Dhaka, also called the city of concrete, is one of South Asia’s fastest-growing real estate markets. In 2024, demand jumped by 17% and is expected to keep rising by almost 2% each year from 2025 to 2029.
Migration, a growing middle class, and a 3.8% yearly population increase are driving the city’s rapid expansion. Dhaka now needs around 65,000 new homes each year.
As Dhaka’s skyline grows, its air quality problems worsen. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels go above the WHO safe limits almost every day. This leads to more cases of respiratory illness, lower productivity, and thousands of early deaths each year.
Most efforts so far have focused on controlling emissions. While this is important, it does not fully address urgent problems faced by Dhaka’s people. Therefore, the city needs to act quickly to redesign itself to absorb, block, and diffuse pollution.
Adding well-planned green spaces to existing infrastructure is key. Not only would this improve health by lowering pollution but also increase comfort by cooling the environment.
Turning concrete surfaces into living systems
Adding plants to pillars and walls of Dhaka’s flyovers, expressways, and bridges quickly transforms them into air filters. By trapping dust and cooling surfaces, plants directly improve local air quality. Although vertical gardens alone will not solve every problem, they still offer real benefits that Dhaka should not delay using.
Looking at successful global models, Singapore demonstrates how building-integrated plants can reduce city temperatures. Building on this approach, Dhaka should prioritize high-traffic areas and implement a phased, purposeful plan instead of focusing solely on decorative planting.
Building green corridors along roads
Research shows that dense roadside planting can reduce street-level pollution by up to 20%, depending on the types of plants and their arrangement. Key benefits include improved air quality for pedestrians and residents, particularly in areas with heavy traffic.
Rather than planting trees without a clear plan, Dhaka should develop green corridors: Organised rows of native trees, shrubs, and hedges along major roads to trap dust, reduce pollution, and enhance the pedestrian experience.
Rethinking Spaces Under Flyovers
The areas under Dhaka’s flyovers are often overlooked and used for parking or storage. Leaving them unused misses a big opportunity.
Planting hardy shrubs and shade plants can cool these spaces, reduce dust, and create refuge from the concrete. This approach requires less maintenance than vertical gardens, covers more area, and leads to immediate improvements: Better air quality and more greenery.
Even greening a few of these spaces can help cool and clean some of Dhaka’s busiest areas, reinforcing the city-wide benefits of small interventions.
Rooftops: The untapped frontier
Of all these ideas, rooftops in Dhaka are among the city’s most underutilized resources.
Green roofs, whether planted in soil or lighter systems, can cool indoor spaces by 2°C to 4°C, lower energy use and improve air quality.
If more homes and businesses establish rooftop gardens, Dhaka can rapidly create a vital network of green spaces across the city.
Offering incentives such as tax breaks or reduced utility bills can motivate residents to embrace rooftop gardening.
Reviving water bodies
Because air pollution in Dhaka is closely tied to heat and dust, restoring canals, lakes, and drainage systems offers another strategy: These water bodies can cool the city and allow dust to settle -- just as they once helped prevent floods and balance the local climate.
Losing these water bodies have sharply worsened heat and pollution. Restoring them is a crucial next step to reduce waterlogging, lower city temperatures, support biodiversity, and help Dhaka cope with climate change.
Planting with Purpose
Not all plants provide equal benefits. For example, trees are sometimes planted without strategic planning, especially on environmental days or for beautification, which can waste resources.
Occasionally, high-level officials suggest planting non-local species based on foreign trends. To achieve the best results, selection should be managed by scientific officers, environmentalists, and botanists who ensure appropriate species are chosen for local conditions.
In 2017, the Roads and Highways Department of the Road, Transport and Bridges Ministry planned to plant 5.5 lakh saplings along Dhaka’s Airport Road, while an ad farm imported bonsai trees at Tk 21 lakh each, which were not suitable for Bangladesh or the intended purpose.
Trees with thick canopies and rough leaves trap more pollution, while local species are tougher and need less care.
By using a science-based planting plan, these efforts can result in real improvements to air quality and resilience, not just better appearances.
Small interventions for large impact
This plan will only work if lots of small changes happen quickly and regularly, so they can add up over time.
A vertical garden here, a shaded walkway there, a repaired canal or a rooftop garden -- each adds greenery and directly helps lower pollution, cool the surrounding area, and make neighbourhoods healthier.
Together, these changes create a dense network that improves airflow, reduces urban heat, and enhances residents' daily lives.
These changes are not expensive mega-projects. Many are affordable, make use of existing spaces to deliver health and environmental benefits to residents quickly, supporting the shift toward a greener Dhaka.
Green infrastructure alone cannot replace strict emission controls -- brick kilns, car emissions, and unsustainable construction practices must also be tackled.
Policy and green design must work together: Controlling pollution at the source while also making daily life healthier and more comfortable for residents through green spaces.
A city that needs to breathe
Dhaka’s challenge is not just environmental but also structural, rooted in the way the city was designed for traffic and crowded living, rather than clean air.
Turning infrastructure into green spaces can improve air quality, lower heat, and bring real benefits without waiting for perfect solutions with big budgets.
In short, it means making better use of what we already have to enhance the daily quality of life.
Dhaka’s future depends on the choices we make now. Plant trees to clean the air, support rooftop gardens to reduce heat, push for parks that offer safe places to relax, and start turning concrete into green, breathable spaces for healthier, happier lives.
Shafiq R Bhuiyan is working at BRAC Bank as a Vice President and Head of Internal Communication and CSR.