Forgotten Urban Waters and Green Areas of Dhaka: Analyzing the Scope of Urban Resilience by Revisiting Historical Maps and Policy Documents

Dhaka City, serving as Bangladesh’s capital, has seen a gradual encroachment and destruction of its green and blue areas, a condition that has progressively worsened since its independence. Without considering the environmental consequences, the public and private sectors are aggressively developing natural areas inside and around the city through the encroachment of the water bodies and the destruction of green spaces. Recently, a growing body of research among scholars and policymakers is considering incorporating green and blue infrastructure (GBI) inside urban settings to augment urban resilience. This study, therefore, is initiated to conduct a macro-level analysis of the potential of GBI in urban resilience, ecological conservation, and regeneration of Dhaka city. To provide a guideline for preserving and regenerating the existing urban waters and green areas, the spatiotemporal changes in GBI of Dhaka city were analysed through the historical map (1924, 1960, 1987, 1995, 2001 and 2015) regression and policy content analysis. Using the historical map regression, the connections between urban waters and green areas, as well as their historical dynamics, were identified, which helped limit their encroachment and advance their resuscitation. This study revealed that Dhaka’s urban waters and green areas have been drastically decreasing, especially after 1995. Consequently, the research findings led to the formulation of proposals aimed at including the preservation and regeneration of GBI in the urban design, policy and planning framework of Dhaka to make the city resilient.