The poor execution of Dhaka’s urban planning has caused the city’s residents boundless misery.
From waterlogged streets due to the encroachment of designated canals, to worsening traffic jams due to poorly designed flyovers, everyone living in Dhaka is personally and adversely affected by it.
But, every now and then, in the midst of this bleak picture, emerges some new initiative that we can all get behind.
Last week, Dhaka South City Corporation launched a development project to revitalise a number of parks and playgrounds under its jurisdiction, many of which have become havens for drug addicts.
Unfortunately for us, the very public officials whose job it is to serve our needs are often the ones that get in the way, as illegal occupation of parks and disruptive rallies are usually politically backed.
To solve that problem and thus give public spaces back to city dwellers, the DSCC said it will no longer allow political rallies and other public programs to be held in these open spaces. This is especially important and it shows the kind of constructive leadership that Dhaka needs from its elected officials.
The availability of safe, open spaces for recreation is absolutely essential for the optimum health and development of our people, especially for children.
It has countless positive spillover effects not only on physical, psychological, and social development, but also on economic development. And the lack of it does not just prevent positive externalities, but actively creates negative effects like increased delinquency, lower productivity, more pollution, etc.
Other densely populated cities of the world like New York have zoning incentives that encourage private developers to create public spaces, instead of encroaching on them.
With the right vision, we too can create safe, open, public safes that allow the city to breathe.