Stop Blindly Copying Foreign Models, Build People-Friendly Cities on Local Culture, IPD Urges

The Institute for Planning and Development (IPD) has called for an end to blindly copying foreign models and for building people-friendly urbanisation based on the country's culture, social values and local realities. According to the organisation, urban development must give importance to people's social and human needs alongside building infrastructure.

The call came on Friday at a virtual discussion titled 'The Development Philosophy of Urbanisation in Bangladesh'. Planners and urban experts took part in the event, organised on the occasion of World Cities Day.

In the keynote paper, IPD Executive Director Professor Dr Adil Muhammad Khan said, 'Ponds, courtyards, neighbourhoods and playgrounds were once the main centres of our social interaction. Unplanned urbanisation and encroachment have shrunk them today.'

Professor Adil Muhammad Khan added, 'Development does not only mean building infrastructure; development means ensuring a healthy and humane life for people.' On behalf of IPD, he proposed bringing the 'pond-courtyard-neighbourhood-based urbanisation' concept back into modern urban planning.

Taking part in the discussion, BIP President Dr Muhammad Ariful Islam lamented that urban planning is no longer guided by a human philosophy but is instead run by business and group interests.

IPD Adviser Professor Aktar Mahmud, meanwhile, stressed economic corridor-based development to decentralise Dhaka-centric development.

Jahangirnagar University teacher Muhammad Ullah criticised capital-dependence in urban planning and demanded that social justice be ensured.

At the event, IPD presented six main recommendations to resolve the urban crisis. They include formulating a national urbanisation policy based on terrain and social realities, and involving local people in protecting ponds, canals and wetlands.

The recommendations also call for building child- and adolescent-friendly cities by ensuring a safe playground and open space in every ward, and for creating neighbourhood-based spaces for social interaction in both new and old housing areas.

They further recommend building socially inclusive housing by removing class discrimination, and running regular sports and cultural activities through the joint initiative of local government, educational institutions and social organisations.

Engineer Tofayel Ahmed Sajeeeb and IPD Research Fellow K M Asif Iqbal Akash, among others, also spoke at the event.