Analysing the lacunae in planning and implementation: spatial development of Dhaka city and its impacts upon the built environment

Abstract

This article explores the causes of rapid increase in land and housing development projects and their effects on the restricted areas of Greater Dhaka, Bangladesh, using a global positioning system (GPS) survey and socio-economic data. Rapidly increasing housing projects are contravening the urban containment policy stipulated in the Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan (DMDP). These findings show that most of the projects do not have any kind of plan approval and many projects have encroached on restricted areas, for example, flood flow zones (FFZs), high-value agricultural land and retention ponds, through massive land filling, which has resulted in rapid changes of land use, with wide range of impacts on environment and habitat quality. Furthermore, the article analyses the inherent lack of integrated urban planning, the lacunae within agencies in charge of urban management and the resultant externalities in the built environment.