Study on the problems and prospects of Uttara model town, Dhaka : a case of new community development

Abstract

Housing situation of Dhaka city has never been satisfactory; rather the situation remained always very poor in all respects. The majority of the dwellings are sub-standard, unsafe and overcrowded. The ancillary physical, social and economical facilities .and services essential for the development of healthy and harmonious community life are highly inadequate. To meet the demand for the huge population of Dhaka city and to reduce the pressure of high population density in the city, the authorities of early sixties felt the necessity of building new residential communities. Accordingly, on the! basis of Dhaka Master Plan of 1959 and following a feasibility study, the Dhaka Improvement Trust (DlT) authority initiated the 'North Satellite Township' project in 1965, which is now known and named as 'Uttara Model Town'. Since the initiation of the project more than two decades has passed. But the sad part of the story is that. uptill now. only a few plot-owners have constructed houses on their plots, the total development process of the communitv in the township is painfully slow. Consequently. for two decades the township is lying almost IJacant while the city. under the pressure of population growth has rapidly expanded in unplanned haphazard way in different directions. The objective of the present study is to determine the causes of the slow process of development and to evaluate whether the Model Town could still help in reducing the overcrowding and conjestion of Dhaka city. The research was conducted to identify the problems from policy formulation to implementation stage and also to identify the problems faced by the authority, the alia tees and the present residents! users. It was identified that there existed certain mistakes in the basic principles. policies and programmes which can not be corrected at this stage. However. certain problems inherent with the implementation stage can be easily remedied; and recommendations has been made in the thesis for the remedy of those problems. It is expected that the findings of the thesis will be helpful to formulate future guidelines. policies and principles in the planning and development of new communities.