Densification Scenario of Dhaka: The Role of Socio-Economic and Political Forces on Urban Planning

Authors

  • Syeda Jafrina Nancy

Keywords:

densification, socio-economic drivers, building regulations, political will

Abstract

Dhaka the capital of Bangladesh is one of the fastest growing megacities in the world with a density of 23 234 people per square kilometer World Population Review 2016 The city bears a legacy of four hundred years and has undergone a series of shifting political status and dramatic changes in its population throughout the history But since its emergence as the capital city in 1971 it had to face a massive influx of rural migrants pouring in on a regular basis Within four decades of its inception Dhaka witnessed a radical increase in population which constitutes about 40 of the total urban population of the country and 6 of the entire national population Due to its unique geographical constraints the city could not spread through horizontal expansion and therefore caused a scarcity of the inventory of buildable land Consequently the city had to grow vertically to accommodate the escalating demand for housing and other facilities which in turn increased the density By 2011 the population of the city reached 14 7 million with one of the highest densities in the world World Population Review 2016 In the face of land scarcity and a large and fast-growing population that need to be accommodated there is sometimes little option left but densify existing land uses which leads to the process of densification as in the case of Dhaka But the promised benefits of densification process did not seem to be accrued so far The socio-economic and political drivers of the state always influence the Urban planning which is also true for Megacity Dhaka The ever changing socio-economic condition of different periods guided by the political will of the incumbent rulers acted as a key driver in determining the urban growth pattern of Dhaka Though the British can be credited for making the first Master Plan of Dhaka a significant transformation of the city as provincial capital can be witnessed from Pakistan period The importance of Dhaka continued to grow after

How to Cite

Syeda Jafrina Nancy. (2017). Densification Scenario of Dhaka: The Role of Socio-Economic and Political Forces on Urban Planning. Global Journal of Human-Social Science, 17(B4), 39–49. Retrieved from https://socialscienceresearch.org/index.php/GJHSS/article/view/2402

Densification Scenario of Dhaka: The Role of Socio-Economic and Political Forces on Urban Planning

Published

2017-10-15