Dhaka as a people-friendly, liveable city
One of the primary tasks of the new mayors of Dhaka should be to turn Dhaka into a people-friendly, liveable city. In this regard, I would suggest the following steps that can be considered by the city's mayors to restore Dhaka's beauty and glory in the eyes of its residents.
Restore parks: Parks are one of the essential public places that make a city liveable. City dwellers gather in parks to feel refreshed and relaxed and the greenery around these areas help to cool down the city's temperature. The existing parks should be renovated, the parks that have been lost due to illegal encroachment should be retrieved and new parks should be built in every residential community.
Pedestrian-friendly roads: A pedestrian-friendly environment encourages people to walk to places that are within walking distance rather than using motorised transports. To provide a pedestrian-friendly environment, a continuous, spacious, clean, and well-maintained network of sidewalks and safe and convenient road-crossing facilities such as pedestrian foot-over bridges, underpasses or properly demarcated crosswalks at regular intervals should be provided.
Public transport: The city bus service should be monitored to ensure that the buses are fit and clean, the buses are operated with licensed drivers adhering to road safety and traffic rules and passengers are treated with care. Regular drives should be carried out to ensure that the auto-rickshaws and taxis are running by the meter and not turning down passengers.
Relocate factories: Factories and warehouses require a lot of land-space and factories generally employ many people, thus adding pressure land and transportation facilities. It also causes pollution and safety threat to the city dwellers. This is why in liveable cities, factories and warehouses are located outside the city.
Dustbins: Placing dustbins at regular intervals in public places and emptying them regularly encourages people to discard trash in the dustbins rather than littering. This helps to keep the city clean and hygienic.
Public toilets: Public toilets are as critical as any other infrastructure to make cities liveable. Public toilets are even considered an integral part of civic amenities. The existing public toilets should be maintained regularly, and new clean and hygienic public toilets with proper sanitation should be provided across the city.
The writer is a transportation engineer working in Thailand.