The country's realtors and urban planners are having a row over incorporation of certain provisions of the Detailed Area Plan (DAP) for Dhaka.
Representatives of the Real State and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) opined that unless the floor area ratio (FAR) under the proposed building code is increased it will create serious housing crisis in the capital city.
On the other hand, urban planners think Dhaka, already overburdened with a large number of city dwellers, will further lose its liveability if multi-storey buildings are erected on small plots beside narrow lanes.
Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) has so far held two meetings with all stakeholders to finalise the draft of Dhaka Building Construction Rules-2024 in line with the DAP, where the contradictory positions become visible, according to the people familiar with the development.
A technical committee formed in the second meeting on September 5 is now working to finalise the draft of Dhaka Building Construction Rules-2024 after REHAB seriously opposed it as it was prepared without their representation.
Floor area ratio or FAR is a component of Dhaka's Detailed Area Plan (DAP) 2022-2035.
FAR determines how much area a building can accommodate in each floor depending on plot size, width of a road next to it and the population density in the zone.
Since the latest DAP was launched, applications for new building designs have been dropped sharply for all stakeholders including individual home constructions or real estate developers.
As per the new building code, a developer can only construct a four-storey building on a plot where it could construct 7 or 8-storey buildings earlier, said a real estate company executive.
Realtors have periodically protested the change since the new DAP came into effect two years ago. However, there an amendment regarding FAR was accomplished in September last year.
They held a number of programmes seeking amendments to the DAP. At a press conference last month, they urged the government to scrap the latest DAP and reinstate previous DAP 2010 and Bangladesh National Building Code 2008.
Terming the DAP 2022-2035 discriminatory, they also claimed that it would aggravate the housing crisis of Dhaka city.
Echoing their tone, the Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB) on September 2 called upon the government to suspend the latest DAP alleging that it was prepared without following due procedures.
However, Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP) in a separate press conference said a vested quarter wants to make the DAP a political tool.
They said scrapping the DAP will be suicidal for the Dhaka city, which is one of the least liveable ones in the entire globe.
While asked about the developments, Rajuk Chairman Major General (Retd) Md Siddiqur Rahman Sarker told the FE that two meetings took place on September 1 and September 5 with participation of all stakeholders.
"A technical committee has been formed which will submit a set of recommendations within the next 15 working days since the second meeting," he said.
"We expect to reach a logical conclusion taking all stakeholders' views in consideration," he said.
BIP President Dr Adilur Rhaman Khan said Dhaka, already an exceedingly densely populated city, needs special attention to make it a sustainable one in the long term.
He said the realtors are concerned about Floor Area Ratio (FAR); however, they are talking about the detailed area plan (DAP) to use it as a step stone.
"We boycotted the second meeting as participation of people with business interest cannot yield a satisfactory result," he said.
Dhaka ranked 6th in the latest list of least liveable cities in the world, according to the Global Liveability Index 2024 published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on June this year.
Contacted, REHAB Vice-President Abdul Latif said the latest building code was prepared without taking their opinions though they are the key stakeholder of this.
"We presented our arguments in the meeting saying that unless a favourable building code is finalised, the housing crisis will intensify in the city," he said.
Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA) Vice President Architect Iqbal Habib, who joined the review meeting, said there have been much discussions on the existing DAP issue.
"A hotchpotch situation has been created with the issue. We hope there will be no confusion after the building code is finalised," he said.
Due to absence of proper policies and their strict implementation, a large number of waterbodies and floodlands have been encroached upon by land grabbers in the name of housing ignoring sustainability of the city, he added.
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