Controlling population or raising inequality?
Criticising the new Detailed Area Plan (DAP), a group of experts and stakeholders have claimed that the middle class will become poorer and the rich will get richer if the DAP is implemented.
They said in the new DAP, the authorities have given areas like Mohammadpur, Kalyanpur, Pirerbagh, Agargaon and Badda low floor area ratio (FAR) values.
FAR refers to the ratio that is derived from the total area of all the floors of a building and the size of the piece of land upon which it is built. The higher the FAR, the taller a building can be built and vice versa.
So, buildings taller than three to four stories cannot be built in the aforementioned areas in general. On the other hand, areas like Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara and Dhanmondi have high FAR values. Hence, 10-storey buildings or even taller structures can be built there, they added.
However, planners of Dhaka city supported the DAP, saying the values are justified as they were determined based on the areas' civic facilities, infrastructural development and population density.
According to the authorities, if FAR values of underdeveloped areas are low, then the number of new flats will go down, resulting in people choosing less populated areas to live in, where flats are more available. This will ultimately balance out the population density of areas.
On August 23, the government published the gazette notification for the 20-year DAP, which covers 1,528 square km of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk).
Blasting the new DAP, Mubasshar Hussain, president of Institute of Architects Bangladesh, said in Dhaka, buildings with more than five floors account for 8 percent of all the structures and buildings with two to five floors make up 24.6 percent. One-storey buildings, which are mainly in underdeveloped areas, account for 67.46 percent.
In developed areas, the high FAR values will better facilitate the construction of buildings. In essence, FAR values have been taken from the poor and given to the rich, he said.
Now, people will not be able to buy flats in areas like Mohammadpur and Kalyanpur for cheap, as the dearth of flats will hike prices, he explained.
"And if you want to buy a flat in a developed area you have to spend Tk 4 to 5 crore, which is quite impossible for most people. This will make the rich richer and the poor poorer," he added.
Mubasshar said there is no record, anywhere in the world, of reducing population density in an area by decreasing the number of flats. It will just create a housing crisis.
Speaking in favour of the DAP, Fazle Reza Sumon, president of Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP), said the infrastructural and civic facilities of Badda are not similar to those of areas like Gulshan and Banani, which have high FAR values.
Higher average FAR values have already harmed Dhaka as they have negatively impacted different utilities, communication, infrastructure and land use, he said, implying that raising the values of underdeveloped areas will not help.
Architect Iqbal Habib said the government is stating that 67.46 percent of underdeveloped areas do not have playgrounds, educational institutions, community centres, parks and other facilities, so they have been given low FAR values.
"But the question is, who is responsible for ensuring these facilities?" he asked.
Now, facilities in the surrounding areas of Dhaka must be increased. "If you can create good educational institutions, hospitals, employment opportunities, and communication systems in those areas, people will go and live there," he said, adding that there is no initiative for this in the DAP.
"In the DAP, a FAR of 1.5 to 2 has been given for the surrounding areas, which is unacceptable," Iqbal mentioned.
Chief Executive Officer of Sheltec Sharif Hossain Bhuiyan said the new FAR values will negatively impact the construction of buildings.
Adil Mohammad Khan, former general secretary of Bangladesh Institute of Planners, said, "We must keep in mind, higher FAR values, in general, only exacerbate the prevailing disparity between landowners and landless urbanites in Dhaka city."
"Far values above 1 to 1.5... will create disparity and discrimination. It will pave the way for landowners to start a predatory real-estate business, which has already been witnessed in Dhaka city."
He said that is why for plot-based housing development, even in cities like Singapore, the FAR value is around 1 to 1.5, or the authorities allow a maximum of two-storey buildings.
Rajuk Chairperson Anisur Rahman Miah told The Daily Star that authorities prepared this DAP keeping long-term plans in mind. The FAR values have decreased for densely populated areas.
About the middle class, he said there are some areas in Uttara where they can buy flats at relatively low prices.
Talking about peripheral areas, the chairperson said, "In those areas, FAR values are not based on the entire location. If the plot is big, the FAR will be higher."
"For example, if four people own separate plots and combine them to construct a building jointly, then the FAR will be higher. Hence, we are encouraging big plots," he added.
Although the first DAP was gazetted in 2010, the authorities could not implement it due to several reasons, such as lack of necessary, effective initiatives; weak law enforcement to prevent unauthorised construction; shortage of resources; lack of coordination among stakeholders; and inconsistencies in proposed policies.
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