least liveable city in this year鈥檚 Global Liveability Index underscores the cost of such disorder.
Population density has, meanwhile, reached an alarming 600 people per acre, five times the UN鈥檚 recommended maximum and vastly exceeding even densely-populated cities such as Tokyo and Singapore. The result has been crumbling urban infrastructure. Roads built for light residential traffic now accommodate commercial loads. Water, gas and electricity systems are stretched well beyond capacity. Housing affordability has plummeted. Noise and air pollution are at crisis levels. What should have been a carefully calibrated mixed-use policy has, as urban planners say, instead become a tool for blanket commercialisation. The government鈥檚 repeated amendments to the detailed area plan show a deeper malaise. Barely a year after its last revision, the area plan has again been altered, this time by raising the floor-area ratio in several neighbourhoods. The changes, pushed through allegedly under pressure from real-estate developers, will allow even taller buildings in areas already straining under excessive density. What adds to the problem is the fragmented governance structure, with multiple agencies overseeing different zones, resulting in inconsistent law enforcement. Dhaka has, moreover, lost no fewer than 22,500 acres of wetland, including water bodies, flood-flow zones, low-lying areas and canals in and around the capital since 2010 because of regulatory laxity and unplanned urban development.
Unless sustainable planning strategies and approaches prioritising liveability and environmental preservation are ensured, the city risks descending into further chaos. The authorities should, therefore, conduct a comprehensive study on the social and environmental impacts of land-use conversion before allowing further changes. They should also restore residential zoning in over-commercialised neighbourhoods, impose stricter construction caps and ensure an equitable distribution of services.