Korail, Dhaka, Bangladesh Transforming a slum into a paradise Landscape architect Khondaker Hasibul Kabir lives in Korail, a 49ha slum with a population of 120,000 people on the Banani Lake in the centre of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Dhaka had a population of over 16 million in 2011 of whom upwards of 3 million lived in slums. Dhaka is said to be the world’s fastest-growing megacity. Bamboo structures built over the water line the shore between Gulshan Lake and Banani Lake.
Kabir studied landscape architecture at the University of Sheffield and on graduation in 2005 returned to Dhaka. He began work at BRAC University in the Department of Architecture. Seeking affordable accommodation in central Dhaka and being professionally interested in flood-prone rural areas, he looked for a home in Korail and moved in with Fourkan and Nasima Pevez in 2007. He helped the family plant trees and herbage in the surrounding area and created an open-air meeting place for local residents on a bamboo platform over the water. The Pevez family recycle their kitchen waste for compost and encourage other locals to plant their yards. They spread seeds on lakeside margins and have inspired their neighbours to do the same in order to
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try to turn a slum into the beginnings of a sustainable urban paradise. On 9 April 2012, with one day’s notice, the Dhaka City Corporation authorities began forced evictions of this vibrant community, who were living on stateowned land. They began clearing homes on Gulshan Lake where some of the capital’s poorest people lived, homes that face wealthy, Western-style housing all around. The city authorities plan to build apartments on the sides of the lake. There are major concerns about this – the demolition of sustainable, low-impact homes for 100,000 people which work with the lakes, and the building of unsustainable, Western-style, high-rise apartments for 40,000 middle-class inhabitants in this city of flooding.
As we write the evictions have been temporarily halted by court order.
A. This bamboo platform serves as a community meeting place. B. View across the lake showing the stilted construction over the water. C. The Pevez family home. D. Across the lake is more expensive housing. E. A place for children to learn. F. Paradise but without security. G. A bare and bleak environment transformed.