Pakistan was created on the 14th August 1947 and Dhaka was made the capital of the province of East Pakistan. Dhaka was thus suddenly called upon to shoulder many responsibilities. The problem since then has been to house the increasing number of government offices, firms, industrial establishments, government employees, Muslim migrants from India and people coming from other parts of the province. The influx of people caused the population to increase from 335,925 in 1951 to 556,712 in 1961 (Census of Pakistan 1961, Bulletin No. 2, p. 18) registering an increase of 65.7 percent.

To accommodate the rising population more houses were needed but the construction of new buildings takes time, while the incoming thousands had to be housed immediately. Thus growth of Dhaka City in the initial years after independence took place in the form of fission or division of existing houses and compounds mainly in the old city, and later expansion started in the open areas of the new city.

Functional Pattern Industries. After independence Dhaka has witnessed phenomenal growth in industries, which increased to over 100 in 1962. The industries are located mainly in three areas: Thjgaon, Postogola and Hazaribagh.

Business. Dhaka as a commercial centre handles both wholesale and retail trade. The wholesale area is located at Chauk, Mitford Road and Farashganj. The retail trade area extends from Islampur, Patuatuli, Bangla Bazar, and Nawabpur Road to Jinnah Avenue. A large cluster of commercial firms has developed in Motijheel. The retail trade centres along with Motijheel area forms the Central Business District of Dhaka City. Motijheel and Jinnah Avenue are the post independence extension of the CBD. A good shopping center has developed at New Market.

Administration. Being the provincial headquarters of East Pakistan and Subsidiary Capital of Pakistan, Dhaka City is an important administrative centre. The old administrative centre at Victoria Park still continues to be a nucleus of office buildings. The new centre of provincial and central administration is located in Ramna area. It has also penetrated into Purana Paltan and Segun Bagicha. More administrative buildings are under construction at Rajarbag and Tejgaon where the establishment of the second Federal Capital will ultimately wipe out the Tejgaon farm area.

Education. The present education zone is possessed by the two universities namely, Dhaka University and the University of Engineering and Technology. These two institutions occupy a large area west of the Secretariat up to the railway lines. Educational institutions also extend continuously from Bakshi Bazar up to Shahbagh, where the Government Institute of Art is situated. The educational centre of the early 19th century still continues to flourish near the Victoria Park.

Recreation. After 1947 the necessity of having more areas for recreation was felt. As a result, Ramna Park was laid out near the RaceCourse and a large stadium was built at Jinnah Avenue.

Low Class Residences. The low class areas of the past period continued as before and more areas were included in the category during the last decade as population and density of houses increased. The major low class residential areas lie in old Dhaka. A slum area developed on either side of the railway line from Gandaria up to Tejgaon, with only small gaps at places. These areas are occupied by day labourers, cart pullers, rickshaw drivers and beggars. In the new Dhaka low class residences occupy the pottery area of Rayerbazar. In Karwan Bazar live many industrial workers with other low class people. The fringes of the city are occupied by low class dwellings where the labourers live.

Middle Class Residences. After 1947 only a few areas of the old city continues to remain as middle class residential neighborhoods. Bakshi Bazar was one such important locality, which retains its middle class standard until today. On the other hand some high-class areas have become middle class neighborhoods e.g. Gandaria, Wari and Purana Paltan. Some developing areas near Dhanmondi, which has mixture of modern buildings and mud houses, may be put in the category of middle class. To this category also belongs the Mohammadpur Housing Estate located north of Dhanmondi which was primarily developed to house the displaced persons from India.

High Class Residential Areas. Since 1947 Dhaka City is growing and changing rapidly. The residential areas (Except Ramna) classed as high in 1947, have lost their dignified status. Ramna has expanded northward and eastward to include more areas in upper-grade category and a new high-class area has developed in Dhanmondi. The delimitation of different classes of residential areas are based upon rent and land values, population density, housing density, distribution of telephones, and private cars and water and electricity connection. The consideration of physical structure of houses, including architecture and open spaces was also made. The rent of houses is highest in the high-class residential areas. In Dhanmondi 95 percent of the house are fetching an annual rent of more than Rs. 5,000, which is not the case in any other part of the city. The next highest percentage is obtained from Ramna where the corespondent figure is 27 percent. The percentages of houses with water and electric connections are also highest in Dhanmondi and Eskaton areas. The density of housing (less than 5 per acre) and population (less than 100 per acre) is also one of the least in these areas and the distributions of telephone and cars present marked concentrations. In terms of land values, many parts of old Dhaka apart from the business areas ranking higher than the high-class areas. But it must be pointed out that in old Dhaka the land is generally purchased not for residential purposes but for business and small industries. The price of residential land is highest in upper class areas. Moreover, the increase in land values since 1947, registered in Dhanmondi and Raman is highest in Dhaka (excepting the Central Business District and commercial areas). In Ramna’s northern section land used to be sold for Rs. 1,000 or less per acre in 1940 and at present it exceeds Rs. 180,000. In Dhanmondi, the land values have gone up from Rs. 1,000 per acre in 1947 to Rs. 1,50,000 in 1962. In contrast the land values in Gandaria was Rs. 15,000 per acre in 1940, today it is around Rs. 60,000 in Chauk the corresponding figures are Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 2,50,000 and in Armenitola Rs. 30,000 and Rs. 200,000.

Social Environment. Ramna and Dhanmondi are exclusive areas housing the upper crust of the society. Their distinctive character is being maintained by keeping a very high level of rent. This keeps out the middle class from renting a house and the allurement of high rent forces the house owners with low income to let out their houses on rent. About 70% of the houses are tenant occupied in the Dhanmondi Area. Again in most cases the rent is paid by the employer. In a sample survey in Dhanmondi Area it was found that the rent of 79.2% the tenant occupied houses were paid by the employers. Therefore only people with high income or business executives for whom the firm provides accommodation, or foreign diplomats and consultants live in those houses. The creation of Pakistan has given an opportunity to many people to acquire wealth through business or rising to high administrative positions. Cultural contacts with the Americans and Europeans living in Dhaka City and the western world by going abroad for training, on business or on diplomatic assignments has caused the development of strong desire in a group of people to maintain a high standard of living. This is a common feature in all the underdeveloped countries of the world (Mabogunje 1962.p.56-77) and Dhaka is no exception. In Dhanmondi, there are residences of two former Chief Ministers, several other provincial and central ministers, some members of the National Assembly, judges of the High Court and Supreme Court, several foreign diplomats and others. The facilities enjoyed by these houses also speak of the type of people who live in these areas.

Location Pattern. Since the creation of Pakistan, the landscape of Dhaka City has been undergoing a rapid change. The city is expanding northward and the high-class residential areas are constantly endeavoring to keep themselves at the northern periphery of the city. This is contrary to what Berry, Simmons and Tenant (1963. P. 404) have stated about the non-western cities. Their assertion that “any income improvements lead to greater demands for central location “does not apply to Dhaka City. This is neither true about Comilla, a town in East Pakistan with a population 54, 504 in 1961 (Khan and Masood 1962). The high class residential areas in Dhaka City which are left behind in the northward march are deteriorating and losing their status, Gandaria which is at the opposite end of the growing city was first to lose its status and is most adversely affected by the encroaching industries of Postagola. Wari and Purana Paltan have been the next victims. On account of their proximity to the central business district, Wari is being invaded by small industries, workshops and commercial firms and Purana Paltan by business offices. The deterioration of Purana Paltan would have been delayed for the time being if the Stadium, Mosque (Baitul Mukarram) and Post Master General’s Office were not constructed in the heart of the CBD. It is unfortunate that the lands of extremely high value (over Rs. 600,000 per acre) are used for recreational purposes (stadium and sporting clubs). Southern part of Ramna would have met the same fate that the lands in that area are owned by the government and are occupied by offices and institutional buildings.

At present there are three high-class residential areas in Dhaka: Ramna, Dhanmondi and Gulshan. It was north of Bayely Road, where the extension of high-class residential district of Ramna took place. The reasons were obvious. Open lands with a few mud house were available. Being in close proximity to the civil lines the extension of electric wires and water pipe was easy. The area was then far from the heart of the city as the city then virtually ended at the railway lines.

All these happened without any formal planning. Then the government entered into the scene with piece meal planning of the city: an industrial district in Tejgaon, a shopping centre at Azimpur, a stadium at Jinnah Avenue, a commercial area next to the stadium, flats for government employees at Motijheel and Azimpur, and high class residential area for the public in Dhanmondi. No attempt was made to evaluate the future growth of the city. No land use survey was conducted to find the available land, their present use and their future utilization.

In 1950, the Construction and Building Department of the Government of East Pakistan acquired 500 acres of rice fields in Dhanmondi for the establishment of a high-class residential area. That there was a need for such a housing project is evident from the fact that Dhanmondi has become an exclusive residential area within a few years and a demand for better houses in better surroundings still exists. But the expansion of Dhanmondi has been choked by the establishment of low rent apartment houses and the Mohammadpur Housing Estate. Such a step has also affected residential quality of Dhanmondi. The Dhanmondi Residential Area does not have any shopping centre, corner store, park, community centre, club etc. The whole area was divided into plots without keeping in mind the facilities that a community requires. In the meanwhile Dhaka was becoming more and more unmanageable. So a Master Plan was eventually prepared by a foreign firm. One does not know how much of their recommendations have been honoured but a high-class residential area is being developed at Gulshan by the Dhaka Improvement Trust. Close to Gulshan lie the industrial area of Tejgaon and the medical centre of Mohakhali, which includes the Tuberculosis Hospital and Cholera Research Centre. Interestingly again, Badda on the east of Gulshan and Banani on its west have been earmarked to be developed as middle class residential areas. It would have been much better if Badda was developed as a high-class area as it is further away from the industrial area and the Medical Centres and would not have fallen between two middle class housing areas.

Road Pattern. Dhanmondi is a planned residential area and Ramna beyond the Civil Lines has developed by private enterprise. Dhanmondi has a grid pattern of roads and almost all the plots are rectangular and of the same size (14,400 sq. feet). An existing khal (water channel) has been dug and extended to form an irregular shaped lake. This is the only break in the monotonous layout of the Dhanmondi Area.

It is difficult to predict the future of high-class residential areas in a city where the things are changing fast and where the developments are largely controlled by a number of governmental and autonomous agencies. Construction and Building Department and the Dhaka Improvement Trust are the two, which are primarily responsible for many developments in Dhaka City. It would have been much better, if only one agency had taken up this responsibility or at least there should have been a coordination among various agencies.

House Types. Most new houses in Dhanmandi and other high-class areas are built with reinforced concrete and glass. The houses are remarkable with large balconies and almost wall size windows. Newer buildings mostly have no curve lines. Right angles make up the structure. Plaster foliages and other designs as seen in former high class houses are conspicuously absent in modern buildings. The houses, however, have large compounds and generally low boundary walls. The wall and the gate keep affinity with the architectural style of the building. Some of these houses are huge structures. A random survey of 8 percent of the houses in Dhanmondi reveals that 59.4 percent houses had three bedrooms besides the living room, dining room, kitchen etc.

The percentage of 4 bedroom houses was 18.9, those of 2 and 5 bedrooms were 8.1 and the rest had more than 5 bedrooms. Most of the houses in Dhanmondi and Ramna are single family dwellings (89.1 percent). This is closely correlated with the number of one-story houses, the percentage of which in Dhanmondi is 72.9. Some houses (19.9%), particularly two or three storeyed ones have plural families in them. The percentage of two-story houses is 24.3 and that of more than two story houses is 2.7. In Ramna there are a number of flat or apartment house. The government flats in Bayley Road, Minto Road and Eskaton Road is of higher rents. Within the Ispahani Colony in Maghbazar are located some apartment houses. Many American families were living there. Another private apartment housing is to be found in Motalib Colony in Paribagh off Mymensingh Road.