Members’ Publication

ABSTRACT Union Parishad which is the part of local government system of Bangladesh. It is the weakest and lowest part of local government. In 2009, the 63 number act of union parishad have been prepared under the present government. There are thirty nine activities or functions are ensured in this act. Among them fifteen functions are major. The objective of this study is to identify the functions and evaluate the functioning of union parishad. For this study purpose Ratnopour union of Barisal district have been selected. The fifteen major functions are operated in this study area. Almost thirty to forty percent responsibilities can be performed by the Union Parishad representatives. Lack of the coordination of seven ministries related to union parishad is responsible. The number of educated union parishad representative ratio is too little, nonexistence of people awareness push back to solve the problem. This research would initiate the evaluation of the functioning of the study area, purpose and program for increasing the percentage of the functions and state the analysis of people’s opinion about the functions and also shown the representative’s opinion about the obstacles which they are facing. According to the findings of the study, some recommendations have been suggested to develop an easy and effective mechanism for enhance the applicability of the functions. If the well built cooperation of the ministry is enhanced and effective efforts are applied properly it will be possible to do the functions properly.

Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is experiencing incessant process of urban expansion but mostly in an unplanned manner. To accommodate the growing population and various urban uses the city is experiencing vertical expansion in the inner city areas and horizontal expansion by encroaching the peripheral land. The Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan (DMDP) 1997-2015 proposed strategies of Urban Consolidation to optimize the city growth in the established urban areas by vertical expansion and through infill development on vacant land. But there is no such organized program undertaken to implement the consolidation strategies stated in the DMDP. This explorative study is an attempt to find the potentiality of urban consolidation process in Dhaka. The research aims to investigate the qualitative and quantitative status of available amount of vacant and underutilized land for redevelopment to ensure the optimum utilization of the scarce urban land.

Recreation is an area of urban activity, not an easily defined homogenous entity. It rather consists of a diversity of activities undertaken at a wide range of locations. Recreation is a very necessary and an inseparable part of a society. A city may be blessed with large number of industries, residential neighborhoods, business-establishments, shopping facilities, and so on. But it falls short of its highest possibilities if it does not have those qualities of living that represent a more fruitful and happy life for its people. Recreation is one of those qualities of a city that make living happier. As said by Lehman, “there is nothing in the city plan that may contribute more vitally to this richer life of the people than appropriate provision for recreation”

John Glasson in his book “An Introduction to Regional Planning” said that “Planning is primarily a way of thinking about social and economic problems, planning is predominantly oriented toward the future, is deeply concerned with the relation of goals to collective decisions and strives for comprehensiveness inpolicy and program.” Planning Guidelines are, therefore, important for the location of a facility in an urban area.Dhaka is growing with an enormous amount of population and their needs. Each year, it receives an additional number of 400,000 people, 73 percent of whom choose to migrate from rural areas in search of job. The population of Dhaka city is of a staggering 12 million people crowded into 1528 square kilometers, projects around 10 percent of the country's total population, creating one of the highest urban densities in the world. As daily necessaries, urban dwellers, from dawn todusk, need everything fresh and available everywhere. There arises the need for wet markets first. Without proper planning considering Planning Guidelines, it is not possible to facilitate the services at the right time and place.