The DAP and its legacy of never-ending changes
There are committees, agencies and master plans in place to improve city planning. But there is little to no change, except the fast deteriorating ‘livability’ of Dhaka city
The woes of Dhaka dwellers are multifarious. The city's air is the most polluted in the world while terrible traffic congestion irritates people's lungs. Studies project that average traffic speed here would drop to 4 km per hour – slower than walking speed – by 2035.
A couple of hour's rainfall in the monsoon clog most of the traffic arteries. Due to unabated encroachment of water bodies, most of the Dhaka canals, drains and wetlands have been filled up to feed an aggressive infrastructural development. More than 80 percent of the Dhaka landscape is now covered by concrete structures, leaving very little space for greeneries as well as scope for groundwater retention.
To top it all, it has been forecasted that the population of Dhaka is expected to exceed 30 million. Due to overpopulation and unplanned urbanisation, Dhaka is already an unlivable city now.
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Then how will the additional people survive in Bangladesh's capital city?
Whenever the analysis regarding Dhaka's livability surfaces, the word 'unplanned' dominates the discussions. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. Dhaka, which is more than 400 years old, has had several 'master plans' in order to become a 'livable' city. What we lack is not a plan, but the execution of plans. And the execution gets stuck because everytime a plan is drafted, interest groups force numerous changes upon it. By the time all the changes have been accommodated, it is usually time to draft the next plan.
In 1958, Dhaka saw the first ever city planning titled Dacca Improvement Trust (DIT) Master Plan. It was prepared for a time span of 20 years. DIT Master Plan's coverage was 621.59 square km including Narayanganj.
In 1990, a project titled Preparation of Structure Plan, Master Plan and Detailed Area Plan for Dhaka was initiated with technical assistance and financial support from several international agencies. After the independence of Bangladesh, the first higher level plan for Dhaka was Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan (DMDP) adopted in 1995 for the next 20 years. It took the authorities 15 years to publish the Detailed Area Plan (DAP), for the DMDP, in 2010. The DMDP expired in 2015 with very little implementation.
"Actually, it seems like we have a legacy of 'no execution' of the master plans. Who is liable for executing the plans? There are several agencies on board. But there is no coordination," says Ador Yousuf, an International Academy of Architecture (IAA) award winning architect.
In November 2018, the then public works secretary, while addressing a discussion in Dhaka, regretted that the government had to alter the DAP 2010 as "no one wanted" to comply with the city plan.
According to news reports published the same month, the ministerial committee on reviewing DAP had altered DAP land use following more than 200 applications mostly designed to address real estate, industries and commercial development in place of wetlands, agriculture and rural homesteads.
In 2019, a joint study by Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers' Association, Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP), Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) and other groups, revealed that areas under DAP 2010 had lost around 43,200 (22 percent) out of the total 187,958 acres of wetlands since 2010.
The wetlands included flood flow zones, water retention areas and water bodies like rivers, canals, lakes and beels. The study blamed 'unplanned' development of the city, violation of the DAP and negligence by Rajuk to the all-out grabbing of water bodies, mostly by realtors.
As the validity of DAP 2010 expired in 2015, the government initiated drafting of the second one for the next 20 years. And after taking four years, the ministerial committee on reviewing DAP has recently finalised the second DAP for 2016-2035.
The new DAP is designed for eco-friendly land use, covering specific areas of Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj districts. Like the previous DAP, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) will implement the new one to make Dhaka livable by guiding environment-friendly housing, smooth transport, drainage, economic activities, and more rooms for education, healthcare, recreation, social and civic amenities. However, the new DAP still remains an unresolved document.
The Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) – the leading organisation of the realtors, has again emerged as a strong pressure group, saying that the new DAP, if implemented, will drive apartment prices and house rent up.
REHAB organisers have requested the Prime Minister not to give final approval of the DAP.
Moreover, urban planners have raised concerns over some technical features of the new DAP, terming those conflicting to the existing laws and rules.
"The new DAP will allow construction of multi-storey buildings on wetlands on certain conditions. The relaxation is clearly conflicting with the Natural Water Body Protection and Preservation of Open Space and Playground Act 2000," says architect Iqbal Habib, joint secretary at Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA).
Regarding such debates, LGRD Minister and Convener of DAP review committee Tajul Islam said that the committee will hold meetings every three months after it is finalised and all objections and opinions will be reviewed.
Planners accept that documents like DAP can be reviewed at regular intervals. "But the three-month interval is too short. This is unnecessary. Perhaps, the government is keeping these options because of pressure from the vested interest groups. The government must push back on such pressure," says Adil Mohammed Khan, an urban and regional planning teacher at Jahangirnagar University, also the former general secretary at Bangladesh Institute of Planners.
Policy relaxation in the name of review is a common phenomenon in the country. A review committee was formed just a day after the first DAP was published in June of 2010. Khan says, "Rational reviews are permissible. But this should be done after two or three years. Rapid dissection of a plan undermines the spirit of a policy."
The prominent urban planner also has raised a concern that implementation of the new DAP covering 1,528 sq km may not be possible. According to Khan, a DAP should be referenced to the area plans of the regional parties like city corporations, municipalities and union parishads. "Detailing the regional development plan is absent in the new DAP," he says.
"Inspired by some developed cities, the government has included some new and good propositions in the new DAP. Here, addressing a key challenge – improper implementation – is a must.
Nonetheless, the government needs to ensure enough fund flow for the regional parties to adopt the eco-friendly issues. Otherwise, things will not change, damage to the city will continue and we will see the third DAP in the next phase," added Khan.
