Building rules for a better city environment

To prepare the response, Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB) formed a ten-member committee comprising of senior architects and urban planners who put enormous effort in the short time for commenting on a document of such importance. The committee has proposed the name 'Dhaka Metropolitan Area Building and Planning Rules 2003' in place of Dhaka Metropolitan Multistoried Building Construction Rules, as the committee felt that the Building Rules should incorporate all types of building development, not just buildings above six storey; furthermore the document includes planning controls as well. The committee also felt two sets of rules, based on building heights only, will create confusion for the end users rather than solving the problem. Moreover, while reviewing the building regulations of some other cities, nowhere has been found two separate rules for high-rise and low-rise buildings.

Building Rules essentially include structural safety, fire safety, use of appropriate building materials, comfort and convenience of its occupiers, methods of construction, safety during construction and building services. These rules are generally uniform for the whole country.

On the other hand Planning Rules regulate the effect of the proposed building development on its immediate and the city environment. It includes control on density, openness, access requirement, traffic movement, urban design and aesthetic control, control and conservation of heritage sites, natural landscape features, etc. These controls are imposed by means of maximum allowable floor area in relation to the site through Floor Area Ratio (FAR), road width, building height, set back from boundary, mandatory open space, landscaping, parking requirements, special controls in the region of heritage and natural sites, control on listed heritage buildings, etc. In addition to building construction, Planning Rules include controls on any action on land including land subdivision etc. Planning rules will vary according to local areas and will generally be different for different urban areas.

To limit building density and volume the concept of allowable FAR -- widely used all over the world -- has been proposed by IAB for all types and heights of buildings. Simply speaking, an FAR value of 3 means the allowable floor space of the proposed building will be 3 times the plot area. This area may be distributed in any number of floors -- at the discretion of the client and the architect (unless a height restriction for the area exists). The main advantages of introducing the concept of allowable FAR are:

-The wide possibility of variations in building design.

-Provision of more open area while allowing the same floor area.

-Eliminatation of the trend of violation of the minimum setback regulations.

It is unfortunate to note that though the Ministry has introduced the concept of FAR, it is limited to their definition of 'high rise' buildings (over 6 stories) only, thus negating the advantages and the objective of introducing the concept. Since the requirements for high-rise buildings are more stringent, there will be an obvious tendency of landowners to continue constructing six-storey buildings. So, in the next few years planned areas like Dhanmondi, Gulshan, Uttara, and unplanned areas like Purana Paltan, Wari, will be filled with blocks of six storied buildings with very little open space and greenery in between. Building blocks will occupy almost the whole plot area. Even if setback regulations are complied with, such an urban scenario is alarming.

We fail to appreciate the argument put forward by some sectors that the city is facing problems of services because of tall buildings. The buildings, high or low do not consume electricity, water etc. It is the people living or using them who need these services and attract traffic. It is therefore essential to regulate and distribute the urban population density as per long-term plans of the city and establish a mechanism through which adequate infrastructure and urban amenities for its current and future population are provided. Failure to do so is a failure of the government.

It is a common knowledge that it is usually cheaper to service a smaller area with a larger population than to serve the same population scattered over a wider area. There are a number of arguments for and against low and high-rise residential buildings.

But for a city like Dhaka where population pressure is phenomenal, choices are limited. Therefore a very well-thought-out, comprehensive planning strategy, should be adopted (and followed) with earnestness -- an exercise unfortunately still absent in this country.

We strongly recommend that the Ministry should refrain from going for a band-aid solution and rush for a half- baked set of Building Rules. It is unfortunate that in our thirty-plus years of independence we could not establish a professional approach towards urban development.

Before approving a set of Rules we need further research and input from the stakeholders and relevant professionals. If required the Ministry may seek the professional services of IAB, IEB, BIP in this regard.

The basic objectives of building and planning rules should be

1. To improve building approval process and monitor compliance to the rules

a. Introduction of an Independent Commission for Scrutiny so as to:

-reduce load on RAJUK

-make professional scrutiny for approval of large and significant projects

-reduce unnecessary harassment of the applicants due to long delays

b. Making RAJUK responsible for non-compliance of the approved plan and ensure professionalism in the design and construction process. Introduction of mandatory involvement of enlisted technical personnel, like architects, structural engineers, electrical engineers and the like for design and supervision of building work and making professionals/consultants responsible for their respective work.

c. Ensuring that RAJUK provides a one-stop service to avoid undue delay. As a planning authority RAJUK should formulate, collect and have all required information regarding the existing and future capabilities of infrastructure and amenities or specific controls imposed by various governmental bodies required for taking planning decisions. If not, it shall be its responsibility to get approval from any required organisation.

d. Introduction of phased application process depending on certain criteria. This will ascertain development rights of the land owner/applicant prior to involvement in detail building design thus avoiding undue harassment due to aborted work and delays.

e. Introduction of Occupancy Certificate and its renewal every five years to stop landowners in making deviations and to restrict unauthorised use.

f. Such a document is never very simple but the document needs to be as unambiguous as possible, so that there is minimum possibility of misrepresentation and misuse of the rules.

2. To improve building safety, comfort, convenience and efficiency

a. Mandatory involvement of relevant technical personnel for design and supervision.

b. Introduction of disabled access in selected public buildings.

c. Encourage energy efficient buildings by providing incentives in the rules to construct sun shading devices, exterior cavity walls and loft spaces.

d. Encourage water conservation and use of solar power by motivating developers to introduce provisions for rain-water harnessing and using solar panels.

e. Encourage owners/applicants to provide certain appropriate building components for our tropical climate; like balconies and pergolas

3. To improve the overall city environment

a. Control of building density, increase in open area and reduction of building foot print by the introducing and limiting allowable FAR and specifying maximum ground coverage depending on plot size, use and road width.

b. Clearly specifying appropriate vehicular circulation and parking requirements for any development.

c. Encourage creative building envelope and outdoor spaces by the introduction of permissible FAR.

d. Encourage road widening and mandatory provision of footpath by providing incentive, like additional FAR benefits.

e. Encourage land pooling by allowing additional FAR benefits for larger plots -- resulting in more floor area with more open space.

f. Conservation of heritage sites and places of special interest through the involvement of the Independent Commission for control around such sites. We urgently need to identify and list such sites and structures and prepare guidelines to ensure their preservation.

g. To get the maximum advantage out of our limited land resources we recommend control on subdivision of land. Large plots may be handed over to developers for development of communities with planning strategies set by the government. A small percentage of area maybe divided into plots for individual allotment for single and dual family houses only. Building on small plots creates unusable, negative spaces between buildings.

h. Encourage professional approach to land development.

We would also like to add here that the adoption of the Building and Planning Rules, by itself, can not significantly improve the urban environment if it is handicapped by the non-existence of Local Zoning Plans and Development Control Plans, including the adoption of realistic standards and mechanism for provision of urban services and amenities. Unfortunately, development plans or Master Plans are prepared and approved but have never been used as a mechanism for control or for promotion of urban development.

This is due to our lack of understanding of the planning process caused by inadequate institutional setup for undertaking such urban planning responsibilities. The present RAJUK is severely under-staffed for the purpose. To have an effective planning organisation RAJUK needs a major overhaul whereby it is capable and empowered for the purpose. Unless this is done a livable and sustainable Dhaka is a far cry.

However, we feel that it is still not too late and a Roundtable on the proposed Building Regulations with participation of the different stakeholders, professional bodies, end users, civil societies, RAJUK and the Ministry concerned may be organised. If the draft Building Rules for High Rise Buildings (over six storeys), which we have seen in August 2003, is promulgated, we do not foresee much improvement from the existing situation and we will again be missing an opportunity to improve the future built-environment of Dhaka City.

Zarina Hossain is an architect and urban planner, Mozzaffar Uddin Chowdhury is an architect and urban planner and Jalal Ahmad is an architect.