Has Dhaka's fate become sealed as an unliveable city?
Every year, we are reminded that Dhaka is one of the worst cities to live in, and this year is just slightly different, as the metropolis has reportedly gotten worse. In the Economist Group's Global Liveability Index 2024, Dhaka has slipped two notches, from last year's 166th to 168th. To illustrate just how abysmal that is, Kyiv, the war-torn capital of Ukraine, ranks three places higher. Like before, experts and citizens have expressed their grievances, but successive rankings show that these concerns have fallen on deaf ears. This means the government has not done what it can to build a liveable Dhaka, and for the umpteenth time, we ask: why?
The annual global survey assessed the liveability of 173 cities based on stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. A cursory glance at newspapers will reveal how we are failing at these sectors. Take the environment, for instance: Dhaka continuously ranks among the cities with the worst air quality. The situation is so terrible that air pollution has become the leading cause of death in the country, even surpassing high blood pressure, poor diet, and tobacco use. Meanwhile, heatwaves have taken the city hostage, in absence of any semblance of greenery. And yet, government agencies cut down over seven lakh trees across the country last year in the name of development work, Dhaka being among the victims. All this has happened amid dwindling playgrounds, from 150 to only 24 over the last 22 years.
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In fact, Dhaka has garnered many other "unliveable" attributes. Indexes report that the city is extremely expensive, for both locals and foreigners. But we don't need to look at rankings for that; the sky-high inflation, 9.89 percent as of May 2024, is evidence enough. It's also the slowest in the world in terms of vehicular movement, while still somehow achieving high numbers of road fatalities. And let's not forget that Dhaka is one of the biggest hotspots for Aedes mosquitoes, which took 1,705 lives in the country last year, breaking all records and crippling our healthcare system.
In many instances, the government has either ignored or even aggravated all these perennial issues, while many ill-thought initiatives have failed. While the metro rail is certainly a step towards creating a liveable city, the authorities have forgotten the basics: bringing discipline to the roads and improving public transport. Instead of addressing these structural issues, they opted for shortcuts, like banning battery-run rickshaws. Regarding air pollution, it achieved very little to tackle the sources: construction dust, traffic fumes, factory emissions, and illegal brick kilns. Meanwhile, the new budget reportedly lacks concrete measures to address economic concerns, which means Dhaka will continue to be just as expensive or even more. Therefore, it's time for the government to admit its failures and prepare plans that can truly resolve this city's woes to make it liveable.
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