Predictions for ‘Purbachal’: Learning from ‘Dhanmondi’

Abstract

Township planning was introduced from early ‘50s in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh having a current population of 14 million approximately. To meet the demand of growing number of population, Dhaka has witnessed different new township projects from the ‘60s to ‘90s. Example of some of these similar developments by government, includes Dhanmondi, Banani, Gulshan, Uttara, Baridhara etc. Hence, old Dhaka city is expanding its civic facilities by urbanizing in the vicinity of city. Under this scenario, a new township project, Purbachal New Town, was planned by concerned government organization namely “Rajdhani Unnayaan Kortipokkha” (RAJUK) which was previously called “Dhaka Improvement Trust” (DIT). This new township is much larger than any other previously planned ones in Dhaka city. This paper aims to compare Purbachal New Town with a previous Development, Dhanmondi Residential Area, which was designed by the same Capital Development Auhtority (RAJUK/DIT) in early ‘50s. The comparison takes place in terms of road network and land-use. Future possible impact of traffic situation on newly designed master plan in Purbachal is also sought for. Findings from the study show some similarities in master plan of Purbachal with existing Dhanmondi, which may create similar situation of current Dhanmondi in proposed Purbachal New Town too.