Dr. Md. Shairul Mashreque :
Chattogram being a major coastal sea Port City and financial center of southeastern Bangladesh needs to be beautified with flyovers and tall buildings. And this is what is happening now a days. Its rich natural infrastructures with sea, river Karnafuli, hills and hillocks attract the tourists. Chattogram represents a prototype of commercialized urbanization with mechanical revolution in communication, ICT for illustration and strikingly dynamic trends in mobility pattern. Chattogram is second largest city in Bangladesh next to Dhaka in terms of a metropolitan area and demography. Chattogram has brimful with ‘high-rise buildings, both residential and commercial. Number of bridges and flyovers is on the increase. Recent data show skyscrapers in Bangladesh. ‘Most of the high-rise buildings in Bangladesh are in the Capital Dhaka. Chattogram is undergoing a massive construction boom, with hundreds of high-rises under construction. Sylhet is also an emerging skyscraper city. Chattogram City Corporation has recently taken beautification projects. Chattogram City Corporation installs LED lights on the streets.
Urbanization is taking place in a rapid stride. Beautification of cities with wide roads, footpaths, flyovers and high-rise buildings are going on. This trend in urbanization has become a global phenomenon. At a time urban life has become hazardous with scores of problems. So urban development is not resilient. Goal 11 of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) says, ‘makes cities and human settlement inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’. The University of Hong Kong defined desired way of urbanization as:
The impact of growth on all areas of society must be acknowledged. Sustainable growth requires an evolution in the way urban areas carry out their activities such as resource use and the movement of people and goods. The physical infrastructure in addition to social and economic processes must evolve to acknowledge the challenges of growth. Sustainable development has been defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. However, sustainable urban development implies a process by which sustainability can be attained, emphasizing improvement, progress and positive change, incorporating both environmental and social dimensions. Sustainable urban development highlights the need for reform of market mechanisms to achieve environmental goals and the achievement of a balance with social and economic considerations. Several themes common to all definitions of sustainable urban development have emerged:
The elected Mayors in election campaigning were promise bound to make Chattogram as the queen of the East similar to Singapore and Hong Kong. Now Chattogram is becoming fast growing metropolis with long flyovers and tall apartments.
I have observed dazzling Chattogram Road Landscaping and beautification in many urban centers like Mehdibag, Amirbag, Kulsi, Jamal Khan, Changaon and Port areas. These zones are emerging enclaves like Dhanmondi, Gulshan and Basundhara in Dhaka. However, with construction of flyovers and skyscrapers hill city like Chattogram look beautiful. Chattogram has natural infrastructure and there is the possibility of further beautification with the construction of flyovers and tall buildings in a planned way. Future planning (now under implementation) indicates Construction of feeder road-1, 3 and Beautification work under Chattogram City Outer Ring Road Project (Patenga to Sagorica). News about city development tell ‘GPH Ispat will beautify a 2.7-kilometre road to Chattogram Boat Club, as part of an effort to make Chattogram a green city, said AJM Nasir Uddin, Mayor of Chattogram City Corporation. Nasir Uddin and Md Mohammed Jahangir Alam, Managing Director of GPH Ispat, signed a memorandum of understanding at a programme at the corporation’s auditorium in the Port City recently. P2P 360 Ltd, a one-stop-solution provider, will assist GPH Ispat in the work, the company said in a statement.
What is urgently needed is making the city liveable with a cleaning and traffic management programme. Now the Chattogram is becoming the most “Clean and Green City” of the Country- and it has become a Model City for other major cities of the country. According to an expert research report – during the last few years, Chattogram inexperienced rapid urban growth because of the significant growth/expansion of the Port and other industrial developments. Therefore, people from the surrounding areas migrated into the city in search of employment and a better life.
(Dr. Md. Shairul Mashreque, Retired Professor, Chattogram University).
