Unplanned Housing in Dhaka City Finding Solutions free essay sample

In a country like Bangladesh, population is increasing at such an alarming rate that, in near future, living in sea can also become necessary. Especially in Dhaka, the situation is more complicated. As, Bangladesh couldn’t decentralize her capital, people from all over the country rush to Dhaka in search of better opportunity. As a result, almost one fifteenth of the population lives in one certain city. Dhaka is ranked 19th among the megacities by population and this population will reach to 26 million within 2025 if it remains uncontrolled. To accommodate this huge stream of people, unplanned residential areas came into being. Aristocratic people possessed more than sufficient land for their palaces whereas, poor people could only manage small slums to accommodate huge. Moreover, commercial areas overlapped in residential areas and total environment has become hazardous. Now the scenario is, one part of Dhaka shows the glamour of modern life with modern housing facilities, where, below the light, darkness resides in the highly increasing number of unplanned slums. We will write a custom essay sample on Unplanned Housing in Dhaka City: Finding Solutions or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page So, Dhaka is now a city of people and people everywhere with no place to feel safe to reside. So, it has become a must to re-plan Dhaka again for Healthy living. 2. Planned Housing and Dhaka city . 1 Planned Housing â€Å"Planned Housing† is a very important task before planning any megacity. To make a city fit for living, residential and commercial areas are needed to be distinguished. Then, to establish a proper housing, proper estimation and distribution of the expected population is needed. A planned housing system ensures safe and healthy living in a city. Planned housing is an age old practice. Many ancient cities like Rome or Baghdad had well planned housing system. In modern world, this practice has become more necessary as population has increased enormously but, land areas are still the same. So, only planned housing can accommodate this huge population. Figure 2: An urban plan with planned housing of 1902 2. 2 Planned Housing in Dhaka City As Dhaka is one of the most flourishing megacities in south-east Asia, the city is burdened with a lot of socio-economic headquarters and business possibilities. In any other city, this could be a positive side, but for Dhaka, this has become a big problem. People from all over the country are bound to step into this city because; all administrative and business headquarters of the country are in Dhaka. So, the population of Dhaka is ascending with no limits. So, a planned housing system is highly needed for the city. To make Dhaka a well planned megacity, â€Å"Rajdhani Unnayan Kortripokkho (RAJUK) â€Å"is the only organization that is assigned. RAJUK keeps eye on the total planning of the city and they are working on building a well planned housing system in the city. RAJUK covers 1528 sq. kilometers of area to plan a habitable Dhaka. The plan covers areas within- * Gazipur Pourashava(Municipality) to the North * Dhaleshawri River to the south * Bangshi and Dhaleshawri River to the west Shitalakkhya and Meghna River to the East Figure 3: Dhaka city map This total area is taken under the master plan named â€Å"Detailed Area Plan (DAP)†. Goal of DAP is to plan a better Dhaka with better opportunities of living, travelling and passing daily life with more comfort. So, the plan certainly covers measures to implement a proper housing system. RAJUK is expanding the city with new residential areas in Purbachal and Jhilmil. Some colonies for floating people are yet to be made. With all its effort, RAJUK is aiming at building a habitable atmosphere in Dhaka. 2. Recent Scenario of Housing System in Dhaka City Dhaka has become a city of overcrowded people now-a-days. It has become a common destination for job seekers, for higher studies, for business purpose and even sometimes it is a holiday destination. As a result, population in Dhaka has broken all limits. A survey shows that, Dhaka is the worst livable city among 140 cities of the world. . Figure 4: Comparison between the increase of land area and population in Dhaka city The figure above shows that, from 1608 to 2012, the population has climbed up whereas; land area could not keep pace with the flow. The blue line just attached with the horizontal axis shows the slow rate of increasing of the land area. This mismatch among between the increase of population and land area has created a huge pressure on Dhaka. Consequently, the scenario has created problems like- * Scarcity of sufficient land for accommodation * Difficulties in planning residential areas for such a huge population * Massive explosion of slums * High risk on public health * Huge traffic on road 3. Problems Due to Unplanned Housing * Problems Due to Diversity in Structures Due to unplanned housing, there prevails different types of structures without any regular frequency (e. g. somewhere skyscrapers are built where nearby exists slums) in all over Dhaka. Figure 5: Increasing slums of Dhaka City As a result, the megacity has lost its true beauty and balance. In time of disasters these housing structures are more damaged than usual due to this imbalance of housing structures. * Problem in Sanitation Proper sanitation cannot be provided to the inhabitants of Dhaka due to lack of a planned urbanization. Sanitation issues such as safe drinking water and ood, proper waste management are at stake in many areas of Dhaka. Especially in slums no proper sanitation can be provided to people. A large number of people live in a very congested place having temporary informal housings where there is no availability of safe drinking water and food and most of the temporary huts don’t have topping and ventilation. In slums they have common community bathroom sha red by at least 20 families and most of the bathrooms are generally fenced with gunny bags or without roofs which totally hampers the sanitation of slum-dwellers. * Problems in Transportation There are many housing areas in Dhaka which are blocking the roads area making roads and streets narrower. This causes lack of space for vehicles to move through the roads easily and sometimes this result in severe traffic jams. Moreover in rainy season, these roads and streets become almost unusable due to water logging after heavy rainfall. * Problems in Sewerage System Though Dhaka has a water-borne sewerage system, it is not sufficient to treat all the wastages of such a large number of housings. It can serve only 22% of the population while another 30% are served with septic tanks. Due to unplanned housings there exists a huge lack of proper drainage in central sewerage system which causes many serious problems. In flood time and rainy season this causes water logging which enhances the growth of mosquitoes, different germs and bacteria’s which eventually causes different diseases. * Problems in Water Supply System Unplanned housing in all over Dhaka makes situation adverse for providing necessary water supply to everyone. Only two-thirds of households in Dhaka are served by the city water system. As a result there prevails serious shortage of water supply in different areas causing immense suffering to people. Due to gradual sinking of ground water level is making the situation worse. * Problems in Power Supply Due to a large number of unplanned housings in Dhaka it is not possible for DESA to provide sufficient power supply to all. As a result, there exists a huge power supply demand and load shedding is one of the major problems of today’s Dhaka. * Building Vulnerability Most of the housings in Dhaka are built in such a way that doesn’t follow RAJUK’s building codes and a large number of them have not built their housings as they have submitted to RAJUK. Due to irrational violation of building codes, most of the structures are built weak enough to stand in time of natural disasters such as earthquake, tornado and in time of disaster or pressure on buildings, buildings are subjected to collapse. There are many buildings in Dhaka which are at least fifty years old and they can collapse anytime causing immense suffering to people. * Lose Increases in Disasters As houses in Dhaka are not being built in a planned way, it creates serious problems in tackling disasters such as earthquake, flood, and cyclone. Most of the structures subject to severe loss in disasters (e. . earthquake causes collapse of unsafe buildings while floods causing damages to housing materials). * Problems in Rescue Operation Current housing situations in Dhaka causes many problems in rescue operations after any kind of accident or calamity such as breaking out fire, collapse of building structure etc. Lack of a planned urbanization specially congested housing wastes many times to reach the affected place with rescue teams and rescue. * Environmental Pollution Unplanned housing in Dhaka is one of the main causes of environmental pollution in Dhaka. As industrial area and residential area are not separated, air polluted by smokes of industries and water is polluted by mixing of industrial wastages into water. As unplanned housing has enhanced lack of proper drainage and sewerage, it also pollutes air and water. * Hindrance in Infrastructural Development As there is no regular planned housing in Dhaka, it is very difficult to take any infrastructural development activities in Dhaka. In order to take any infrastructural development, it is required to demolish more number of housings than usual and this makes almost impossible to take any such development activities. . Questionnaire Analysis A questionnaire of 10 Questions used among 30 people revealed following information: Table 1: Questionnaire Analysis Area| Population Type| Housing System| Government steps| Problems in Future| Mohammadpur| Dense| Unplanned| Absent| May increase| Katabon| Medium| Semi-Planned| Absent| May be same| Kollyanpur| Dense| Unplanned| Absent| May incre ase| Mirpur| Dense| Unplanned| Absent| May increase| Shakhari Bazar| Dense| Unplanned| Absent| May Increase| Gulshan| Medium| Planned| Present| May remain same| Uttara| Medium| Planned| Present| May decrease| Analyzing the Questionnaire, some facts came to light as; * Newer parts of Dhaka are more planned than older ones * Government planning newer areas, but older are getting no moderations * Around 77% people (23 out of 30) have lost hope of any change * Around 63% people (19 out of 30) think, â€Å"Unplanned housing making Dhaka unlivable† * More than 86% people (26 out of 30) opine that, â€Å"Dhaka should be re-built† 5. Solutions * Decentralizing Dhaka Dhaka has become the centre of all socio-economic activities in Bangladesh. It has brought enormous pressure of people in Dhaka. In many developed countries, they use different capitals for different purposes. Same step should be taken to decentralize Dhaka as soon as possible. * Permanent Housing for Floating People Some permanent colonies should be made for the floating people, because, these people made slums for living which are now the main headache for the city planners to plan a housing system for Dhaka. * Implementing RAJUK Building Code Many buildings of Dhaka are not suitable for living as they are risky for lives. Some houses are also built in such a way that, they can accommodate only a few people in comparison to its land area. These types of problems are frequently seen in Dhaka which causes misuse of valuable lands. So, RAJUK Building Code should be strongly implemented. * Replacing Older Buildings Most of the older buildings of Dhaka are no longer usable or not planned to make best use of the land to accommodate maximum number of people. These buildings should be demolished and replaced by new planned ones. * Re-possessing Government Lands From Land Grabbers Many government lands are occupied by illegal land grabbers. As a result, these lands are coming to no use for the people; these lands should be freed in no time and used for housing purpose. . Conclusion Dhaka city is now the city of people and city of unplanned houses. Over crowded Dhaka is now at the verge of to be declared as an unlivable city. People here will fight for even a square miter of land in very near future. If situation remains same, no wonder that, people will start to live on streets. But none of the responsible authorities seems to be concerned. Though, now-a-days, some socio-cultural organizations are raising voice on this issue, but, they are not still strong enough to bring a change. So, it can be said undoubtedly that, Dhaka is going to be a death zone very soon. In such situation, there is no time left to sit idle. Dhaka should be decentralized, housing system should be re-sketched. RAJUK needs to be stricter; planners should chalk out best possible way to get us out of this catastrophe. Recently, Detailed Area Plan (DAP) has been introduced. Some satellite towns are in progress, some colonies are also going to be built for middle and lower middle income class people. But, everything is useless until the blind flow of people towards Dhaka is stopped. Since 1608, Dhaka is our pride. Our culture, our economy and our history everything got life from Dhaka. So, our existence loses value if Dhaka loses her pride. That’s why; it is our duty, to save our Dhaka, to ensure a better housing system for our next generation to live in. 7. Recommendations * Term Based planning As housing problem is an age old problem, it cannot be solved overnight. Some long planning highly needed to address the issue. Short term and long term planning should be introduced in this regard. * Encouraging people to return villages Many people come to Dhaka every year in search of fate. These people will leave Dhaka if they find proper opportunities to earn livelihood in their villages. Measures should be taken to send these people back to villages. If possible, some short term trainings and loans on easy terms can be offered to encourage them. Thus slums will be reduced and housing areas can be developed there. * Satellite Towns Around Dhaka Satellite towns around Dhaka should be given emphasize. If some people can be shifted there, pressure will be lessened on Dhaka and housing system can be re-shuffled easily. Moreover, as new towns will be pre-planned, so housing will also be planned there. * Forming Specialist Advisory Committee There are many housing experts in Bangladesh. A committee can be formed by them which will work on re-shuffling housing system of Dhaka. * Introducing A Guideline For Real-estate Business A proper guideline should be introduced for the real-estate business so that, their apartments and housing areas ensure proper housing environment. * Loans to Rebuild Old Houses In order to rebuild old and risky unplanned houses, the house owners should be granted loans on easy terms. The re-built houses should be multi-storied to accommodate larger number of people. Appendix A Questionnaire on Unplanned Housing in Dhaka City (For Academic Use Only) Name: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Age: †¦. Occupation: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1. Which area of Dhaka city do you live in? Ans: 2. What type of area it is ? (a) High populated (b) Moderate (C) Less populated 3. Are most of the houses in your area are planned? (a) Yes (b) No 4. Do you face any problem because of the structure plan? (a) Yes (b) No 5. do you think that the problems are increasing day by day? (a) Yes (b) No 6. Do you think that the situation can be developed? (a) Yes (b) No 7. Do you think that the government has taken enough step to reduce sufferings? (a) Yes (b) No 8. Do you think private sectors have influence on city planning? (a) Yes (b) No 9. Do you think that the unplanned structures should be demolished? (a) Yes (b) No 10. Do you think unplanned housing is making Dhaka unlivable? (a)Yes (b) No List of References Book: 1. â€Å"Business Co0rrespondence and Report Writing† by R C Sharma amp; Krishna Mohan Reports and Surveys: 1. Bangladesh Census Reports 2. †Detail Area Plan (DAP) of Dhaka Shattering the vision of DMDP†- The Daily Star, Saturday, December 20, 2008 3. Death for Dhaka if DAP fails†- The Daily Star, Thursday, January 31, 2013 Websites: 1. www. rajukdhaka. gov. bd 2. www. bbs. gov. bd 3. www. google. com 4. www . wikipedia. org 5. www. eiu. com Glossary 1. DAP- Detailed Area Plan 2. RAJUK- Rajdhani Unnoyon Kortripokkho, the authority to plan and develop Dhaka city. 3. EIU- Economist Intelligence Unit 4. BBS- Bang ladesh Bureau of Statistics [ 2 ]. : Th. Brinkhoff: The Principal Agglomerations of the World, 2012-04-01 [ 3 ]. Far Eastern Economic Review, Asia [ 4 ]. Global Liveability Survey-2012’ by Economists Intelligence Unit (EIU) [ 5 ]. Source: J. Taylor, Sketch of the Topography and Statistics of Dacca (Calcutta: Military Orphan Press, 1840) Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Bangladesh National Population Census Report 1974 (Dhaka: Ministry of Planning, 1977); Bangladesh Population Census 1991 Urban Area Report (Dhaka: Ministry of Planning, 1997); Population Census 2001 Preliminary Report (Dhaka: Ministry of Planning, 2001). Th. Brinkhoff: The Principal Agglomerations of the World, 2012-04-01 [ 6 ]. Appendix; page no. 11