Abstract:
Rajshahi is the FOl.lrthMetropolitan City in Bangladesh The origin of the town date
back to 1825 when the District Headql.larterwas shifted from Natore In 1947, the
town became a Divisional Headquarter, The city ofRajshahi is famous for its tine silk
and juicy_mango. The establishment of Municipality, College, Museum, Universit},
Medical College had expedite the development of the city in the past. The first
physical plan of the city was prepared by the UDD in 1968. But due to some
constraints, the Plan was not implemented, After the independence of Bangladesh, the
Government formed Rajshahi Town Development Authority in 1976 for the physical
planning and development of Rajshahi City and its adjoining areas, The Rajshahi
Development Authority prepared Master Plan in 1984. This was basically a land use
type Master Plan which included the future groy.th direction of the city as well as its
major road network, housing areas, commercial & industrial sites, recreational spots
etc, The Master Plan also identified a nl.lmberof projects in different sectors. Over the
last 20 years the city ofRajshahi has been developed after this Master plan. During
this period, a number of proposals of the Master Plan have been implemented while
some of the proposals were not The trend of imbalanced urbanisation in Bangladesh
is one of the major reasons bchind the non-implemenration of Master Plans. However,
in the case ofRajshahi, the geographic location of the city is a barrier lOits economic
development Moreover, the weaknesses in preparation of plan, lack of proper
planning practice, lack of time to time review, political influence, lethargy in project
implementation. etc. are some the reasons behind improper implemenrarion of the
t984 Master plan of Rajshahi. This research intends to study the master plans earlier
prepared for the city of Rajshahi ar.d to investigate whether the development of the
city was accordingly or not. The research also aims to identify the causes behind non
implementation of the master plan and to recommend to overcome the shortcomings
regarding the situation ofRajshahi.City.
