No more residential or commercial zones in capital

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Shahed Shafiq
Published : 07:30, Mar 05, 2019 | Updated : 16:25, Mar 06, 2019

The Dhaka city development authority RAJUK has consistently failed to keep the commercial and residential areas separated despite trying for many years. It has now stepped away from that plan, saying that they will no longer mark the areas commercial or residential “for the convenience of the citizens.”
However, there will be specific guidelines and areas for shopping malls and industries. These decisions are about to be incorporated in RAJUK’s Detail Area Plan (DAP), its Director Ashraful Islam told Bangla Tribune.
Meanwhile, most city planners are against RAJUK’s decision to mix up residential and commercial areas saying that it needs to be contemplated whether the move will give rise to another Nimtoli or Chawkbazar tragedy.
RAJUK sources say that despite several efforts it has become impossible to stop landlords from putting their buildings to commercial use. Shops have sprung up in residential buildings to meet the needs of the residents.
They say that RAJUK has to look after the needs of the citizens as well and in that case, they will be provided with strict safety instructions. The floors that will be used commercially must sell products that are necessary for day to day use of the residents.
A RAJUK official said that due to people’s demands, shops have sprung up in almost 90 percent of the buildings. He added that steps cannot be taken against these establishments as they invest large sum of money and evicting them will lead to protest both from the owners and residents of the area.
If commercial areas are separated people will have to travel a couple of kilometres for daily needs, which according to them will not only lead to more traffic but also be more inconvenient for the citizens.
“Our priority is to work according to the needs of the people,” DAP Director Ashraful Islam told Bangla Tribune. “So, we won’t designate any area as residential or commercial,” he added.
He said that most people depend on these simple business organisations. These organisations in turn are creating jobs for thousands of people who are contributing to the economy.
“No area will be purely residential. But we’ll provide guidelines for shopping malls,” Islam said and added that only industrial areas will be separated.
Urban planners, however, described RAJUK’s move as an effort to “cover up its failures.”.
“There are mixed neighbourhoods in the world but the kinds of shops are specified,” said Institute of Planners General Secretary Dr Adil Mahmud.
“We need to see whether we are taking a self-destructive decision in the name of mixed use,” he added.
He said that the in a country like Bangladesh where governance is weak and the law is not followed, encouraging mixed neighbourhood might have disastrous consequences.
“It’s not important how effective the weapon is, what’s important is who is using it,” he said.
According to him, the Chawkbazar and Nimotoli fires are fatal examples of mixed neighbourhoods in the country.

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