The health of the Bangladeshi population is greatly affected by the state of its cities. As Bangladesh tries to tackle major problems such as climate change, non-communicable diseases, traffic accidents, water pollution, noise pollution and air pollution, ensuring cities are livable is critically important. This program, implemented by HealthBridge partner Work for a Better Bangladesh, focuses on achieving outcomes in three main areas:
- Streets serve two purposes: they act as places to move from one place to another; and, they act as destinations themselves where people can socialize, meet their neighbours and carry out their day-to-day activities. In the past, streets In Dhaka were regularly used as a place to socialize. People socialize in the tea stalls or small food vendors in the street, although this is happening much less than in the past due to the regular hazards in the street environment in Dhaka. Streets should provide residents with a safe, accessible and inclusive space to travel.But,Dhaka’s streets fall short of this ideal. The existing policies in the country supports these ideals but there is a huge gap in implementation. As a result, streets tend to be unsafe and pedestrians are particularly vulnerable. People with disabilities are discouraged from walking because of the absence of the necessary infrastructure. WBB advocates for the improvement of the walking environment and works with local governments and local communities to implement solutions.
- Public spaces play an important role in urban settings by giving us the opportunity to be active and socialize with our neighbours. In Dhaka, citizens do not have access to public space. There are only 79 parks and playgrounds in Dhaka, for a city of over 18 million people. These 79 parks and playgrounds are not enough for such a large number of people, which means only some community people have the opportunity to visit parks and playgrounds as per availability. But even of the parks that are available, those parks and playgrounds are distributed over a small area and do not function properly due to their poor quality, management and maintenance status. WBB provides technical support to the government to improve these parks while also focusing their attention on reducing the spatial inequalities in park distribution.
- Local public markets play an important role in the community. Local public markets are key public spaces and are where most of the city purchases fresh, affordable, healthy food. In addition, markets both formal and informal, are important places for people to earn a living. Unfortunately, as with many cities around the world, Dhaka is seeing the trend of replacing local public markets to supermarkets. WBB is working with local and international partners to pilot test farmers' markets and is advocating for the preservation and protection of both local markets and informal vendors.
The expected results include:
- Increased number of streets that supporting walking and cycling
- Improved quality of streets
- Increased number of streets used for placemaking and community events.
- Increased number of protected spaces on the streets for vendors
- Increased number of open public spaces
- Increased number of quality improvements to open public spaces
- Increased number of people using open public spaces
- Increased number of markets
- Increased number of people being able to access local markets.
Through WBB's advocacy the the following successes have been achieved:
- Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) have agreed to renovate 59 parks in the city and, after watching the progress of the Rayerbazar Boishakhi Playground renovation agreed to do more community consultation on their proposed plans.
- DNCC has committed to developing a walking and cycling friendly policy. A strategic paper titled Walking & Cycling: Policies & Strategies for Sustainable Pedestrian & Bicyclist Mobility in DNCC Area. This paper is being produced by a joint venture of planners, architects and WBB Trust. When completed, the policy will contribute to ensure better walking and cyclingin the city.
- DNCC has also introduced a 1 KM bicycle lane in Manik Mia Avenue and has introduced bike sharing service in Gulshan, Baridhara, Banani and Niketan. This pilot has resulted in increased interest in cycling and our work is now focused on increasing the number of lanes and ensuring those lanes are connected.
- Dhaka North City Corporation installed 3000 waste bins throughout the city, resulting in cleaner streets and public spaces.
- Advocacy efforts help cancel the Dhaka South City Corporation’s plans to relocate vendors to a local park. These vendors use the park for their livelihoods and relocation would have meant many would lose their income