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Disperse Dhaka, contain Dhaka
It is not a contradiction to say disperse the existing city, while at the same time contain its unbridled enlargement. Dhaka is “growing” in its own happy rhythm, tickled every now and then by some half-baked official initiatives. This “growth” is neither relieving pressures at the centres nor creating a decent urban development. The whole city and its peripheries should be brought under an active and aggressive planning net and coordinated development spurs created. New urban nodes as townships should be created, and certain existing nodes revitalised so that selective commerce, institutions, and government offices may be dispersed across the city in a uniform way.
Once the footprint of the expanded city is identified, the perimeter should be carefully delineated so as not to affect more agricultural areas and wetlands. A rigorous balance should be established between Dhaka's urbanisation needs and ecological obligations.
- Selective decentralisation
- Spread out the pressures from the existing city
- Create a network of nodal and satellite towns
- Restore the older city
- Revitalise it
- Create new urban nodes
- Revamp existing ones
- Delineate the built periphery of the city, and maintain it
- A new network of movements connecting the nodes
Once that is done, it should be maintained with rigorous intensity.
As new nodes are created, existing ones should be revitalised, especially those that are along development corridors but suffering from deterioration. Examples: The once picturesque drive on the Naryanganj road is now littered with obsolescence. Most of Tongi-Joydevpur corridor seems like a dump. Most of Tongi is either ill-developed or underdeveloped, basically no better than an extended bazaar, but the irony is that it can be built as a very planned town with efficient use of its land and property. The Tongi bridge area, instead of being a shoddy ensemble of shacks, latrines, and ditches can be a more economically and culturally vibrant riverfront and an endearing entrance to Dhaka city.
Once unplanned development happens, it is too late to mend things. Critical points and areas, like Tongi Bridge, should be identified and a “critical area plan” taken up on an urgent basis. Similarly, careful interventions can happen in older built-up areas also to heighten appropriate use and make more efficient and enjoyable public spaces.
Dhaka needs to spread out and yet remain connected. A dispersed city will rely on an efficient public transportation system that could be a combination of light rail transit, extensive buses, and river way ferries and taxis.
