Housing estates are need of the time: architect

Housing estates and mass transport systems can solve much of the residential and traffic congestion in the capital, an urban planner and architect said yesterday.

Such measures can also ensure community living and lower violence and crimes, said Adnan Morshed, associate professor at the Catholic University of America's architecture and planning department.

“Plots are killing the cities,” he said referring to the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkho's projects of making plots and selling those to individuals.

Such a method of housing is a rural concept and is not ideal for urban settings, where a lot of people live together, Morshed said at the concluding panel of the two-day international conference on urban poverty.

“As the individuals build houses on plots, a lot of space between the plots is wasted. If you build housing estates, that space together can make an open space like park.”

Such open space can be used for community engagement, he said at the programme organised by the Power and Participation Research Centre and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics at the city's LGED Auditorium.  Experts from home and abroad discussed urban poverty, housing, water, sanitation, education and health. The urban poor, around eight million in Bangladesh, are often deprived of such facilities.

The researchers said urban poverty is rising and the quality of life of the urban poor is worse than those of the rural poor, as they can get help from the community in times of economic and social shocks.

Urban governance came up as a major issue at the conference, where experts said transport and housing of the poor in cities like Dhaka and Chittagong are riddled with corruption linked to powerful quarters.

As a result, it is difficult to address the problems, they said, adding that things will take a turn for the worse unless the urban issues are not urgently looked at seriously.

Morshed, who researches on urban designs of cities around the world, said in plot systems some individuals can build palace-like buildings, while the others can have a poor and shabby lodging.

“This creates isolation -- the poor feel deprived. Thus, a harmonious and community living is not ensured,” he said, citing examples of US cities like Bogotá that have major housing estates.

When a mixed economic group of people live together, there is empathy for each other, a situation that helps lower crimes and enhance social cohesion and justice, he said.

Some 30 percent of the population in Dhaka live in slums that often lack basic amenities. Referring to the mostly privatised and misgoverned transport system of Dhaka, Morshed said much of the solution to the city's traffic congestion lies in introducing mass public transport.

Traffic congestion in the capital eats up about Tk 20,000 crore a year, according to the Revised Strategic Transport Plan of 2016.

Traffic congestion, pollution and road accidents are some of the major urban problems in Bangladesh, said UNICEF Country Representative Edouard Beigbeder, while calling for ensuring accountability of the city administrators.

Often, the urban poor remain deprived of education and health services that need to be addressed on an urgent basis, he added.

Ming Zhang, the World Bank's sector manager (urban) for South Asia, suggested formulating a national strategy on urban poverty and involving city corporations and relevant ministries in addressing the issues of concern.

PPRC Executive Director Hossain Zillur Rahman said they would vigorously work in cooperation with the government and other stakeholders to bring down urban poverty and help build sustainable cities.

The WB South Asia Region's Chief Economist Martin Rama, WB Senior Economist Hyoung Wang and BRAC Senior Director Asif Saleh also spoke.