The Circular Waterway: Saving Rivers of Dhaka by Enhancing Recreation and Place-Making Along Specific Routes

Waterways are vital productive resources for cities, regions and the country. Rivers provide amenities and services to communities that are taken for granted. Drinking water, food, transportation, communication, recreation, wildlife habitat, aesthetic appeal of places along waterways, economic development, etc. are some of the amenities that rivers provide. Dhaka is a tender land-mass - virtually an island framed by rivers which form a 110 km Circular Waterway around the city. Through place-making the city can also meet its recreational needs, as there are limited opportunities for spending leisure time or weekends within the city. The waterways of Dhaka can provide excellent opportunities to enhance all these and this paper intends to highlight them through better plan and design. Vol. 6, December 2013, pp. 61-72