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DOWN TO EARTH

Encroachment on civic space must be stopped

ASM NURUNNABI
According to architects and city planners, the term 'civic space' means a place where city dwellers, irrespective of class, religion, or age, meet to socialise themselves with one another. Philosophically expressed, civic space may also be places where we can feel the earth beneath our feet and when earth yields beneath our feet, it gives us a unique feeling of pleasure and satisfaction which city pavements never do.
The Dhaka city is expanding by leaps and bounds. In this process of
rapid expansion, the concept of new civic spaces hardly gets a chance to develop. However, some civic spaces have already emerged over the past years in consonance with the needs and aspirations of the common urban mass.
In many European and American cities, there are designated civic spaces. On account of our comparatively less developed civic awareness, the growth of such civic space in appreciable number has not been possible. Yet, the city dwellers are privileged with a few truly designated
civic spaces. They are the Ramna Park, Suhrawardy Uddyan, Osmani Uddyan, Sangsad Bhaban Plaza, Chandrima Uddyan etc.
Varieties of human events and activities contribute to the evolution of a successful civic space. For example, we may cite the New Baily Road which some people used to call "Natak Sarani." Though this place has lost much of its previous reputation, holding of varieties of urban functions over the years transformed this stretch of road into a notable civic space. A number of fast food shops, apartments, sari shops, book shops and a couple of drama theatres act as multi-dimensional points of attraction for different types of people with different needs.
Another type of civic space has evolved around national historical events. For example, we may mention Shahid Minar premises, Bangla Acedemy Book Fair, and the celebration of Pahela Baishakh at Ramna Batamul. They usually exist for a certain period.
Such civic spaces, be they designated or spontaneous, conceive the value and emotion of our urban public. They reflect the image and quality of our life, enhance social interaction and consolidate our cultural and traditional homogeneity. It is felt that the more people find out civic spaces, the more interaction would take place leading to greater exchange of views, values and attitudes.
In this context, we may underscore certain aspects of the city's civic spaces. It may be emphasised that the element of security is an important factor in the environment of civic spaces. Unfortunately, this element is more or
less wanting in some of our civic spaces. For example, in the important civic spaces, such as Shahid Minar, and TSC premises, when there is a heavy concentration of people in observance of any important occasion, acts of lawlessness often take place. Such situations undermine the popularity of those places.
Another important point is that there are tremendous possibilities for developing the lakes like Crescent lake, Ramna lake, Gulshan lake and Dhanmondi lake.
There is a proposal for shifting the Dhaka Central Jail, now located in a heavily congested area in old Dhaka, to a more spacious site near Shafipur in Gazipur district. As and when that project gets under way, a big area in the heart of the city will be available. It is for the town planners to consider whether, instead of utilising the land released for commercial or residential purposes, which will further add to the existing congestion, the area could be used for a properly designated civic space. This facility, if created, will go a long way in meeting an urgent need of the city populace suffering under the suffocating pressure of the rapidly expanding
population.
Above all, it is felt that in the interest of the city dwellers, the prime need is to ensure adoption of appropriate measures to keep the existing civic spaces free from encroachment of any kind or doings of anti-social elements, requiring exercise of constant vigilance in order that the atmosphere of these areas is not vitiated in any manner.