The authorities announced in 1995 plans for the new model urban development. However, as a result of changes, the projected population will be almost three times. Thus, it is “developing as an unplanned extension of Dhaka city," an urban planner laments.
Dhaka (AsiaNews) – Purbachal, Bangladesh’ “new city”, is not yet completed that it already promises to be as overcrowded and chaotic as Dhaka, the capital.
For the city’s planners, the new township was supposed to be an alternative model of urban development.
Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) or Capital Development Authority launched the project in 1995, picking a 6,200-acre area between the Shitalakkhya and Balu rivers, to build a new residential area, divided in 25,000 plots of various sizes, located north-east of Dhaka that would accommodate one million people.
More than 25 years later, due to delays and changing plans, Purbachal is still a huge construction site. Originally scheduled to be finished by early 2010, the new inauguration date is now set for 2025, with the first houses expected to be delivered in July 2022.
Even if the new schedules are respected, it is becoming increasingly clear that the new city will be quite different from what was planned. Over the years, designated green spaces were replaced by new towers and roads, the Daily Star reports today.
Under considerable economic and political pressures, the projected one million residents have now ballooned to 2.7 million, almost three times the expected population density.
Changes have jeopardised the planned road network. The four-lane main roads were upgraded to eight, raising questions about the quality of life in the new urban district.
"Purbachal is destined to fail as a planned town due to long delays and accommodation of commercial and business zones in a residential-only hub without any proper assessment," said Adil Mohammad Khan, secretary general of Bangladesh Institute of Planners.
"Although it is called new town, Purbachal is developing as an unplanned extension of Dhaka city," he told The Daily Star.