Dhaka ranked sixth among 127 cities with the worst air quality globally on Thursday (December 12), according to Switzerland-based IQAir. The capital’s air was classified as “very unhealthy”. On Tuesday, Dhaka recorded the world’s most polluted air. Even outside the winter season, the city has remained consistently within the top ten polluted cities during the past two years across summer and monsoon. Dhaka performs poorly across almost all other environmental indicators as well. To restore liveability in the capital, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) formulated the Detailed Area Plan (DAP) in 2023, which is now undergoing its second round of revisions. The draft currently awaits final approval. The DAP recommended building five regional parks across Dhaka’s five zones, with a target timeline of three to five years. Yet, no progress has been made on these parks to date.
The DAP notes that Dhaka’s total open space stands at only 0.9 percent — far below the required 20 percent. Moreover, no major regional parks have been built in the city in more than 50 years since independence. With Dhaka’s land area and population expanding rapidly, regional parks are indispensable to protect both residents and biodiversity.
Urban planners say regional parks are typically larger than city parks. Under the DAP, the largest proposed park spans up to 680 acres.
The DAP identified Keraniganj, Savar, Narayanganj, Rupganj, Kaliganj, and Gazipur for establishing these regional parks. RAJUK and the Local Government Division were tasked with jointly implementing the projects. During the previous government, one project was briefly discussed to build a park. However, due to complications over land acquisition, it was never finalised. According to relevant sources, no initiative has been taken to advance the DAP-recommended regional parks in the 16 months since the interim government took office. Urban planners and environmentalists have termed the stagnation extremely disappointing.
When contacted, Md Mahmudul Hasan, director general of the Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Inspection Wing of the Local Government Division, told Bonik Barta, “The recommendations under the DAP are to be implemented mainly by RAJUK or the relevant ministries. City corporations will support them. As such, our City Corporation Division is supposed to coordinate in this regard. In that case, any discussion or file relating to constructing a large park would definitely come to my attention. But so far, I am not aware of any such project or initiative.”
Ramna Park — spanning almost 70 acres — dates back to the Mughal era. During British rule, it was redesigned to meet the needs of a modern urban park. Suhrawardy Udyan traces its origins to the Mughal and British periods, while the National Botanical Garden in Mirpur was established during the Pakistan era. Urban planners note that when these large parks, like Ramna Park, were built, Dhaka’s population was roughly one million. Today, more than 30 million people live in the capital. In such a megacity, building regional or metropolitan-scale parks is more urgent than most other infrastructure projects. Yet no government body has taken substantial steps in this direction.
Md Ashraful Islam, RAJUK’s chief town planner and former DAP project director, told Bonik Barta, “Dhaka’s population stands at 20 million according to BBS, and around 35 million as per UN estimates. To build a healthy, pollution-free, and liveable megacity for such a huge population, we recommended five regional parks in five strategic zones of Greater Dhaka. Under the previous government, RAJUK proposed a project for a park in Keraniganj. The ministry returned it for re-evaluation due to high land acquisition costs. Since then, over the past year and a half, there has been little discussion on developing any major park. However, RAJUK is currently working on building several smaller parks in different parts of the city.”
Dr. Adil Mohammed Khan, executive director of the Institute for Planning & Development (IPD), believes that parks should be built as soon as possible to ensure land resources. “The DAP’s proposal is timely. But both the previous government and the interim government have failed to grasp its urgency. They may believe they can take up park development later. But the land can still be acquired at a comparatively lower cost today, which will no longer be possible five years from now, once those areas undergo further urbanisation. We expect the government to prioritise these parks above any megaproject to ensure a healthy, pollution-free city,” he said.
Ensuring habitats for all living beings, not just humans, is the foundation of a modern, civilised city. Speaking to Bonik Barta, Dr. Md Niamul Naser, professor of Department of Zoology at the University of Dhaka, said, “Planning a settlement or city based solely on human habitation reflects an immature mindset.”
Stating that if Dhaka fails to ensure ecological balance, all development and megaprojects will collapse, he warned, “The city needs trees and pollution-free water bodies. Butterflies and bees are essential for pollination. With fish disappearing from polluted water bodies, they have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes. If trees and water disappear from the city while mosquitoes and flies keep rising, then residents of this so-called megacity will ultimately depend only on hospitals and medicines to survive.”
Open spaces and parks play a vital role in protecting public health, said Dr. Ibrahim Masum Billah, managing director of Madani Hospital in Baridhara. “In urban life, fields and parks are not merely recreational spaces; they are the foundation of physical, mental, and social well-being. Opportunities for walking and running in open spaces significantly help control heart disease, lung conditions, diabetes, and obesity,” he said.
Regional parks must be prioritised above all else to improve Dhaka’s liveability, said Dr. Akter Mahmud, professor of Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Jahangirnagar University. He told Bonik Barta, “Dhaka ranks at the bottom across nearly every indicator related to environment and liveability. To restore liveability, a comprehensive plan has been drawn up that includes the construction of five major parks. Had the government truly intended to ensure environment-friendly and people-oriented development, it would have begun implementing the DAP recommendations first.”
Commenting that although Dhaka is the economic heart of the country, there has been no real initiative to restore its environment, he added, “Within less than a year of the previous government approving the DAP, it was revised. Now, under the interim government, the DAP is being amended again to facilitate more housing and taller buildings in Dhaka. Yet residents continue to suffer from polluted air, fires, earthquake risks, unsafe drinking water, poor sewerage systems, traffic congestion, and inadequate public transport.”