Dhaka: A Mega City of Persistence and Change, (Chapter 12) in Misra, R.P. (Ed): Urbanization in...

Dhaka: A Mega City of Persistence and Change 343

12Dhaka: A Mega City of Persistence and Change

Qazi Azizul Mowla

Dhaka epitomises a long history of urbanisation influenced by variousnatural and cultural phases, at times hostile to its natural trend ofevolutionary journey. Natural environment, the local culture, and theway of life of the people living there have together modified the urbanlandscape by adopting, adapting and innovating in response tochal lenges posed and opportunit ies throw n open. A series ofsuperimposed or juxtaposed layers of interventions due to theseresponses, sometimes beyond recognition, when unfolded, reveal anarchetype deep beneath. In order to understand the contemporaryurban morphology of Dhaka or to predict its future, it is essential tounderstand the process and context of its evolution.

Geo-ecological Setting

The geography of a place has a profound effect on the settlementpattern, architecture, society and thinking of the people living there.In the case of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh this is morepronounced perhaps due to a low technological development and weaknatural resources base, which have combined to force urban andtraditional architectural developments along strictly modern andfunctional.1

The monsoon climate prevails all over Bangladesh. It is known forheavy rainfall and a high level of humidity. Average maximum andminimum temperatures in winter are in the range of 8°–15°C with

344 Urbanisation in South Asia

relative humidity of about 60-80 per cent, while in summer it variesbetween 25o to 35o C, and the relative humidity is between 80 to 100per cent. Shade and ventilation is, therefore, an important considerationfor achieving comfort in the built environment2 and also in the lifestyle of the people.

The greater part of Bangladesh is formed by the alluvial soil broughtdown by the mighty rivers. Into the delta flow a number of majorrivers, the Ganges/ the Padma, Jamuna, Teesta, Brahmaputra, Surma,Meghna, etc. Their different branches, channels and distributaries thatflow down to the Bay of Bengal in the South, provide some 230significant waterways w ith a combined total length of about 250,000km.3 Cyclones, tidal surges and floods take a heavy toll of life andproperty practically every year.

Water channels l ike the Dholai Khal, the Gerani Khal , theSegunbagicha Khal or the Begun Bari Khal have played an importantrole in the indigenous city life of Dhaka. Most of these Khals stretcheast-west; besides other needs, they used to serve an important purposeof intra-city communication. The prong of flood free terrace averagesabout 6 km in w idth and the growth has generally been northwardsfrom the old nucleus along the Buriganga River.

Boats were the primary means of commuting through numerousKhals within Dhaka. Narrow alleys and roads were laid during theMughal period to accommodate animal drawn carts.4 The influence ofphysiography is more telling on the settlement pattern than on buildingstructures. River and w ater bodies being the main source oftransportation and communication line, the settlement pattern is linear5

(Fig. 12.1).The geo-climatic circumstances do impose certain restraints but more

often than not, man crosses the limits and imposes his own choices.These localised choices and values underlying them may be interpretedas culture of a place. Throughout the world, settlements develop as theproducts of a long evolution, and like other elements of material culture, theyare susceptible to external influences and borrowings.6 Dhaka too hasexperienced changes in morphology through time, at times replacingthe old, but more often, the two forms – the older organic or morepopular pattern and the planned or the Government sponsoredtypology, co-exist to form a collage.


The art and architecture of Bangladesh is essentially an expressionof an agricultural society that eked out its living from the soil. “Theland being essentially deltaic and riverine, a rich deposit of alluvium is readilyavailable annually for the manufacture of abundant brick. Besides, this cheapbut excellent plastic medium logically encouraged the development of terra-cotta art.”7 Geo-climatic forces compelled the buildings to be of atransient type; largely composed of w ood and bamboo and soconstructed that they could be readily replaced or removed in timesof emergency. A special form of curved roof and ventilated facade wasevolved in response to the torrential rains and the extreme humidityand become, in course of time, a fixed convention; almost all buildingsof whatever material display this feature, or at least contain in theircomposition, the curved cornice which represent it. Likewise, therequirement of openness and ventilation encouraged the extension ofhousehold and social activities outdoors. A natural outcome was thesocialisation spaces like uthan, gali, morh, chouk and bazar.8

Fig.12.1: Dhaka-Location on River Buriganga


Dhaka through Time

In 1765, James Rennel,9 the English Surveyor, wrote, “The Kingdom ofBengal, particularly the eastern part (Bangladesh), is naturally the mostconvenient for trade within itself of any country in the world; for the riversdivide into such a number of branches that the people have the convenienceof water carriage to and from any principal place.” Situated at the centre,Dhaka w as able to command al l these great w ater routes. Thislocational advantage gave rise to various urban settlements duringvar ious points in history. “...the largest town being Dacca city(90,542)...there are ruins at Bikrampur, at one time, the head-quarters of theSen Dynasty (ninth & tenth century AD), and at Sonargaon, the first capitalof the Muhammadens in eastern Bengal; an ancient legend also attach toremains at Rampal, Durduria, Savar and elsewhere.”10 Dhaka was the seatof provincial Mughal administration for about one hundred years (from1608 AD), and later the capital of the newly formed East Bengal-Assamprovince, during the British colonial period, for a couple of years. In1947, Bengal w as parti tioned betw een India and Pakistan andsubsequently, Pakistan’s portion of Bengal became independent in 1971under the name of Bangladesh. Dhaka, being the major city in thearea, was naturally chosen as the capital of the province and then theindependent nation. There were political ups and downs, affecting thecity’s size and morphology. But it never ceased to be an importanturban centre in this region.

A survey carried out by the Centre of Urban Studies (CUS)11 in2006 shows the population of Dhaka City Corporation to be about 10million. A preliminary survey carried out by the Asian DevelopmentBank (ADB) in 1996 shows the population of Dhaka SMA to be 9.3million, about half of which is living below the poverty line.12 Aboutone million people live in slums and squatter settlements. 300,000 ofDhaka’s domestic servants live in high and middle class residentialareas. About 75,000 are living in institutional buildings such as hostels/schools, col leges and universi ties, mosques, temples and officebuildings. Another 80,000 live in shopping areas, kutcha bazars andconstruction sites. According to the same report, nearly 90 per cent ofthe inhabitants of Dhaka live in a single room accommodation, andaverage per capita living space enjoyed by the poor of the city is about3 sq m only. The existing overall gross urban density is 89 persons peracre (ppa). In the inner zones, densities average 179 ppa, reaching ahigh density of 323 ppa in the older quarters.13


The rate of growth that has characterised recent urbanisation inDhaka has offered very little opportunity to regulate the expansionwith reference to an overall plan. Dhaka receives an estimated 40 percent of all rural-urban migration.14 Physically, Dhaka’s (Dhaka CityCorporation area) dominant feature is the small proportion of land,which is permanently flood-free, as brought home by a long historyof floods.15 Virtually all the flood-free land close to Dhaka has alreadybeen settled.

Dhaka has a recorded history of over 500 years. Figure 12.2 illustrateshow Dhaka grew during the last 400 years (Fig. 12.2).

Fig. 12.2: Dhaka’s growth from a trading outpost to a mega city


Ancient Times

Not much is known about this city before the Mughals ruled overIndia. According to historians, Dhaka was a defence outpost ofVikrampur, the capital of Sen Dynasty that ruled over Bengal during1168-1204. Sometimes in the fourteenth century, Dhaka possibly grewat the present location as a centre where artisans and craftsmen settleddown around the defence establishments to produce goods for thepeople living in the nearby capital city of Sonargaon. According aprevalent legend, there were 52 bazars and 53 lanes in the settlement;the most important among them being Sonargaon, Vikrampur andBangalla.16 According to Brit and Rudduck17 the Banglabazar of thepre-Mughal Dhaka was perhaps the legendary Bangalla. The DholaiKhal formed the north-eastern boundary of the town. The professionalgroups lived in very densely populated villages. Banglabazar, whichwas the centre and main shopping area before the Mughals, yieldedits supremacy to Chouk of the Mughal period.

Mughal Times

In the medieval times, especially during the seventeenth century, Dhakahad developed into a large manufacturing centre where artisans,craftsmen and manufacturers came to settle, buying raw materials andselling finished goods for internal consumption and overseas exports.“The Mughal rulers encouraged these people (the artisans and craftsmen)by granting them rent free lands for habitation.”18

At its peak (1660 to 1690), Dhaka, with its suburbs, had a populationof about 900,000.19 D’Oyly20 observed that the city proper stretchedseven to ten miles along river Buriganga and up to two and a halfmiles inland. The suburbs extended from Buriganga to Tongi Bridge,fifteen miles to the north and from Mirpur-Jafarabad in the west toPostogola some ten miles to the east. Rennell21 reported in 1765 thatthe city core had an estimated population of 450,000 and stretchednearly four miles along the river, and two and a half miles deep,signifying a decline of the city.

Two main streets crossed each other at Chouk: one running east towest parallel to the river, and the other, from the river to the Tongridefence outpost in the north through Tejgaon. The city was wellconnected and protected by a natural system of rivers and a network


of canals and lowlands. It could be approached from the east by DholaiKhal along which a series of forts were built: two of these were at theentrance on either side of the Khal. A formal gate on the north markedthe limits of the city core. Beyond the gate were the royal pleasuregardens and suburban settlements.

In 1715–16, the capital of Bengal province was shifted from Dhakato Murshidabad. With the departure of some of the provincial officesand a large part of the army, the city lost a part of its population. Thecity, however, continued to be the main centre of trade and commercein Bengal, a centre of revenue collection, and the headquarters of theMughal Naval establishment in the east.

Dhaka of the British Days

In 1757, the British East India Company (EIC) gained control of Bengaland took over its civil administration in 1765. Henceforth, Dhakadeclined rapidly once the headquarters of EIC shifted to Calcutta.During 1801–1840, many densely populated localities22 close to the city,were abandoned. The 1838 census of the city showed only 68,610inhabitants. By 1840, its population had fallen to 30,000. Trevelyan23

testified before the select committee of House of Lords in 1853 that,“The jungle and malaria are fast encroaching ... Dacca, the Manchester ofIndia, has fallen from a very flourishing town to a very poor and small town.”Earlier in 1772, William Bolt, an English merchant, w rote “... theoppression and monopolies imposed by the English (EIC) have been the causeof the decline of trade, the decrease of revenues, and the present ruinouscondition of affairs in Bengal.” 24 As local industry declined, Bengal wasconverted to export agriculture; first indigo, then jute.25 Bangladeshproduced over half the world’s crop of jute by 1900, but it did nothave even a single mill for jute processing.

As people deserted the town, many houses were left unoccupiedand decaying, becoming health hazards. In about forty years, the city’shousing stock had fallen from 44,000 in 180126 to 16,279 in 1830 and10,830 in 1838.27 With the increase in population by the close of thenineteenth century, many parts of the city became overcrowded. In1840, a municipal committee, without any legal or financial powers orfunds was formally launched at the initiative of Russel MorelandSkinner, the Magistrate of Dhaka.28


After 1857, the British government took over the administration ofIndia from the East India Company (EIC). Soon the civil lines werecreated at a location closer to the river as wel l as to the Bri tishfactories.29 The Bengal Act-III of 1864, which led to the establishmentof the Dhaka Municipality in August 1864 was a significant event inthe development of the city. At the same time, C.T. Buckland, the thenCommissioner of Dhaka, decided to construct an embankment alongthe southern front of the city and also planned a promenade behindthe embankment to beautify the water front and provide a pleasurewalk.30 A long the bank developed the Civil Lines where Europeanssettled.

Persistence of indigenous forms is one of the hallmarks of Dhaka.The city changed with time but certain morphological characteristicschanged little, if at all. Prior to the arrival of the British, people livedin Mohalla31 (neighbourhoods) which were spatial-cum-socio-culturalunits. Each mohalla had a sardar/ leader. The post was hereditary. Mostof the mohallas were self-contained in terms of school, bazar, mosque/temple and sometimes orphanage. With effect from 1890, the postbecame elective but for life. The shahar Kotwal (Sheriff) and Kazi (judge)were replaced by city magistrates. Other indigenous features of thecity were katras and bazars. A katra is an enclosed market while bazaris a street market. Several streets were associated with the manufactureand sale of items of particular handicraft, e.g., Shankhari patti, andKumartolli. Within the mohallas, there were retail and wholesale outlets,workshops and warehouses.32 Most of the mohallas were thus self-contained in terms of school, bazar, mosque/ temple and sometimesorphanage. Each mohalla had its punchayat, which engaged much of thepeople’s attention and drew on their community spirit, since all could participatein its deliberations.33 An informal committee of Sardars (mohalla leaders)was there to look after the matters concerning inter-mohalla interests.

Once the British EIC was granted dewani (power to collect andadminister revenues) of Bengal, they established their headquarters inthe old Mughal areas, but around 1820, the same was moved to theindigenous core of Banglabazar/ Farashganj area.34 It was also close totheir old factories and new cantonment in the Mill Barrack area.35 Soonnew Civil Lines were constructed in the north. By 1866, the courts forthe District Judge, Magistrate and Collector and other subordinateoffices were built and shifted to this location.


Phulbaria was selected as the site for Dhaka’s first railway stationin 1885. The station and the rail l ine practically demarcated the old(indigenous) and the new (European) developments.36 A new CivilStation was established north of the railway line, close to the RamnaRace Course in 190555 and over the former Bagh-e-Badshahi (Royalgarden) of the Mughals. The Governor’s house (present H igh Court),the secretariat (present Dhaka Medical College) and Town Hall/ theCurzon Hall (once the library building of Dhaka College) formed thecore of the new township.

After the partition of India in 1947, East Pakistan government tookpossession of about two-thirds of the Ramna area or old Civil Station.Gardens were important elements for Mughal settlements, as the RaceCourse was for English settlements, and these were always exclusiveto the ruling elite. Many new buildings have infiltrated into this areasince then, but the basic morphology of the area from the Mughalperiod til l this day has remained largely unchanged. The area wasand stil l is a major recreational area of the city with large open spacescontaining parks, playing areas and clubs.

Another addition to the old Dhaka carried out by the British wasthe Cantonment just beyond the Nawabpur and Thatari Bazar to thenorth-west of the city. It was how ever abandoned in 185337 andtransferred to the Municipal Committee to maintain it as an open space.

Post-Colonial Dhaka

In the post-colonial period, Bangladesh entered into another era ofpolitical subjugation. Socio-culturally, East and West Pakistan were asmuch apart as they were physically.38 The concept of segregation wasfurther extended in this phase. Even in contemporary Bangladesh,names of the residential areas indicate the position of the residents interms of their financial and social status. This Euro-centric mentality,along with the image of the buildings and spaces of European typology,formed the standard definition of an acceptable architecture and urbangrowth. This attitude stil l prevails in the official circles.

Bengali cities are pluralistic in nature and scope. There are usuallymany different local traditions, and the decision as to which of thetraditions to elevate into buildings and settlement morphology, that ismeant to serve as a symbol of a modern state, is never arbitrary. What


morphology we w itness today is transcended through natural multi-dimensional screening. Diverse economic and political circumstanceshave affected each phase of Dhaka’s development contributing to adistinct typology of urban built form.

Unti l now , ci t ies w ere essential l y l inked to the system ofadministration and their growth was conditioned by the size and rangeof government establ ishments. The social l i fe of the cities w asaccordingly dominated by the service elites until the gradual emergenceof professional classes as social leaders towards the last quarter of thenineteenth century.39 Cities of the past were marked by uniformityamidst diversity and a legible urban environment. Within the bazararea, services, tertiary functions, residences, retail trade, whole-sale and‘back yard’ small industries all freely intermingle, even within singlebuildings, producing a combination of intensive and diverse land-usefunctions,40 and a typically South Asian economic landscape, not readilyfound in Western urban counterparts. Individuals and groups ofbuildings or spaces interacted among themselves to define and redefineurban spaces and accommodate lifestyles. The physical artefacts werebased on aesthetics and principles shared in common, and sanctionedby the community. The contemporary city is in a chaotic state due toever increasing internal convulsions and external influences.

Doshi,41 observing the blind imitation of certain artefacts from oldexamples, commented that, “We live in an atmosphere of contradictionsbecause we like what we had, but do not know well how to improvethe present and ensure a better future. As a result, w e attemptsuperficially certain measures in town and city planning, house designand housing layouts.” We need to understand the meaning of theseartefacts, and why certain things evolved. What was the context? “Ifhalf of the `modern’ city in south Asia or elsewhere results from theapplication of ‘culturally - neutral’ technology and half from the culturalvalues of the society in which it exists, we would go a long way tounderstanding both the city, as well as its problems, if we know `whichhalf was which?” 42

Context of Development

Europeans left Bengal socio-culturally and geographically partitionedin 1947. Dhaka thus had to assume the role of a provincial capitalfrom scratch. Paltan (from platoon), the abandoned British cantonment


area, and M oti jheel area became the hub of new prov incialadministration and business activities. Plassy and Azimpur area weredeveloped to accommodate the influx of provincial governmentservants; public housing was a new concept first realised at Azimpur.These three-storied buildings w ith apartments or flats, as they arepopularly called, were sel f-contained flats corresponding to theextrovert character of the bungalow.43

Mohammedpur and Mirpur, the Mughal suburbs were designatedto rehabilitate non-Bengali refugees arriving from India. This was thefirst introduction of the Western concept of ‘site and services’ and the‘core house’ for the general masses. Dhanmondi Residential Area,Gulshan Model Town, and Banani Model Town were influenced bythe British post-World War I garden city movement and Americansuburban trends. A small central government administrative core wasfirst established near Segunbagicha with its residential accommodationbesides newly developed Motijheel commercial area. Construction ofSher-e-Banglanagar, a designed central government township, startedin 60s at Tejgaon area adjacent to the site of pre-colonial Bri tishestablishments. A new industrial area was also laid at Tejgaon to seekindustrialisation and to provide employment to basically non-Bengaliimmigrants.

Nature of Spatial Expansion

These new physical developments, though piecemeal in their efforts,reflect European concepts of urban planning and design with functionalzoning of land use. The cantonment, as a legacy of European rule,continued to be the single largest land eater at Dhaka city. During thepost-European period, the cantonment shifted northward along theTongi Road of the Mughal period. Previous cantonment lands wereallotted to various security agencies. The location and shape of thecantonment had a profound effect on urban growth pattern in the pastas well as in the present times.

The newly laid formal areas, when compared to the spontaneousinfills, show a striking difference in general texture and morphology.Although, present urbanisation follows the pre-European tracts, thepattern of most of the existing development appears to follow colonialand quasi-colonial footsteps. H istorically, the main communicationroutes are in high demand for development, therefore, unplanned


growth and development is naturally along the communicationchannels, which trapped village enclaves or undeveloped land invarious areas. On the one hand, it gives an image of a very compactdevelopment, and on the other, the people of these enclaves, strippedof their agricultural land, were forced to move elsewhere or to changetheir profession. A similar situation is observed in other South Asiancities as documented by Breese.44 These enclaves characteristically lackurban amenities, but provide cheap accommodation. Their irregularroads developed along earlier w inding village paths (halot), becamecongested w ith traffic and seldom join well with the super-imposedstreet system of surrounding urban extensions. When densified, thesesettlements resemble mohallas of old towns indicating that the basicrural morphology is at the root of indigenous urban settlement atDhaka.

Cultural Incongruence

In the past, the components making an urban environment wereconsistent with each other. Every building was an integral part of thecity and not just a collection of parts that do not add up to a whole.Changes in physical language were affected to accommodate socialchanges and external stimuli of technology and learning. The urbancrisis after independence had its roots in the w eakness that hademerged in the colonial period – agrarian crisis that squeezed thelandless out of the countryside into the towns. The tendency towardsover-urbanisation is a result of the concentration of most of theeconomic activities (warehouses, industries, etc.) in a few towns.Internationalism, rapid urbanisation and expansion of technologyperpetuated the process that began during colonialism. The deeperstructures or organising principles of Bengali cities were distortedbeyond control.

The Ci ty Corporation, w i thout any organic l ink w ith paras(indigenous blocks) and mohallas, has an impersonal character, whichmade urban regulation and urban services ineffectual or lacklustre,quite apart from their being constrained by limited finance. Dhaka’srecent growth rate is highest among the top 30 cities of the worldidentified by UNCHS, growing at the rate of 6.2 per cent in the 1980s,two decades preceding the 2001 census, but the resources available tothe local government were not adequate to provide even the minimal


level of many of the services for which they are charged. In 1991,Dhaka spent about US$ 2 per capita,45 indicating that the urban servicesare highly subsidised in Dhaka and consumes more than its share ofresources. Dhaka is experiencing several conflicts due to the inabilityof its existing urban tissue to meet the requirements of fast urbanisationand population growth within the framework provided by the urbanmiddle class. Besides its continuous expansion, the built environmentof the city continues to change its texture at varying paces accordingto ongoing changes in social, cultural and economic factors and alsopolitical motives of the people who are in the helm of affairs.

Sources of Contemporary Urban Morphology

Legacy of the Past

The professional class or middle class, which emerged as the leader insociety, was highly influenced by the colonial administration and wayof life but, at the same time, could not shake off their indigenouscharacteristics. The opposite pull of oriental and occidental behaviourand activities forced the urban middle class to assume a dual lifestyle.A boundary was drawn between the formal and informal activity areaswithin a house corresponding to Western and traditional living habitsand style.46 Amongst the people close to politico-administrative power,there seem to be a continuing preference for the portion of the urbanareas that have inherited status and prestige, areas of high groundand the civil l ines abandoned by the British or the areas developedunder Western spatial concepts.

In the post-colonial period, the entire bureaucracy was formed ofurban middle class, who dictated the conditions for shaping andorganisation of urban areas. They perceived the city as an extensionof their own living environment and set standards. This attitude isreflected in the contemporary urban morphology of Dhaka with pocketsof formal development followed by a process of informal developmentin the left over spaces in between. Though different in structure, theyare complementary to each other and this duali ty of form is acharacteristic feature of all the major urban centres in Bangladesh.Another important characteristic of urbanisation in Dhaka, as in allurban areas of Bangladesh, is that a significant number of city dwellersare directly or indirectly attached to their rural base.


Demographic Trends

A study in 1987 revealed the level of inequality in the use of land; thewealthiest 2 per cent of Dhaka’s population used almost as much ofthe city’s residential land as the poorest 70 per cent47 and 2.8 millionof the poorest people lived on just 7 sq km of land.48 A lthough thereare many other factors responsible for overcrowding, in general, it isconsidered to be a function of low income. In Dhaka, social habitsmay also be contributing to the lower floor area, which is about 4 sq.m per person.49 According to the same investigation about 75 per centof the housing stock in Dhaka is unauthorised.50 The residential densityin Old Dhaka is 313 persons to an acre.51 If the number of peopleworking in the area is included, the gross density w ill be much higher.A conservative estimate of the person/ room ratio in the residentialquarters of old Dhaka is 7.5. Most of the structures stand shoulder toshoulder without the minimum of open space necessary for light andair. Though this seems very dense, the average Floor Area Ratio (FAR)in Choukbazar was found to be only 0.85. By contemporary standards,Old Dhaka lacks open space and parks. There are only 17 acres ofopen space for over 600,000 people. These too are, however, beingencroached upon by haw kers and unscrupulous groups andindividuals.52 The gender composition of Dhaka’s population, unlikemany large Asian cities, is similar to urbanised countries but asignificant portion of the population is not stable. Most of theeconomically lower class people are single with their families in ruralareas. UNCHS attributed this factor to the growing garment industry,which alone employs over 700,000 women.53 Many of these garmentworkers live in bustees. In fact, the very rapid growth of Dhaka inrecent decades has been explained by the same report as a result of itsbeing upgraded to the role of a national capital in 1971 and the recentexpansion of the export oriented garment sector. The rapid increase inurban population has made a tremendous claim on the already over-util ised civic facilities and has already created a state of disequilibriain the urban environment.

According to the 2001 census, Bangladesh has a population of 129.3million (current estimates, 142 million), 35 million or 19.70 per cent ofwhich resides in places defined as Urban.54 The majority of people arerural based, living in about 80,000 villages grouped into 60,000 mouzas(revenue unit). The national economy is also mainly rural, agricultureaccounting for 38 per cent of GDP, and 65 per cent of employment.


However, the shares of manufacturing and service sectors are on theincrease. Since these sectors are concentrated in urban areas especiallythe four metropolitan areas of the country, it is the people living incities w ho are benefiting from the recent upsw ing in economicdevelopment.

Squatter Settlement

The bustees, or slums, dotting the urban landscape of practically eachand every metropol i tan city of South Asia, consti tute the othersignificant feature of Dhaka (Fig. 12.3). They seem to grow overnightto become the abode of countless squatters. It is observed during thisstudy that indigenous quarters of the city are less susceptible tosquatting.55 Most of the squatter settlements or bustees are observed tobe concentrated in the contemporary growth areas. They occupy thevacant public properties.56 This correlation may be explained in termsof close social bonds of inhabitants in the indigenous areas thatdiscourage unauthorised infiltrations. Another explanation could bethe informal developments, on the other side of the river, whichaccommodates most of the working poor, required to cater to the needsof the older sector of the city.

Bustees are prime evidence of massive scarcity in the housing sector.Mostly single room units, they are basically used for sleeping purposes,and produce very high densities in areas totally lacking in amenities.Because of the housing shortage, economic backwardness, demand forcheap labour force and also due to some socio-political backings, theycannot be eradicated and continue to impede all efforts towards rationaldevelopment. 57 It may be noted here that none of the planningframeworks adopted so far for Dhaka directly addressed itself todealing with the priority needs and problems of the working poor,who constitute the bulk of the population. The results are obviousreflecting only the intuitions and past experience of the inhabitants. Itis amazing to see, though in a very crude form, their resemblance tothe popular indigenous settlement morphology.58

Prevailing Texture of Urban Morphology

The growth of Dhaka shows three distinct patterns of development:one, indigenous pattern or the older quarter; two, formal pattern orthe planned new parts of the city; and, three, informal or contemporary


organic pattern derived from the fusion of the formal and indigenouspatterns. It may be noted here that the misconception of identifyingindigenous Dhaka w ith ‘old’ may be simply a case of improperlabelling.59 After all, what is old in an old city? Definitely not itsbuildings! To a large extent, the population can be termed traditionaland because of their longer urban history, have a distinct lifestyle,language and mannerisms. All this gives a definite but indefinable‘milieu’ particular to that area”.60 But what definitely is old is the urbanfabric, the pattern of streets, the arrangement of buildings and aboveall, the community itself. The unique character of pre-colonial Dhakais more i ts spatial quality rather than the architectural detailing;therefore, contrary to their general image of stagnation, indigenousDhaka neighbourhoods are in a continuous process of rebuilding.

In the indigenous or informal patterns, the intensity of developmentis high. There is a preponderance of mixed uses: not intrinsicallyharmful, but leading to conflict and congestion at under-served high

Fig. 12.3: Dhaka-Location of Slums (Bustees)


densities. There are also a low proportion of non-residential uses –parks, roads, commercial and industrial areas – compared to thepredominantly residential use. There is a w ide scatter of very poorslum areas and squatter settlements, locally known as ‘bustee’, withparticularly high densities, and the proportion of population living inunplanned areas is much higher than that living in planned zones.Kamal61 quotes some figures from an Asian Development Bank (ADB)study in 1993, which support this observation. The study categorisesthe average gross density (person/ hectare) in Dhaka as follows:

a. Planned area (by development authorities) : 85b. Infrastructure improvement areas : 2,200c. Private formal sector : 675d. Private informal sector : 250–2,000

Categories a and c areas are planned and provided with util ities;category b areas are informally developed and have all the services;and category d areas are those which lack civic services.

The new city founded during the colonial period, in contrast to thetraditional city, had detached buildings and w ide roads in regularlayouts. The traditional system of mixed use areas were replaced bysingle use zones like residential, administrative or recreational. It wasfurther reinforced later by the numerous growths of governmenthousing ‘colonies’ as they are called. The housing colonies with threeto five storied walk-up apartment blocks, locally called ‘flat Bari’, withbasic bungalow structure,62 soon dominated a considerable part of newDhaka, which provided the model for contemporary building design.

Contemporary Development Scenario

Recognising Dhaka as a town planner’s nightmare, The Far EasternEconomic Review63 commented that, “Ill equipped and overcrowded,this sprawling maze of shanty town slums, narrow dusty streets andlow rise offices and flats has grown tenfold from a town of just 500,000in 1957 into a metropolis of more than 5 million.” A lthough thepopulation after two decades is well over 10 million and the skylinehas also changed dramatically since then, the problems remain similarto those observed in 1987. In Old Dhaka, most of the housing stock isunauthorised by current planning standards, which indicates the


irrelevance of building and planning by-laws to the local social contextand also the inefficiency of the planning body RAJUK. As formal publicand private sector services agencies are unable to meet most of theurban services needs, there is a strong case for them to support theinitiatives and develop the resources for community-based organisationsor initiatives.

The Anglo-American functional zoning, perhaps, has its roots inindustrialisation and in the form of power (water power and sitegenerated steam power) that was available at the time of their growth,but Dhaka or simi l ar other ci t ies hav ing access to moderncommunication systems need not fol low those as models. Theindigenous pattern evolved through trial and error to suit the particularneeds of the user. But when it is planned as a natural human tendency,man makes an attempt to simplify and organise similar elementstogether, omitting many intricate relationships in the total spectrumof diverse elements.64 The planned areas of the 60s in Dhaka citysupports this point where it is observed that the planned areas in duecourse of adaptation to the socio-cul tural needs of the user,incorporated many indigenous spatial elements in their fabric.

In the course of rapid growth, urban areas in developing countriesoften bypass certain of the growth stages that were characteristic ofdeveloping countr ies. The shi f t in the predominant form oftransportation is directly from animal and foot transportation toautomobile, such as bus, truck and so on, without intervening stagesof local mass transportation system, chiefly railways. Traffic is oftenmixed - modern with high speed and medieval w ith low speed. Dhakais no exception. Transport is therefore yet another feature influencingthe form of Dhaka’s growth.

Contemporary Dhaka is characterised by an internal dual economythat manifests itself in the co-existence of modern and traditionalmethods of production, formal and informal economical activities andextreme poverty and affluence; all these have left their imprint on thephysical structure of the city. Experientially, an apparent chaotic settingand an ordered setting have got a meaning i.e. the more vernacularand lower status parts of the city tend to evolve to a more organiclayout, while high style centres of the el ite retain more orderlydevelopment. It all depends on how a settlement originates and thelevel of state intervention in its development. It has been observed


that in response to the needs and tastes of user groups, gradually theorder in the planned areas also makes adaptations.

The primary elements that structure the urban morphology are thetype of land use and transportation network. The transport-mix inDhaka, as in other metropolises of Bangladesh and other South Asiancities, complicates circulation. Those who walk from place to place,make the vast majority of trips and have a profound effect on thedistribution of land use. An opinion survey on the City’s trafficcongestion reveals that 80 per cent of the city dwellers are against theban on rickshaws.65 Analysis of travel behaviour in the formal andinformal areas revealed that vehicular (mostly rickshaw) trips prevailedfor most school and shopping destinations.66 In the type ofdevelopment w here distances are not great and individual bulkmovements are not large, there is, in fact, an undeniable kind ofefficiency in cheap, slow moving, low-cubage transport able to negotiatethe organic street system. For those who travel by other means andmove goods from place to place other than on their backs, the possiblemodes are many and varied. Transportation ranges from slow pushcartsto the speeding truck. Typical transportation modes are pedal van,cycle rickshaws and auto rickshaw, motor vans, mini bus, bus, etc.67

This mix of facilities, sharing and competing the right-of-way in agenerally uncontrolled fashion, is both the product and the generatorof the typically high mix of land uses throughout the city, especiallydue to the different nature of growth pattern in different sectors ofthe city.68

Dhaka is one of the least motorised metropolises in the world. Theproportion of all travel by motorised vehicles is low. DITS69 estimatesthat 74 per cent of all work trips are on foot or by cycle rickshaw.Public transport is poor and disorganised, with limited coverage, andnon-mechanised transport is an inadequate form of long distancemovement. Mobility levels are low, and for most, workplace and homeremain in close proximity. Without major transport changes, the futureshape of the city w ill still be constrained by the need of most peopleto live near their place of work. Even with such improvements, povertywill stil l impose a restriction on extensive outwards mixed-use growthand will favour a city of high density. In the contemporary settlementdesign, more and more emphasis is placed on vehicular movementand big shopping complexes but the people for whom these are


designed are ignored, which is a planning dilemma. Community ishistorically embedded in nature, with unique identity and physicallimit of each unit of the community. However, a positive side of thissituation is that in Dhaka, carbon dioxide emission rate is 25 timesless than in cities such as Canberra, Chicago and Los Angeles andabout a quarter of the World’s average.70

Once a city has been built and adapted to one particular form oftransport and land use layout, it is very difficult and costly to revisethe design to accommodate a new and different transport systembecause of the large scale acquisition and demoli tion involved.Therefore, building of new roads, especially in the indigenous andinformal areas, a solution normally proposed by the engineers andtransport planners may be a luxury, which cannot be afforded.Moreover, past experience in Western countries (which are used asmodels) indicate that new roads in the established urban areas do notin fact, solve the traffic problem.71 As Ratcliffe72 has pointed out,building new roads as a solution to urban congestion and degradationis rather l ike printing more money as a cure to rising inflation.Therefore, the root causes of the problem should be sought rather thangetting entangled w ith the manifestations. The answer perhaps lies ina judicious pattern of land use. For example, concentration of landingpiers (ghats) along river Bouriganga in old Dhaka generates unnecessaryroad traffic in the city, as most of the goods loaded or unloaded hereneed to be transported deep inside or far north of the city. Dhaka,being surrounded by ri vers, the landing piers may easi ly bedecentralised towards north-west and north-east of the city reducingunnecessary through traffic. Similarly, a large chunk of land in use byeducational institutions and the cantonment within the city force trafficmovement to be of circuitous nature.

Notwithstanding the peculiar problems of development Dhaka faces,Urban Government Dhaka, as in many developing countries, has stuckto the by-laws lifted unimaginatively from Western countries. Valuejudgment plays no small part in breaking the organic link betweenthe older and new urban areas. The appeal of Patrick Geddes73 tounderstand the specif icity of each town, and to undertake onlyconservative surgery, not drastic amputation (of form and history) iseven more valid today than at the beginning of the twentieth century.He felt the need for economising on transport by changing the zoning


regulations. Geddes pointed out that Indian cities should not plan anddevelop as if they were like London or other European cities; theeconomic condition and psychological framework of India was notconducive to that. His concepts were totally opposed to a typicallycolonial approach. He had a sympathetic appreciation for indigenouslandscape. Geddes believed that the major objective of the colonialdevelopment should be the conservation, recovery and maintenanceof the indigenous home, the neighbourhoods and the sentiments ofinhabitants. The proposal was perhaps the only attempt so far forDhaka to integrate two parallel and often conflicting trends of urbandevelopment. The first formal Master Plan for Dhaka was prepared in1958 for an anticipated population of 2 million, compared to the currentf igure of more than 10 mil l ion. The Dhaka M etropol i tan AreaDevelopment Plan (DMDP’95) came up after a long interval, but isyet to be adopted formally. The emerging development scenario doesnot look bright, at least in the immediate future.

Recent Trends in Planning and Development

The Dhaka Integrated Transport Study sub-divided the city into 19zones. Subsequently, it was revised in 1995 resulting in adjustmenttowards, mouza and municipal boundaries and readjustment of thezones. In effect, the previous 19 zones became 26 zones af terreadjustments. Zone 1, 2 and 3 are the most densely populated areasand form the core of Dhaka City. Zones 1 and 2 are loosely termed asthe Central Business Districts (CBD- south and north respectively) andzone 3 comprises of the pre-colonial urban core. Zones 1 to 6 roughlycorrespond to Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) area, and are mostlyreferred to in this study.

Even during the colonial rule, people w ith different occupational oreconomic status lived together in the same community, outside theEuropean quarters. Such communities still exist in the informal partsof the city. The part of the city developed on formal planning lines ischaracterised by segregation of communities according to incomeclasses. Communities were compartmentalised on the basis of socio-economic status or groups. This gives rise to a settlement pattern, whichis more and more divided and isolated, incapable of acting as a whole,thus losing vitality. This is exemplified in both government employees’colonies as well as in state sponsored private housing areas and model


tow ns. One of the characteristi cs of Dhaka is the presence ofgovernment housing complexes of various types and status. In mostof the cases they are not properly integrated with the surroundingdevelopment. These housing communities segregated by occupation,are also an index of the resident’s status and income range. Mismatchof these ‘colonies’ to their surrounding community structure often posessocial problems.

Dhaka’s urban morphology is characterised at one end by modernhigh rises or apartment blocks, and bustees or squatter settlements, onthe other hand. In between these two extremes l ie public sector‘colonies’ of monotonous blocks of flats w ith their unused, uncared-for green pockets of lifeless character. Side by side, but in contrast tothese ‘colonies’ are intensive lively portions (however disorganised itmay appear at the first sight) of informal development at Dhaka.Informal areas are spontaneous developments by the majority whowere left out of the conventional planning process. The socio-economicparameters on which a humanistic planning and design exists aimedat catering to the needs of the masses, requires inclusion of a viableeconomic programme. Humanistic planning, defined in terms of thoseneeds, is missing in the contemporary development.

Concluding Remarks

A city needs to be appraised w ith reference to its geographical,historical, socio-economic and cultural contexts that impact its futureand make it thrive or decay. Liveability of a city is dependent onseveral tangible and intangible functions: what Louis Kahn called themeasurable and un-measurable, the physical and the spiri tual orsymbol ic. “Strong walls do not make a ci ty. Neither palace norcomplexes, nor all the well-tended parks and civic centres in the worldcan make a city thrive. It is such drab things as the skill of man,investment, power, transport, water, living, and working space thatmake a city feel like reaching up to the skies. These are the victualsand keep a city strong, healthy and growing.”74 Buildings, spaces,activities and communities in the city, when organised and designedwithout this holistic vision and perspective result in a banal and sterileenvironment that lowers the quality of life and fails to inspire creativity.Naturally, the bottomline for all these is a healthy community andcontextual planning.


Perlman75 underscored the need for a vibrant neighbourhood as akey to a healthy city and observed some basic ingredients missing incontemporary American society, therefore, called to learn from the ThirdWorld countries. She discussed the role of neighbourhood organisationsfrom her Latin American experience in creating that vitality. PresidentKennedy, referring to the role of neighbourhood groups, said that ‘Thosewho make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable.’76

The realisation of involving grassroot level neighbourhood groups inthe development process is not new but how far this realisation couldbe materialised in practice? M ore than a decade after PresidentKennedy, President Carter77 again emphasised that ‘Neighbourhood andfamilies are the living fibre that holds our society together. Until we placethem at the top of our national policy, our hopes for the nation and our goalsfor our private lives will not be attained.’ American neighbourhoods arephysical, not social, and never considered as a vehicle of socio-economicintegration.78 The groups in the neighbourhoods, when present and workin the community, are essentially voluntary and agenda-based.

In some cases, these groups or their leaders are legitimised andlegally recognised as Neighbourhood Advisory Councils or Neighbour-hood Planning Boards, increasing their voice in decisions affecting theirlocality or even conferring direct control over services and resourcesallocated for the area. But often, these Bodies are not comprehensiveenough to cover all spheres of community life. Some of the indigenouscivic bodies like punchayat might provide an answer to this dilemma.Dhaka has a perfect setting to encourage direct public participation inthe development process.

Faced with a colossal demand for clean water, clean air, undergroundsewerage, an effective drainage system, well laid and w ide roads, goodschools, efficient health delivery and hassle free life, but w ithout thenecessary resources and motivated expertise for comprehensiveplanning and development, the ci ty authorities have opted for astrategy of remaining aloof and responding to only those problemsthat require urgent attention or which the people could not tacklethemselves.79 A welcome outcome of this inability of the local andnational governments to redress public grievances is the public-privateparticipation in the informal areas of the city. Its reach has graduallyextended to improvement of the roads, mohalla securi ty, w astedisposal and management and recreational facili ties. Motivation,


co-ordination and guidance are derived from the age-old system ofmohalla punchayat set up. Examples of civic work being taken up bycontribution from residents or even someone sponsoring the entire taskare not rare. As this paper comes to its final stage, the author hopesthat the government will steer Dhaka’s destiny more rationally andprofessionally and ultimately decentralise its governance once againto the neighbourhood level. If the bottom-up initiative is furtherenlarged and fine-tuned with top-down planning for the metropolisin its regional context, Dhaka will certainly be in a better position totide over its problems.

With the emergence of Sheikh H asina as Prime M inister ofBangladesh in January 2009, Dhaka is being redecorated as a new-look capital city under a mega plan to bring order in the otherwisechaotic civic life. Under this master plan, a 1,528 sq km area of Dhakaunder the jurisdiction of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) willbe built in the light of rules and regulations of a structure plan.

According to the rebuilding plan, the capital city has been dividedinto 17 Land Use Zones. These are:

1. Urban Residential Zone,2. Commercial Zone,3. General Industrial Zone,4. Heavy Industrial Zone,5. Commercial-General Industrial Zone,6. Residential-Commercial Zone,7. Residential-Commercial-General Industrial Zone,8. Residential-General Industrial Zone,9. Residential-General Industrial Zone,

10. Institutional Zone,11. Administrative Zone,12. Agricultural Zone,13. Flood Flow Zone,14. Open Space Zone,15. Rural Settlement Zone,16. Water Retention Area, and17. Water Body.

The Detailed Area Planning (DAP) approach focuses on road-building and other facilities. The planning model chosen envisagesdeveloping Dhaka as a Growth Pole necessitating extensive and long-


distance travel. It would be better to adopt a people-friendly andequity-focused approach as the RPM model so that most of the goodsand services are available w ithin a short distance and poorer sectionsof the society can also benefit from development. This applies toTransport Plan too. More land should be allocated for public uses.Further, instead of catering to the needs of the rich, more of publicservices and social institutions within walking distance is vital to makeDhaka a lively city and for reducing traffic congestion and pollution.

Dhaka needs a Regional Urban Development Plan, which offersavenues for decentral isation of many of i ts economic activi ties,relocation or redevelopment of slums and squatter settlements, betterdrainage outlets, people’s participation in planning and developmentnot only at the apex municipal level but also and more importantly atthe grass roots (mohalla and panchayat) levels. If Dhaka can tide overnatural calamities and grow to the present size, it can certainly tideover the vagaries of misplaced planning and development to once againbecome not only a great city of the world in terms of population butalso in terms of quality of urban life.

Notes and References

1. M owla, Q.A. (1986): An Appraisal of A rchi tecture in Dhaka w ithReference to its Thermal Performance, in Powell, R. (Ed) Regionalism inArchitecture, Published by the Concept Media Singapore, on behalf ofAKAA, Geneva: Switzerland, 1986.

2. Mowla, Q.A. (1985): Sun and the Built Form: with special reference to Dhaka –Bangladesh, unpublished M. Arch. Dissertation, 1985, Department ofArchitecture and Planning, University of Roorkee (IIT- Roorkee), India.

3. Flood Forecasting Division of the Bangladesh Water Development Board,GoB.

4. Taylor, James (1840): Topography and Statistics of Dacca, Calcutta.5. Muktadir, M.A. & D.M Hasan, (1985): Traditional House Form in Rural

Bangladesh: A case study for Regional ism in Architecture, Paperpresented at the Regional seminar on Architecture and the Role of Architectsin Southern Asia, 19-22 December’ 1995, Dhaka. p. 5–6.

6. Toffin, G. (1994), Ecology and Anthropology of Traditional Dwellings, InTraditional Dwelling and Settlement Review in the Journal of InternationalAssociation for the Study of Traditional Environments, Vol. V, No. II, 1994,pp. 9–20.


7. Nazimuddin (1995): Architectural Development in Bangladesh – abackground, paper presented at the Regional Seminar on Architecture andthe Role of Architects in Southern Asia, 19–22 December 1995, Dhaka. pp.17.1–17.10.

8. The terms roughly correspond to courtyard, lane, corner and marketrespectively but do not exactly convey the meaning.

9. Rennel, J (1792): Memoir of a Map of Hindostan, 2nd Ed., London (pp.201–229). And also Letter from Rennell to the Rev. Gilbert Barrington,Vicar of Chudleigh, Devon, 31 Aug. 1765, ‘Rennell’s Letters’, HomeMiscellaneous Series, Vol. 815.

10. The Imperial Gazetteer of India (IGI), Vol. XI, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908,pp. 105-116. And also IGI, Vol. IV (2nd Edn.), London: Trubner & Co.,1885, pp. 77–91. Note that Sonargaon and Savar are within greater Dhaka.

11. Centre for Urban Studies (CUS), (2006): Slum of Urban Bangladesh: Mappingand Census, Dhaka, 2005.

12. Level of income required to purchase the necessary food requirements(FAO/ WHO estimates of the household’s caloric requirements-1983)quoted in Colman, D. & Nixon, F. (1994), Economics of Change in lessdeveloped countries, Harvester Wheatsheaf, pp. 254–55; Lipton, M082):Poverty, under nutrition and Hunger, World Bank Staff Working Paper,p.2. More specifically: People unable to consume 2122 kcal/ person/ daydue to economic reasons are below the poverty l ine. (\ See also Hashmi,T.I. (1997): Subsistence Attainment vs. Poverty Eradication, in http://.www.bangla.net/holiday/viewpt.html, dt. 30.6.97.

13. BBS (2001): op. cit.14. CUS (2006): op. cit.15. The storm drainage system of Dhaka city has progressively deteriorated

in the last 15 to 20 years with the expansion of the city. Previously, naturaldrainage was successfully achieved through Dholai Khal, Gerani Khal,Shegun Bagicha Khal, Pari Bagh Khal. These Khals have been encroachedupon and even blocked at many locations by unplanned constructions.

16. Birt, B. (1914): Romance of an Eastern Capital, London, 1914 (Chap. 1).Historians have studied Dhaka’s history quite well, some of them areDani, A. H. (1962): Dhaka-A Record of its Changing Fortunes, Asiatic SocietyPress, Dhaka, p. 7; Karim,A. (1964): Dacca – The Mughal Capital, Asiaticsociety of Pakistan Publication no. 15, Dhaka. p. 29; Taifoor, S.M.(1952):Glimpses of Old Dacca, Dacca, p. 6; and more recently Ahmed, S.U. (1986):Dacca-A study in Urban History and Development, London Studies on SouthAsia No. 4, Curzon Press Riverdale Co, and Mowla, Q.A (2003),Morphological Evolution of Dhaka- A Historical Perspective, AsiaticSociety Journal, Vol. 48(1), pp. 145–170.

17. Rudduck, G. (1961): Towns and Villages of Pakistan, Government of Pakistan,Karachi: Planning Commission.


18. Ahmed, S.U. (1986): Dacca–A study in Urban History and Development,London Studies on South Asia No. 4, Curzon Press Riverdale Co. pp. 11.

19. Taish quoted by Ahmed, (1986), ibid. p. 13.20. D’Oyly, C (1808): Antiquities of Dacca, published by John Lanseer, No. 33

Foley St. London.21. Rennel, J (1792): op.cit. pp. 201–229.22. DMRR, Magistrates Report 1893.23. Trevelyan, C. E. (1853): Evidence of Sir C. E. Trevelyan on Indian Territories

before Select Committee of the Two Houses of Parliament, 1853.24. Chomsky, N (1993): Year 501: The Conquest Continues, Verso. p.14.25. Chomsky, N (1993): op.cit. pp. 5–21.26. Taylor, J. (1840): op. cit. pp. 363–371, and ‘Notes by the (Commercial)

Resident,’ Home Miscellaneous Series, Vol. 456 (f) footnotes to p. 289;also Karim, A. (1964): Dacca-the Mughal Capital, Asiatic Society of PakistanPublication No 15, Dacca, pp. 37–38.

27. Walter, H. (1820): A Geographical, Statistical and Historical Description ofHindostan and the Adjacent Countries, 2 Volumes, London; and see Ascoli,F.D (1917), Early Revenue History of Bengal and the Fifth Report, 1882, Oxfordfor detail statistics and geographical descriptions.

28. Dhaka Municipal Corporation Record Room (DMRR): Coll.XXXI/ 64 andColl. XXV/ 11, also Ahmed (1986): op.cit. p. 151.

29. BPWD proceedings - General, XVI, 59, Nov. 1862, p. 293.30. The Dacca Review, VI, No. 2, May 1916, pp. 67–68.31. This form of settlement pattern, i.e. living nearer to their relations and

Jatis or caste groups, first came into official notice when the districtgazetteers and the record of rights required by the 1885 Bengal TenancyAct were under preparation. However it did not go farther than this.Following literature gives clues to this pattern, they also show that thepattern is common all over Bangladesh: Vas, J.A. (1911): Bengal DistrictGazetteers, Rangpur District. p. 146; O’Malley, L.S.S. (1908): Bengal DistrictGazetteers, Chittagong District. p. 52; Cummings (1890): Settlement Paperson Pargana Roushanabad, No. 19, Comilla Rajbari Record Room, Comilla.

32. Indigenous Mahallas were typical in the dense development for pedestrianmovement combined with business activities; the clerks and the porterswere all within walking distances of the place of work. Living near thebusiness centre saved people both time and money.

33. Ahmed, S.U. (1986): op. cit. p. 1534. British ‘divide and rule’ policy successfully injected the idea among the

indigenous population that for them British rule is just a matter of changeof masters, not a question of local and foreign rule, so they shouldcooperate with them. See Dani (1962: Dhaka – A Record of its ChangingFortune, Dhaka: Asiatic Society Press.

35. Ahmed (1986): op.cit. p. 132.


36. Dani (1962): op.cit. pp. 125–128.54. In the present study, the term urban area has been used as defined by

the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, as a developed area around (i) anidenti fiable central place where (i i) Amenities l ike metalled roads,communication faci l ities, electr ici ty, gas, water supply, sewerage,sanitation, etc. usually exist, (i ii) which are densely populated and amajority of the population are non-agricultural and (iv) where communitysense is well developed. There is no mention of its physical size.[Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics-BBS (2003): Bangladesh Population Census2001 (Zila: Dhaka), GoB.]

37. Haider, A. (1967): Dhaka: History and Romance in Place Names, A DhakaMunicipality Publication, Dhaka: pp. 48–49.

38. Post 1947 rule was a synthesis of the autocratic element in the traditionof the British rule and the aristocratic traditions of the north IndianMuslim ascendancy. The special character and aspirations of the Bengalicould find little room to express themselves within such political order.See Jackson, R. (1975: South Asian Crises - India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Chotto& Windus Ltd. London, pp. 18–19]. Bengali Middle class, the mostimportant social force, had undergone their formative experience in theparliamentary government of the then undivided Bengal. They possesseda deep loyalty to their Bengali Culture – a synthesis of pre-Islamic andIslamic traditions, besides their commitment to Islam.

39. Islam, M. S. (1980): Life in the Mufassal Towns of Nineteenth CenturyBengal, in Ballhatchet,K and Harrison (Eds.) The Cities in South East Asia,Curzon Press, London, p. 250 (pp. 224–256).

40. Deshpande & Arunachalam (1981): Bombay, in Pocione, M (ed.), Problemsand Planning in the Third World Cities, Croom Helm, London, pp. 187–217.

41. Doshi , B.V (1985): Cul tural Continuum and Regional Identi ty inArchitecture, paper presented at a seminar on Regionalism in Architecture,Dhaka, 19-22 Dec 1985. pp. 18.1–18.9.

42. King, A.D. (1980): Colonialism and the Development of the Modern AsianCities: Some Theoretical Considerations, in Ballhatchet, K. & Harrison,(ed.), The Cities in South East Asia, Curzon Press, London.

43. The British mistook Bengali Out-House (Bangla or Kachari Ghar) as thelegi timate Bengal i house. They developed this typology which ispopularly known as bungalow (corruption of bangla). Bangla ghar is amale domain and is extrovert in character. The indigenous house typologyis introvert in character with a courtyard (uthan) in the centre. Bungalow,though developed as a complete house, was also extrovert in nature withverandas all round and sited in the middle of a compound. Bungalowtypology is the basis for subsequent building bye-laws. King, AD (1975),The Colonial Bungalow – Compound Complex in India, in Ekistics 234,


May, 1975. Quoted in Mowla, Q.A. (1990): Study of Urban DevelopmentOpportunities for Lalbagh/ Kotewali zone and Urban Design Vision forthe Land to be vacated by Dhaka Central Jail Located in the Study Area,MUD dissertation, University of Hong Kong, Sept. 1990.

44. Breese, G. (1966): Urbanization in newly Developing Countries, Prentice-Hall,Inc., Eaglewood Cliffs., NJ.

45. Bhal, R.W and Johannes L. (1992), Urban Public Finance in DevelopingCountries, NY: Oxford University Press, pp. 14–15.

46. Duality exists in many spheres of Dhaka’s l ife eg. dual educationmedium/ system, dual traditions of planning, dual order of settlementpattern (ambivalent attitude toward imported architectural styles, modesof construction, use of space), dual authority controlling Dhaka’s planning,dual economy (formal and informal), mechanized and non-mechanizedtransport in the same roads and so on.

47. Islam, N. (1992): ‘The Poor’s Access to Urban Land for Housing’ in Islam,N. and Chowdhury, A.I. (Eds.), Urban Land Management in Bangladesh,Ministry of Land, GoB publication, p. 133.

48. UNCHS/ HABITAT (1996): An Urbanizing World: Global Report onHuman Settlements, New York: Oxford University Press, p. 243.

49. UNCHS (2001): Cities in the Urbanizing World: Global Report on HumanSettlements 2001, London: Earthscan.

50. Besides huge amount of unauthorized constructions (without the approvalof planning authority), there are cases of houses in il legal land, il legallyoccupied houses, subletting, institutional spaces, squatting etc. At oneextreme, there is i llegal occupation (squatting) and at the other, fullylegal occupation of the land but with one aspect of the house or plot orthe wider sub-division not meeting official standards or perhaps evenmeeting official standards but not having received official approval. Alsoref. UNCHS (2001): op cit.

51. The data is based on 1981 census. According to 1991 census, Old Dhaka’spopulation density (person/ acre) is 323, showing a little increase in adecade.

52. Mowla, Q.A. (1990): Study of Urban Development Opportunities for Lalbagh/Kotwali zone and Urban Design Vision for the land to be vacated by DhakaCentral Jail located in the study Area, an unpublished MUD dissertationsubmitted to Hong Kong University, 1990, p. 12.

53. UNCHS 2001. op cit.54. In the present study, the term urban area has been used as defined by

the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, as a developed area around (i) anidenti fiable central place where (i i) Amenities l ike metalled roads,communication faci l i ties, electricity, gas, water supply, sewerage,sanitation etc. usually exist, (i ii) which are densely populated and amajority of the population are non-agricultural and (iv) where community


sense is well developed. There is no mention of its size, BangladeshBureau of Statistics (BBS), 2003 Bangladesh Population Census 2001, Zila:Dhaka), GoB.

55. The main reason for deteriorating conditions in the indigenous quarterscan be attr ibuted to their inabil i ty to enter into general planningframework of Dhaka. Legal complicacies regarding ownership in manyproperties deter the occupier to make large investments in maintenanceis yet another factor for deteriorating conditions there.

56. More than 500 acres of public owned land designated for some use islying vacant at Dhaka. If vacant lands owned by private industries andInstitutional lands owned by railways, port authorities, Universities, etc.are also taken into account, these figures would swell to a much higherfigure. (Das, A.C. 1992: Urban Vacant Land – Public and Private issuesand Prospects for development in Islam, N. and Chowdhury, A.I. [Eds.]Urban Land Management in Bangladesh, Published by Ministry of Land,Government of Bangladesh. p. 142.). A M/ O Land, GOB survey conductedin June 1997, says that about 1,500 acres of public land, mostly of PWD,HS&D, RAJUK, Railway, DCC, is under il legal occupation, and most ofit is occupied by the bustees (Khan, 1997, op.cit.).

57. However, this is a case of negative thinking to look at a phenomenon.Within these bustees there is a strong community feeling and self-helpattitude. Communities are quite vibrant; their main problem is poverty.(Payne, 1979: Housing- the Third World Solution to First World Problemin the Built Environment, Vol. 5, No. 2, 1979, pp. 99–110 & Turner, 1979,pp. 91–98).

58. Mowla, Q.A. & Helaluzzaman, M. (1986): Study of Ganaktoli Sweeper’sBustee (unpublished Project Report), submitted to the M/ O Works, GoB,as a participant in the design competition on the occasion of WorldHabitat Day, to improve the living environment of Ganaktoli Bustee,Dhaka.

59. Mowla, Q.A. (2003): Towards a Paradigm of Liveable City – The Case ofDhaka, Jahangirnagar Review, Jahangirnagar University, XXVII, 2003, 43-54. Also see Dhaka Integrated Transport Study (DITS-1994), The DraftFinal Report, Feb. 1994. GoB.

60. Khan, I. M. (1985): Liveability in Old Dhaka: Evolving Residential Patternin Mohallas, Paper presented at the Regional Seminar on Architecture andthe Role of Architects in Southern Asia, 19-22 December, 1995, Dhaka: pp.7.1 to 7.13

61. Kamal, M. I. (1995): The Urban Housing Scheme in Dhaka, in NagorioProkoton: An Urban Affairs Quarterly, Vol. II, No. 3, Sept.–Nov., 1995, pp.93–97.

62. King, 1975, op. cit.


63. Far Eastern Economic Review (1987), No Place Like Home: Dhaka Faces upto its Chronic Housing Shortage, Vol. 137(32) 6 Aug’1987.

64. This thinking process is elaborated by Alexander. See Alexander, C.(1964):Notes on the Synthesis of Form, MIT press, Cambridge, Massachusetts and(1979): The Timeless Way of Building, New York: Oxford U.P. and mayalso refer to Alexander, C. et al. (1977): A Pattern Language, New York:Oxford U.P.

65. 90 per cent of the respondents are in favour of increasing law enforcingmanpower and improving the efficiency of management to tackle theproblem. Will the planners ever consider these facts in their planningstrategy? [Report by the Centre for Sustainable Development, Dhakapublished in the daily Observer and quoted in http://www.bangla.org/news.amitech/bvln158.htm#4. Dt.15/ 5/ 97. However, a sample survey carriedout by the author in the study areas (Wari and Dhanmondi) show that75 per cent of the respondents l ike to move in Rickshaws, 10 per centprefer own/ individual motorised vehicle, and 5 per cent were undecided.The rest either walked or used public transport. Average work trip periodvaries between 10 and 15 minutes within DCC.

66. Similar studies by Zehner in a different context and in an affluent societyshow similar trends. Zehner, R.B. (1977): Access, Travel and Transportationin New Communities, New Communities Research Series, Cambridge:Ballinger Publishing, p. 83.

67. At present an estimated 160,000 motorised vehicles operate in DMC areawhich include 80,000 cars, 40,000 auto-rickshaws, 16,000 trucks and 1,500buses and 25,500 other vehicles [Saadi, M.L.K(1997): City Pollution risesunchecked in weekly Holiday, http://www.bangla.net /holiday/national.htmldt:21/ 7/ 97]. There are nearly 200,000 cycle rickshaws operating in DMCarea. Rickshaw accounts for nearly 20 per cent of employment in theDMC area and provides for most practical and cheap transport needs ofthe city dwellers [Daily Bangladesh Observer - 23/ 5/ 90]. DMC has a roadnetwork of about 3,000 km. (Mowla, Q.A. (1990): op. cit. p. 6&31 alsorefer to Weekly Bichitra (Bangla) date 5/ 7/ 91, p. 19]. Figures quoted abovehave just doubled in last one decade i.e. in 2007.

68. DITS (1994), op. cit. and Mowla, Q.A. (1994): “Traffic and Transportationof Dhaka with reference to its Urban Environment” paper presented atthe International Seminar on Poverty, Basic Services, and Environment inUrban Areas: The Asian Experience, March 24–26, 1994, New Delhi, India.

69. DITS (1994): op.cit. A lso refer to Faruque, H & Chowdhury, A (1995):Integrated Transport network for Dhaka – 2015 in Nagario Prokoton, AnUrban Affairs Quarterly, year 2, Vol. II, No 1–2, 1995. p.33.

70. N ishioka, Shuzo,Yuichi Noriguchi and Sombo Yamamura (1990):Megalopolis and Climate Change: the case of Tokyo, in James Mc Culloch


(ed.), Cities and Global Climate Change, Climate institute, Washington DC.pp. 108–133.

71. Another recent development is that rather than exploring the means toreduce the generation of traffic, a typical engineering solution to the trafficcongestion is in the process of going ahead. Similarly 2 fly-overs werebuilt recently (at Moghbazar and Mohakhali) to ease traffic jams in Dhakacity. [BSS quoted in ...www.bangladesh – web.com/news/july/09/jvln213htmdt. 9/ 7/ 97]

72. Ratcliffe, J. (1977): An Introduction to Town and Country Planning, Hutchisonand Co. Ltd., London.

73. Geddes, P (1917): Report on Town Planning, Dacca, Bengal Secretariat BookDepot, Calcutta.

74. Mitra, A. (1963): Calcutta - India’s City, New Age, Calcutta.75. Perlman, J.(1979): Neighbourhood Organization : America Learns from

the Third World, in Built Environment, Vol. 5(2), 1979. pp. 111–118.76. Quoted in Perlman, J. (1979): ibid. p. 118.77. Quoted in Perlman, J. (1979): ibid. p. 112.78. Perry, C.A (1929): Neighbourhood and Community Planning, Metropolitan

America, Arno Press, N.Y. (p. 126). Quoted in Audirac, I. & Shermyen, A.(1994), An Evolution of Neotraditional Design’s Social Prescriptions: PostModern Placebo or Remedy for Suburban Malaise? in Journal of PlanningEducation and Research, Vol. 13, p. 164.

79. Payne, G.K. (1979): Housing – the Third World Solution to First Worldproblems, in the Built Environment, vol. 5, no. 2, 1979. p. 105.

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Dhaka: A Mega City of Persistence and Change, (Chapter 12) in Misra, R.P. (Ed): Urbanization in...

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