A Proposed Framework for Regenerating Urban Green in Dhaka City

Abstract

Dhaka has continued to lose its share of ‘green’ to quite shocking proportions throughout the course of its ‘becoming’ a megacity. Although growth management tools like floor area ratio (FAR) is proposed to control building density in and around Dhaka city, how extent these tools are likely to effectively compensate the lost parts of green still sceptical. Having identified a significant lack of direction as well as regular follow-up on ‘greening’ in both national urban policies and existing building construction guidelines maintained by RAJUK, our paper aims to contribute to fulfil this policy void within an ‘accommodating’ scenario. We discuss a possible policy environment that seeks to propose ways to regularize Dhaka’s ‘rule-violating’ development activities through a mandatory adaptation to a strategic policy tool called ‘Compensative Greening’. Instead of existing compensation policies, we propose for a conceptual framework based on an obligatory on-site adaptation to ‘long-term greening’. We discuss how this framework should enable a sustainable mainstreaming of the violated constructions ensuring fiscal benefits for RAJUK, building owner and the ‘green industry’ alike.

Vol. 6, December 2013, pp. 13-22