Dhaka has long suffered from a lack of planning.
This is reflected in the continuous increase in the number of unplanned buildings in the city and the dreadful state of traffic congestion.
These problems stifle our capital’s true economic potential.
Lack of a proper infrastructural framework has continued to stunt Dhaka’s potential as an economic powerhouse and, as such, policy-makers and stake-holders would do well to invest time and money into researching and developing a proper plan to let the city grow in a more organised manner.
Too much of the development that takes place in Dhaka happens without purpose or long-term thinking.
This needs to change.
Dhaka is a great connector for the rest of the country, but the government needs to look at the country as a whole.
The city is of little use if it remains overburdened by the influx of a majority of the country’s industrial headquarters and its people.
Instead of nurturing an increased dependence on Dhaka, authorities should strive to push away from the “Dhaka is Bangladesh” mentality that has plagued our national policies for so long.
It is important that the administration understand the economic make-up of the city so that we can work towards decentralising the flow, both of people and capital, that has been funnelled into Dhaka for so long.
For the nation to achieve middle-income status, focus should be broadened from Dhaka to include the rest of the country, and to let our capital city be a connector rather than the sole figure that carries the country’s economy on its back.
It is the only way to give the economy and its people the much-needed breathing room it so desperately needs, and to move forward towards a stable and more fluid economy.
