The New Nation - Internet Edition

Dr. Mahabubul Bari

In communities across the nation, there is a growing concern that current development patterns, dominated by "sprawl" -which induces an ever-increasing need to travel and thus construction of more roads-is not in the long-term interest of our cities, existing suburbs, small towns, rural communities or wilderness areas. It is thus unfortunate that our city planners including Strategic Transport Project (STP) team selected a growth pole or diverse land use development scenario, which promotes sprawl and the ever-increasing need to travel and to construct new roads. The scenario was selected on the assumption that the development of a number of poles or larger settlements outside Dhaka proper connected by numerous link roads is desirable.

In the same line, the ongoing initiative for demarcation of Dhaka into different functional units is a matter of serious concern as regards development of a balanced transport system. Creation of more single use functional areas for Dhaka is a recipe for more transport demand and hence increases in congestion. A city as densely populated as Dhaka should consider the advantages of a mixed land use scenario similar to that of "Smart Growth". Smart growth involves mixed land uses, an emphasis on access by proximity rather than through long-distance travel, and therefore encourages the pollution-free modes of walking, biking, and cycle rickshaws. With mixed land use and high density, it is possible to achieve the sizable and diverse population and commercial base needed to support public transit.

Moreover, the selection of mixed land uses following the lifeline of the urban transport corridor under the Strong Central Spine Scenario will be more consistent with the Land Use Plan of DMDP, which preferred a concentrated and mixed use land development similar to that of "Smart Growth".

In addition, such an approach would ensure provision for adequate open space and natural water retention areas and waterways as an integral part of all urban developments. The development of sustainable and "Smart" growth of a city demands adherence to a number of key features, such as:

Development of mixed land use

Provision for a variety of transport choices

Reduction of the need to travel

Creation of walkable environments

Segregating Dhaka on functional lines by removal of markets, shops, workplaces and schools into designated areas will simply increase demand for long distance travel and thus generate even more congestion. In contrast to disperse land use planning, contemporary sustainable land use planning, popularly known as "Smart Growth", invests time, attention, and resources into restoring community and vitality to centre cities and older suburbs. Even in North America, the emphasis has shifted from land developments which tend to favour sparsely-spaced growth poles with huge honeycombs of densely packed road networks to sustainable, mixed land use patterns of "Smart Growth".

New smart growth is more town-centred, transit- and pedestrian-oriented, and has a greater mix of housing, commercial and retail uses. It also preserves open space and many other environmental amenities. Smart growth supports the integration of mixed land uses into communities in order to achieve better places to live. By putting uses in close proximity to one another, alternatives to driving, such as walking or biking, once again become viable.

Mixed land use also provides a more diverse and sizable population and commercial base for supporting viable public transit. It can enhance the vitality and perceived security of an area by increasing the number and improving the attitude of people on the street. It helps streets, public spaces and pedestrian-oriented retail to again become places where people meet, attracting pedestrians back onto the street and helping to revitalise community life. Mixed land uses can convey substantial fiscal and economic benefits. Commercial uses in close proximity to residential areas are often reflected in higher property values, and therefore help raise local tax receipts. Businesses recognise the benefits associated with areas that attract more people, as there is increased economic activity when there are more people in an area to shop.

In today's service economy, communities find that by mixing land uses, they make their neighbourhoods attractive to workers who increasingly balance quality of life criteria with salary to determine where they will settle. Smart growth provides a means for communities to alter the planning context which currently renders mixed land uses illegal in most of the country. The Smart Growth Network recognises the following smart growth principles:

Create a range of housing opportunities and choices;

Create walkable neighbourhoods;

Encourage community and stakeholder collaboration;

Foster distinctive, attractive places with a strong sense of place;

Make development decisions predictable, fair and cost-effective;

Mix land uses;

Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty and critical environmental areas;

Provide a variety of transportation choices;

Strengthen and direct development towards existing communities;

Take advantage of compact building design

As seen in the STP report, both the Growth pole/Satellite Community Scenario and Dispersed Settlements Scenario need almost twice the amount of link connectors/roads in comparison to the Strong Central Spine Scenario.

The additional requirements of connectors or roads result simply because of the selection of an inappropriate Growth Poles/ Satellite Community Scenario. All successful mega cities like Tokyo, Singapore, and London are integrated, with undivided geographical areas, not a collection of small growth poles connected by numerous road or link connectors. Even if mixed use and high density development is encouraged within the poles and public transit is preferred to connect these poles, the development of numerous poles would inevitably give rise to the need for long distance travel, which is contrary to the basic philosophy of "Smart Growth", which discourages artificial creation of the need for additional travel.

The selection of the Growth Pole/Satellite Community land use policy as the basis for land use transport development is likely to encourage the development of numerous small townships within a loose boundary of the mega. city, which in turn requires the development of a large number of pole connectors, as demonstrated by the STP report. The creation of numerous connectors, be they roads or public transit links, is not desirable from the view of the fundamental transport policy objective, which seeks to minimise the need to travel. It is therefore clearly evident that the strong Central Spine land use policy conforms more favourably to the objectives for the development of sustainable transport and "Smart Growth".

Thus, the Growth Pole Scenario is not consistent with the sustainable and "Smart Growth" land use scenarios, as it encourages sparsely-spaced centres of developments, favours long distance trips as opposed to short trips, advocates more road buildings, and discourages creation of liveable and walkable neighbourhoods. Moreover, it is not only economically less efficient but inherently favours the urban elite and car owners while ignoring the travel needs of the poor and vulnerable sections of society.

The STP-selected Growth Pole scenario is not consistent with the land use plan of DMDP, which preferred a concentrated and mixed-use land development. Moreover, it will require building of a significantly higher number of roads in comparison to that of Scenario 1: Urban Corridor - Strong Central Spine Scenario and DMDP, as illustrated in the STP report. It would appear that STP tends to favour major artificial growth of the city along the East West direction by massive expansion of road networks. This will not only discourage mixed and efficient land use planning, but will also encourage long-distance car trips. It is therefore evident that the Growth Pole scenario is not consistent with sustainable and efficient land use planning and should not be the basis for integrated land use and transport planning for a mega city like Dhaka.

In an effort to contain the growth of the city, the STP team suggested creation of a "greenbelt", a ring of land in which development is restricted. It is no doubt an interesting concept. However, the effectiveness of such an approach to contain the growth of Dhaka City remains questionable. Greenbelts have proven ineffective in most cases at containing growth, which simply continues on the other side of the greenbelt.

The better approach is to promote mixed land use development and to reduce the need to travel, as an effective means of controlling the growth of the city. More importantly, in order to create a liveable and environmentally friendly city, it is more desirable to spread needed open spaces, parks and play grounds throughout the city within mixed-use neighbourhoods than to concentrate them in one ring around the city.