Urban Dynamics: An undervalued issue for water logging disaster risk management in case of Dhaka city, Bangladesh

Abstract

Abstract An accelerated wave of urbanization and the rapid population growth are brutally transmuting the urban fabric of Dhaka city, Bangladesh. These rampant growth combined with climatic changes are triggering an increase in vulnerability of communities to hazardous events like flood, earthquake, fire hazards, water logging. In recent years water logging has become an increasingly prevailing burden for the city dwellers and is creating adverse social, physical, economic and environmental consequences by disruption of regular life, traffic paralysis, infrastructure damage, destruction of flora and fauna. Once long awaited monsoon now has become a nightmare of facing extensive water logging during the months from May to October (monsoon). Dhaka’s water web, which was once integrated into the city’s fabric as warp and woof had a major contribution in its drainage capacity. But due to unplanned growth and water body encroachment, the water bodies are rapidly disappearing and impermeable surface are increasing. Different development agencies and government organizations are working on this issue but incorporation of urban and landscape design to solve water logging of Dhaka is often ignored or overlooked. Current consideration primarily focuses on functional and operational aspects of the municipal infrastructure. Even if urban designers and landscape architects are incorporated in such projects, their contributions are mostly limited to the beautification without considering an integrated municipal network of rivers and their respective impacts. This underutilization of the respective professional intervention results in increased water logging disaster and pluvial flooding that is inundated for several days. The study attempts to explore the causes influencing the water logging disaster in Dhaka and understand its impacts on quality of life in order to utilize the scope of urban and landscape design at its fullest capacity to water logging disaster risk reduction as well as increase the quality life for city dwellers. Lastly, the paper recommends various scopes for inclusion of urban design-demonstrated framework such as revival and preservation of water bodies, introduction of rain garden, designing permeable and semi-permeable ground surface etc. to alleviate the risk.