The government of Bangladesh signed a $100.5 million financing agreement with the World Bank to improve the livability of four large neighborhoods in Dhaka City, benefitting about a million residents.
The Dhaka City Neighborhood Upgrading Project will enhance public spaces and urban services in four neighborhoods—Kamrangir Char, Lalbagh, Sutrapur-Nayabazar-Gulistan, Khilgaon-Mughda-Bashabo—under the Dhaka South City Corporation. The project will help upgrade public spaces such as parks, playgrounds, waterfronts; streets, sidewalks; and transform public buildings such as community centers into multipurpose facilities to serve communities.
“With more than one-third of the country’s urban population living in Dhaka, it is one of the world’s most densely populated cities. Due to inadequate infrastructure, lack of public amenities and severe traffic congestion, the residents face many difficulties in their everyday lives,” said Zahid Hussain, Acting World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan. “The project will address some of these challenges and help enhance the quality of civic life.”
The four localities were selected through a series of consultations with multiple stakeholder groups. The project will help enhance green open spaces by improving selected parks, streets and waterfront areas. It will also pilot interventions for safe mobility and traffic management and incorporate environment-friendly features and energy efficient design principles and materials in all interventions that it will support.
Original source: World Bank
Published on 29 May 2019
