Dhaka continues to be unliveable despite progress

Despite massive infrastructure development, development projects will not make Dhaka a better place to live because the city is massively overpopulated. A seminar organised by Nagar Unnayan Sangbadik Forum (NUSF) on May 25 brought together urban planners and experts to discuss what needs to be done. We learn that unless city planners start making plans to decentralise the capital city, its standard of living will continue to deteriorate. Today, all the development projects being undertaken by different agencies are being done so without coordination. We have witnessed the disappearance of a third of the 9,556 acres of flood flow zones, water retention areas and wetlands and mass migration of people who flock to the city in search of economic opportunities.

Experts believe that urbanisation has come at the cost of civic amenities that should have been built up for a city of this size. Many of the Strategic Transport Plan’s interventions like the Bus Rapid Transport are woefully behind schedule, leading not only to cost escalation but leaving citizens in the lurch to move around in significant numbers within reasonable timeframes. The same goes for many other projects like the metro rail and flyovers that are years behind schedule.

Dhaka being the centre of all economic activity suffers from a regular influx of economic and environmental migrants from other parts of the country, making it one of the most densely populated cities in the world. It is plagued by traffic congestion, an extremely poor drainage system, and severe air and water pollution. Unless policymakers take it upon themselves to expand the city and redistribute both public and private establishments across the country, Dhaka’s situation will not improve, with unplanned migration stretching the city’s amenities and services to a breaking point.