City Dwellers’ Relief from Monotony Through Recreational Aesthetic View: A Study on Buriganga Eco-park, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract

Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, with expanding new areas has been suffering from inadequate provision of recreation facilities. The city lacks miserably in providing recreational space and facilities to its city dwellers which is very important for mental and psychological fitness. The existing open space and park provisions vary widely between old and new Dhaka and are much below compared to the open space standard which should be maintained. In the older city areas there is too little space allotted for recreation. This is true also for many of the more newly developed areas. The areas are poorly provided with parks, recreation ground and other sports facilities. Buriganga Eco-park is the only eco-park in Dhaka city. It is located on the foreshore and eastern side of the river Buriganga in old Dhaka. Bangladesh Inland Transport Authority (BIWTA) has developed the land as an eco-park reclaiming from encroachment of land grabbers. The authority (BIWTA) has developed the land in an engineering way, where there is lack of proper land use and management planning. In this study, it is tried to find out what Management Planning is needed to make the Buriganga eco-park vibrant, effective and impressive with its aesthetic view to the city dwellers.