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.