As a city, Dhaka has a fundamental flaw with the way it has been planned. The capital city’s urbanization schemes have left little to no scope for quality of life, and this way of thinking is ostensibly being perpetuated despite the country’s change in governance.
During an online event organized by the Institute for Planning and Development, urban planners pointed fingers at real estate developers, building designers, and other related professionals for allegedly prioritizing their own interests over the public good in the process of amending Dhaka’s Building Construction Rules and Detailed Area Plan (DAP). The panelists pointed out that amendments to the Building Construction Rules and the proposed changes in the Floor Area Ratio in the DAP do not reflect the opinions of planners, suggesting that the changes would act as an obstacle towards making Dhaka a more livable city.
Our capital city is already home to a host of issues which inhibit its livability, from deteriorating air quality to noise pollution and everything in between, but for the city’s continued development to be compromised due to the vested interests is nothing short of unacceptable. What is the point of administrative bodies such as Rajuk and indeed the Ministry of Housing and Public Works if they are so easily swayed into carrying out the bidding of unscrupulous land developers?
Last year we witnessed just how deadly the price of infrastructural negligence can be when a fire in the capital’s Bailey Road area claimed multiple lives as a result of the Rajuk’s alleged culture for seeking bribes during inspections for building code violations. It is clear that, despite the change in government, much of our institutions remain mired in the corrupt practices of old.
Bangladesh deserves a better capital city, but it cannot achieve that if those who we have entrusted that duty to keep looking the other way when it comes to impropriety.
During an online event organized by the Institute for Planning and Development, urban planners pointed fingers at real estate developers, building designers, and other related professionals for allegedly prioritizing their own interests over the public good in the process of amending Dhaka’s Building Construction Rules and Detailed Area Plan (DAP). The panelists pointed out that amendments to the Building Construction Rules and the proposed changes in the Floor Area Ratio in the DAP do not reflect the opinions of planners, suggesting that the changes would act as an obstacle towards making Dhaka a more livable city.
Our capital city is already home to a host of issues which inhibit its livability, from deteriorating air quality to noise pollution and everything in between, but for the city’s continued development to be compromised due to the vested interests is nothing short of unacceptable. What is the point of administrative bodies such as Rajuk and indeed the Ministry of Housing and Public Works if they are so easily swayed into carrying out the bidding of unscrupulous land developers?
Last year we witnessed just how deadly the price of infrastructural negligence can be when a fire in the capital’s Bailey Road area claimed multiple lives as a result of the Rajuk’s alleged culture for seeking bribes during inspections for building code violations. It is clear that, despite the change in government, much of our institutions remain mired in the corrupt practices of old.
Bangladesh deserves a better capital city, but it cannot achieve that if those who we have entrusted that duty to keep looking the other way when it comes to impropriety.