31

ABSENCE OF GOOD GOVERNANCE RESULTING UNPLANNED URBAN

GROWTH AND NON-COORDINATION BETWEEN CITY

AUTHORITIES: A DISCOURSE ON DHAKA CITY

1Hasnun Wara Khondker,

2Mohammed Azizul Mohith,

3Ashik Vaskor Mannan

1,2,3Department of Architecture, American International University-Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Email: 1hasnun_khondker@aiub.edu,

2azizmohith@aiub.edu,

3ashikvaskor@aiub.edu

ABSTRACT

Dhaka is experiencing one of the highest rates of urbanization in the world. The scale and speed of

urbanisation is unprecedented here. Dhaka, with its current population of 15 million people, bears the

distinction of being the fastest-growing in the world. Between 1990 and 2005, the city doubled in size

from 6 to 12 million. Dhaka has reached to its present status after experiencing a range of rulers from

different cultures in its 400 years of history and facing a wide variety of governance structures,

administrative policies as well as natural calamities, poverty and other obstacles. Excessive population,

scarcity of land and limited resource have put tremendous pressure on the infrastructure of the city.

City authorities like utility providers, transportation agencies and administrative organisations all are

being unable to provide even minimum benchmark standard for facilities needed. But one of the major

issues identified for such failure has been lack of coherence between these authorities, which has made

the local governments (city corporations) unproductive. However this paper analyses the factors that

influenced and initiated the unplanned urban growth of Dhaka over ages from a wide perspective

including administrative and economic factors along with spatial phenomenon. It explores the non-

coordination scenario between present day city authorities and service providers hindering the

development process. Brief strategic recommendations are surfaced from the perspective of good

governance through empowerment of local government.

KEY WORDS: Dhaka, Good Governance, Urban Growth, Non-Coordination, City Authorities

INTRODUCTION

Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh is the fastest

growing mega cities in the world with a

growth rate of 3.2%. Being the 11th largest

city of the world, Dhaka itself has a population

of 12 million while the mega region has 16.7

million of population. (Kabir, Parolin, 2003)

The city has grown haphazardly over long

period without any proper and effective land

use planning. Bureaucratic problems, political

influence, lack of appropriate mechanism for

land development, ineffective implementation

of development policies, poor supervision and

monitoring system are continuously creating

the opportunity to alter or violate the land

use plan. The negative consequences are

manifested in physical environmental

degradation, social inequities, persisting

poverty, inadequate provision of basic utilities,

lack of educational and health services, and

increasing incidence of crime and violence.

While technical and financial resources are

strong factor determining the sustainability of

cities, the more critical factor is considered to

be the nature and quality of governance. The

paper presents a review on the characteristics

of unplanned historical evaluation of Dhaka to

present state (physical, political and economic)

and how the absence of effective city

governance is initiating non-coordination

among authorities hindering strategic urban

development. A brief review of the strategies

to solve the issues within the parameters of

good governance is discussed as well. Detail

discussion on good governance theories and

practices are, however, not an aim of the

article.

32

Urban Growth of Dhaka. Source: Shankland Cox Partners and Others, 1981

EVOLUTION HISTORY OF DHAKA: To

understand a city’s formation and spatial

growth, it is necessary to know its growth

policies, planning decisions and major

developments leading towards the historical

evolution. Dhaka has reached to its present

status after experiencing a range of rulers from

different cultures in its 400 years of history

and facing a wide variety of governance

structures, administrative policies as well as

natural calamities, poverty and other obstacles.

Dhaka was a small rural setting started to

evolve in the relatively high fertile land of the

delta in the 12th century (Ahmed, 1986) and

remained the same until the end of the 16th

century. In the early 17th

century Mughals

founded a city in this land recognizing its

importance. (Karim, 1989)

This city was set as the region’s capital and

business centre for handicrafts by Mughals in

1610(Mohsin, 1989). Dhaka was also acted as

a regional trading hub after British East India

Company took the control of the city in 1757.

After the independence of the sub-continent in

1947, it got a new exposure of development as

the capital of East Pakistan- a province of

Pakistan. Between 1950 and 1960, many areas

of the city were developed to accommodate the

large number of Muslim migrants. With the

birth of Bangladesh in 1971, Dhaka got the

primate city status through a boost in

advancement and urbanisation. The last 60

years time period was phenomenal for the

spatial growth of Dhaka.

2.0 URBAN GROWTH OF THE CITY:

ABSENCE OF CITY GOVERNANCE

OVER THE AGES

2.1 Mughal Dhaka (1608-1757):

Dhaka attained a significant reputation after

the first Mughal viceroy Islam Khan had

established his capital here in 1610. Mughals

chose Dhaka because of its central

geographical location, its higher topography

than rest of the flood plains and most

importantly, its proximity to the water routes

in the north, east and west. (Chowdhury and

Faruqui, 1989)

During this period, huge commercial

importance was achieved and thus Dhaka

shifted to be a trading centre for the South East

Asia from a manufacturing Hub of muslin. A

number of agricultural and cottage products

were manufactured in Dhaka, while the easy-

wash cotton fabric got attention of the

European traders and made them to set up their

factories in the city. This fuelled the growth of

local and global trades including the textile

industries. In the 17th

century Dhaka

experienced various industries and trade

centres being established by the European

merchants; mainly the Portuguese, the Dutch,

the French and the English. As these traders set

33

up their factories in Tejgaon area, it became an

important commercial area of the region and

continued to uphold this status even in the next

century. At the end of 19th

century this area

was connected by a train line.

The market area or ―Bazaar‖ was the focal

development point of the city, evolved in a

close proximity to the river Buriganga. Cottage

industries, an important feature of Dhaka city,

located close to the market place and generally

housed in the same place that was also used as

the residences of artisans. Waterways were the

most efficient transport system available to

carry goods and people from surrounding

regions, whereas walking was the main mode

of transport within the city. This pinpoints to

the lack of well constructed road network in

Dhaka at the Mughal period. A number of

neighbourhoods formed the city, within which

a cluster of houses were linked through

complex narrow lanes.

However, the later phase of Mughal era under

Shaista Khan brought a greater development in

Dhaka along with a larger expansion. The city

expanded up to 20km in length and 12 km in

width with a population of around a million.

(Ahmed, 1986)

Despite the shift of capital from Dhaka to

Murshidabad in 1706, (Karim, 1989) the

importance of Dhaka city as a commercial

centre did not decline considerably, however

the city’s growth and development obviously

got affected.

The Mughal era was believed to plan for the

first and informal antecedent to the Dhaka City

Municipality, after a lot of back and forth

actions were made.

2.2 Dhaka in British Era (1757-1947):

As Calcutta became the capital of British India

under British rule and Dhaka lost its power and

importance with the end of Mughal period, the

city failed to compete with Calcutta. Dhaka

had also experienced physical shrinkage

(Chowdhury and Faruqui, 1989) as the

population decreased from 200,000 to less

Municipal Improvement Act was another

significant achievement of this era as it led

towards a more governance oriented approach

by shifting colonial agenda away from the pure

capitalist notion of BEIC.

As British recognized the importance of

Dhaka, the city got Sir Patrick Geddes, a

pioneer town planner, appointed in 1906 to

have the city plan. After a visit in localities,

Geddes proposed an outline of the master plan

emphasizing on the protection of green belt in

Ramna area and widening roads for increased

traffic (Geddes, 1917). He also stressed on the

conservation of the neighbourhood

characteristics of an area while

accommodating future growth.

2.3 Dhaka: Capital of East Pakistan (1947 –

1971):

As Dhaka became the capital of East Pakistan

in 1947, the landscape of Dhaka city changed

drastically with a northward expansion and

created a ―new Dhaka‖ as the high class

residential area. Motijheel area turned into a

major commercial hub from the low lying

marshland in 1954. Dhanmondi area evolved

as a residential area after 1955 from being

previously adorned with paddy fields (Kabir

and Parolin, 2010).The Mirpur road acted as

an axis for the city and the uplands on both

sides got occupied upto Mohammadpur and

Mirpur. And in 1960, government developed

these two areas to accommodate the Muslim

migrants. Meanwhile a planning authority was

much needed by the city and then the Dhaka

Improvement Trust (DIT) (later named as

Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkha (RAJUK) was

established for the Dhaka city planning and

development in 1956. DIT developed few

model town area plans including Ghulsan,

Banani, Uttara and Baridhara Model Town

respectively in 1961, 1964, 1965 and 1972.

(Brac University, 2012) Though these areas

34

Changing Pattern of Dhaka City. Source: Dhaka City: State of Environment Report 2005

were mainly built up for middle income

groups, the inappropriate allocation and

increase in property value resulted otherwise.

These towns are now important centers for the

city, housed a number of high class residences

and commercial offices.

2.4 Dhaka: Capital of Bangladesh (Since

1971): Bangladesh after its liberation in 1971

experienced a rapid urbanization. Dhaka, being

the capital and the largest city of Bangladesh

with most amenities got the lion share of this

growth. Various reasons have fuelled the rural

urban migration including surplus labor in

agriculture, drought, globalization, systematic

failure of rural agriculture and apparent

opportunities in the city.

With the population growth, the northern

highlands of the city soon started to be built up

and prime swamps and marshes came to be

filled up without any prior planning. The

highlands on Dhaka-Tongi route were chosen

for residential projects by the planning and

development authority of DIT/ RAJUK.

Unfortunately no serious effort was made to

acquire land under a well planned city scheme

to ensure a unified and cohesive growth.

The main city developed between the lands of

Balu and Turag in the east and west until 1990,

as the lands beyond were flood affected and

swampy.

However, the rapid population growth and

scarcity of lands made the private developers

to fill up these low lands and to offer various

housing schemes. Gradually vertical

development for residential and commercial

use has become a common practice.

3.0 SPATIAL GROWTH AND LAND USE

PATTERN OF DHAKA:

A new master plan for Dhaka city, outlining

only North expansion was created in 1959.

There were eight main roads proposed in the

plan which took the next 30 years to be

executed and now act as the main routes of the

city. Dhaka experienced an incredible rise in

35

population growth after 1971 which made the

1959 Dhaka master plan awfully inconsistent

to keep pace with.

Dhaka city’s growth and urban sprawl were

mainly controlled by its people and their

opportunities, rather than the influence of the

local government on how the city should be

developed. Hence Dhaka continued to grow

according to its old plan as it was beyond the

city governance capacity to cope with its

population growth.

Without much planning effort Dhaka city

became a mega city from a rural settlement.

There are four specific urban patterns in Dhaka

city, as identified by Nilufar (2010), present

the city’s age, its ruling history, planning

philosophy and land use control. First one is

―Old Dhaka‖, the historical hub of the city still

upholds the Mughal history and their city

planning layout with compact building masses

and narrow lanes. Second group contains areas

that are formally planned as a satellite model

town after 1950. This includes Gulshan,

Baridhara, Dhanmondi and Mirpur model

towns which were mainly developed on

swampy lands.

After 1980’s private developers started

planning and designing satellite towns which

were before handled only by RAJUK. Now the

third pattern is the combo of formal outline

and old fusion plans, which contains most of

the development of the city. And the last group

comprises temporary small houses and slum

settlement accommodating 30% of city

population.

5.0 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

PATTERN: A major shift in the national

economy has worked as a driving force for

rapid urbanisation in Dhaka city. Industrial

investments increased incredibly as reform was

made to the trade liberalisation in 1982

including enticements for privatisation and

export endorsement. Between 1972-73 and

1998-99 the GDP for urban activities increased

from 26 percent to 42 percent, while it dropped

in agricultural sector from 60 percent to 26

percent (CPD 2001). At the same time, urban

population at national level increased by 6

percent resulting eight-fold growth of city

population since 1971. (World Bank 2007b)

Exclusion of export and import taxes created a

boost in readymade garments sector (RMG)

and made it the major export item of

Bangladesh. The RMG industry which

contains 75 percent of overall export earnings

and 81 percent of manufacturing export

earnings, earned US $8 billion in 2006 which

was only US $1 million in the year of 1978

(Ahmed 2009). Dhaka itself contains 80

percent of the garments factories of the whole

country (World Bank 2007a) and the growth of

the RMG industry critically shapes up the

economic progress and the demographic

profile of the city. RMG sector engages around

12 percent of the manufacturing workforce,

comprises of mostly rural migrants and 90

percent of women labours. (World Bank

2007b)

A statistics of 2005 shows that nationally more

than 1.9 million people are employed by RMG

industries, of which one fourth are based in

Dhaka city (Afsar 2001, Razzaque 2005).

Moreover, Dhaka caters for more than 200

thousand people employed in RMG support

activities. (Ward et al. 2004). The concentrated

RMG and auxiliary jobs in Dhaka created

agglomeration impact on the urban economy

by forming localised and urbanised economic

state. Few factors including uneven

urbanisation and concentration of economic

opportunities and urban services in Dhaka, has

made it a mega urban region. The high

population growth in the city shows the sign of

acute urban dominance. One estimate shows

that Dhaka has the highest rate (32 %) of urban

dominance in South Asia and it is much higher

than India (5.72%) and Pakistan (21.94%).

However, this rate of urban primacy is similar

to countries like Honduras when they were

experiencing the similar state of

36

economic progress. (World Bank 2007b)

37

Now such economic growth has boosted the

financial sectors of Dhaka city including

private banks, insurance and stock exchanges

and triggered services for growing middle class

lifestyle comprising private clinics, restaurants,

private universities and retail facilities.

National industrial policies and incentives for

investments in export trades have facilitated

this overall extension of the city economy.

Being the capital and economic hub in the

country’s centre, Dhaka has been purely

considered as a place of opportunities. Lower

economic group come here with the possibility

to earn more than that of in the countryside,

middle class people reside in the city to get a

modern lifestyle by accessing the rising

markets and bureaucratic works and higher

class are in Dhaka either because of their

loyalty or power, or else they have left.

Dhaka also shares a strong tie with its

surrounding rural areas and its high

dependence on the rural areas, can be termed

as ―rurbanity‖, (Brac University, 2012) make it

unique than many other cities. As Dhaka

participates in the national and global

economies more than ever, its connections

with the rural regions are even more critical for

future resilience and sustainability.

Urban Forms in Dhaka. Source: Google Earth (from Altitude 600 meter)

Old Dhaka (Left), Gulshan Planned Residential (Right)

Organic development (Left) Slum Settlement (Right)

38

Regrettably, Dhaka lacks of internal

jurisdictional coordination as well as powerful

planning and inclusive governance structure

without any political manipulation. Despite

repetitive recommendations from different

planning studies for the decentralization of

economic activities from Dhaka and

strengthening other urban areas as economic

bases, no effective action was taken.

Since the liberation in 1971, several attempts

of ―developing an acceptable local government

structure to decentralize political power,

administrative authority and financial

autonomy‖ have been failed due to national

political pressure. (Kabir &Parolin, 2012)

6.0 INTERNAL JURISDICTIONAL

COORDINATION IN SERVICES:

A group of political and expert urban

institutions form the city governance of Dhaka.

The key political administrative organization

of the city is Dhaka City Corporation (DCC)

with which a range of expert institutions work

in parallel, comprising Rajdhani Unnayan

Katripakkha (RAJUK), Dhaka Metropolitan

Police (DMP), Dhaka electric Supply (DESA),

Titas Gas Authority, Dhaka Water and

Sewerage Authority (D-WASA)Bangladesh

Road Transport Corporation (BRTC),

Bangladesh Telephone and Telegraph Board

(BTTB) and several line Ministries (Education

and Health, Public Works, Land

Administration etc). An estimate shows that

various phases of city development in the

Dhaka metropolitan area are handled by at

least 42 institutions. (Panday and Jamil 2010)

These urban organizations are generally

experiencing lack of coordination, limited

resources, internal fragmentation, partial

autonomy and high level of corruption in

service provisions. And of all these constraints,

the acute issue is the poor coordination of

institutions at the level of planning,

implementation and continuation of public

services.

Hence, the absence of discussion and

coordination between urban organizations lead

towards an unplanned development, repetition

Table: 1: The Evolution of Dhaka City Corporation

1823 The Committee of Improvement is formed. This was Dhaka's first civic committee to

consider solutions to urban problems.

1864 Committee of Improvement is restructured as the Dhaka Municipal Committee,

entrusted with all public works of civic amenities and now ultimately answerable to the

British Crown rather than the British East India Company.

1882 Municipal Committee becomes a two thirds elected body due to Lord Ripon's reforms.

1905 Dhaka becomes regional capital (until 1911). Dhaka's area is 6.15 square kilometres.

1961 Dhaka's area is 35.5 square kilometres

1982 Mirpur and Gulshan Municipalities merged with Dhaka.

1983 Corporation is statute with the introduction of Dhaka Municipal Council Ordinance. This

provides the existing legal framework of DCC.

1990 Renamed as Dhaka City Corporation (DCC)

39

of actions and even incompletion of

development projects due to inter-departmental

conflicts. In fact, in 2003 World Bank

extracted around 50% of the allocated fund

(US $220 million) for the development of

transport infrastructure in Dhaka (Panday and

Jamil 2010) and thus the city was deprived of

critical development projects for the lack of

inter-institution coordination between Dhaka

City Corporation and the Roads and Highways

Department, the two main responsible

organizations of the concerned project. Lack of

coordination among utility service providers

and Dhaka City Corporation is an old concern.

It is often seen that after one utility service

provider finishes its work, another service

provider starts digging the newly paved street

to put a supply line or so and leave the road

unrepaired even for months, causing enormous

sufferings to the residents. The under

construction project of Gulistan-Jatrabari

flyover sets another example of poor

coordination among various government

departments and autonomous organisations.

6.1 UTILITY PROVIDERS:

Utility providers face serious lack of

communication with the development

authorities resulting utter mismanagement and

delay in project execution. Dhaka WASA

(Water and Sewerage Authority) has recently

announced their inability to move the 63 inch

diameter underground supply line passed

through the area assigned for the Gulistan-

Jatrabari flyover. Rather they have suggested

the responsible authority of the flyover, the

Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) South to

change the design, which would delay the

project deadline and cause distress to people.

(Zahid, 2012)

One of the reasons behind the lack of inter-

institution coordination is that the municipal

government is formed by elected

representatives who have their own political

commitments to their local voters whereas the

specialized agencies are accountable to their

respective line ministries in hierarchical way.

And the absence of rational dialogues between

political and non-political entities restrains the

community from participating in policy

making and influencing development

execution.

For an efficient management and proper

execution of development works, all the utility

providers, public works departments and law

enforcement agencies are needed to bring

under the direct power of Dhaka City

Corporation (DCC).

Moreover, overlapping of few tasks of

municipal government with the authority of

specialized institutions creates confusion. For

an example, according to Local Government

Act, (2009) DCC is authorized to generate a

master plan containing land development

provisions and building construction

regulations. In contrast, the formal physical

planning and development works for housing,

industrial and commercial use in Dhaka are

managed by RAJUK. However, these two

organizations, DCC and RAJUK do not share

any institutional or functional tie.

6.2 TRANSPORT SECTOR:

Dhaka city traffic has become unbearable now-

a-days, causing major delays and huge

productivity losses. The standard of living in

Dhaka city has been rated as 3rd

worst by

Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), 7th

worst

by United Nations City Development Index

(CDI) and it stood 39 out of 40 cities by Asia

week for consecutive years. . (Ahmed and

Ahmad et al. 2005)

The means of transport in the city is a critical

factor determining city advancement and social

transform. Transport regulations and

conditions need to be managed by the city

councils and overall city planning should be

inclusive of infrastructure planning and

strategic directions.

40

Ensuring safe, affordable and accessible

transport system for all citizens is a key sign of

good governance which encompasses the

creation of a transparent group of key

stakeholders with a set of rules and regulations

illustrating their operations and accountability.

It is important to identify the key stakeholders

and organizational framework to analyse the

transport division of Dhaka city. Dhaka City

Corporation (DCC), Bangladesh Road and

Transport Authority (BRTA), Dhaka

Metropolitan Police (DMP), Bangladesh

Railway and Bangladesh Inland Water Traffic

Agency (BIWTA) are the major stakeholders

of transport sector.

Dhaka has got a substantial growth of

motorisation with an annual rate of 10 percent

in the last 10 years. (BRTA, quoted from

GOB/BBS 2010) However, in spite of this

persistent increase of motorisation, rickshaw

still remains the main mode of travelling, as

stated in the Dhaka Transportation

Coordination Board's (Draft) Strategic

Transport Plan for Dhaka. (2006, p. 26)

Kalabamu (1987) argued that ―the traffic is

dominated by endless streams of pedestrians

and rickshaws‖ and rickshaws are described as

―ubiquitous‖ by him (p. 125). This was

supported by the JICA's Dhaka Urban

Transport Network Development Study (JICA,

2010), as they figured out that one-third of the

city’s 23 million daily trips are carried out by

rickshaws.

Among many other problems, transport system

is experiencing difficulties with its large

number of unregistered rickshaws. According

to a study done by Bangladesh Police Special

Branch in 2008, there are 400,000 rickshaws in

the city among which only 80,000 are

registered and this causes a major traffic issue.

(GOB 2008)

Another key issue in the transport division is

the lack of internal jurisdictional coordination.

Though following regulations and obtaining

permits are crucial for bus operations, there are

confusions among the management authorities.

For an example, the main authority is the

Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation

(BRTC) but the route permits are regulated by

the Road Transport Committee (RTC), an

external agency selected by the Bangladesh

Road Transport Authority (BRTA). Moreover

it is crucial for transport services to control the

operations of both the public and private

sector.

Now it is the high time to implement

jurisdictional coordination and incorporate

inclusive transport planning in the overall

Transport Plan, prioritising public

transportation and road infrastructures. An

integrated umbrella authority, like that of

Dhaka Metropolitan Regional Authority

(DAMERA) has to be formed by a major

organizational transform, as suggested in the

STP (2006). The main concept of the Strategic

Transport Plan of Dhaka was to encourage the

amalgamation of land use planning and

transport planning and hence let this agency to

manage a range of associated tasks.

Pedestrians and bus services are proposed to

give primacy in the National Land Transport

Policy in 2004 (GOB/Ministry of

Communication 2004). The STP also

highlighted the importance of creating

hierarchy in public transport system, as it

planned to operate ―modern, high capacity

buses [in] the main corridors; smaller mini-

buses will serve the more congested areas;

rickshaws and taxis will act as feeder services

linking neighbourhoods with the main transit

lines”. (STP 2006, p. 5)

7. STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS:

In the recent times particularly from the second

half of 1980s, the issue of good governance

has emerged at the forefront of global agenda

for development. Quality of governance is

being considered as the principal prerequisite

for solving many problems and for the socio-

41

economic development in the developing

countries. Surfacing detail discussion on good

governance is, however, not an agenda here.

Focus is on how applying good governance

strategies through different hierarchy of govt.

might solve the stated issues.

7.1 Improving City Governance: the

Principal Strategy:

The key constraints to the effective functioning

of the city government are unclear mandate

and service responsibilities; lack of

accountability; weak finances and financial

autonomy; poor coordination and control

among service agencies and weak

management. Transport, power, water and

sanitation all require capital intensive

enterprises and require large investment. The

backlog of demand for services suggests large

funding needs. Much of the additional funding

will need to come from service charges.

Indeed, a part of city reform strategy will be to

develop viable city government that is able to

attract private investment and mobilize public

resources based on service delivery and

attractive city environment. (Islam, N, 2013)

7.2 Decentralization of Functions and

Responsibilities:

The theory of decentralization of functions is

based on the principle of allocating public

functions to those levels of government which

can do it best. Based on notions of economies

of scale and spatial incidence of benefits

certain public expenditures, such as water

distribution, sanitation services, solid waste

management, local roads management, traffic

management, certain aspects of transport

services, are best placed at the local level.

These have traditionally been part of the

responsibility of urban local governments in

many parts of the world. In Bangladesh, the

present management structure does not put the

full accountability for the city’s management

in the hands of the mayor and city council. For

example, water and electricity distribution—

two important services affecting citizens’

welfare—are in the hands of the central

government. The policing function is managed

by the central government.

7.3 Good Urban Planning and Sound

Incentives:

The challenges of urbanization and

homelessness point to the magnanimity of the

problem in coming years. To meet these issues

squarely we will need sound urban planning

and incentives to facilitate housing,

particularly private sector housing initiatives.

Job creation should be a part of the strategy so

that expansion of employment and income will

allow the urban population to move into formal

and informal housing. The trend of slums in

open spaces transforming themselves into

private real estate, which has been experienced

in the periphery of many urban cities in the

developing world, appears to be emerging in

the periphery of Dhaka at present. This will

necessitate urgent steps for improvements in

land use planning, property valuation and

taxation and improvement of service delivery.

8. CONCLUSION

Lack of institutional coordination is very

common in other sectors apart from transport

and utility including health, education and

community services. Most of the major health

and education providers offering quality

services are mainly located at Dhaka city,

creating a huge congestion in the city centre.

Thus this mega city region is expanding in an

unplanned way without any major

development decision or proper direction. The

key services of the city need to adopt strong

internal jurisdictional management to operate

efficiently and decentralize administrative

power to offer services in other cities as well

and hence restrict mass congestion in the

capital city. Decentralization has been

proposed by many studies but its

implementation is awfully slow compared to

the population growth. Comprehensive actions

42

combined with inclusive planning and

extensive consultations are urgently required to

make the city sustainable and liveable.

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3. Ahmed, S., J. K. Ahmad, and A.

Mahmud, Making Dhaka

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