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Prospects of Hatirjheel as a desiring-machine

by Shayer Ghafur

| Monday, December 2, 2013http://www.newagebd.com/detail.php?date=20131202!nid="#1$0%.&'G()*en#+d

, bird- eye iew of atirheel a day before it inauguration on anuary 2. 4ew ,ge/Sony 5amany

67 inauguration of the atirheel proect8 almot a year ago8 promied enriching urbanliing in a denelybuilt8 trafficcongeted8 and greentared 9haa city. ;romie8 howeer8

ha it political entanglement. 6he ruling goernment claim atirheel a it preent to the9haa city. 6he nation- inetment of 6 1823# million dollar in current ratearound a 300acre lae bepea 9haa- eeping pace with an eoling modernity. ereurbanity unfold by modern tranlation of our primordial relation with water. 4ewly plantedtree will mature while deepening atirheel- preence in our collectie urban memory.atirheel i already a tage et for celebration firewor illuminating it night y andreflecting upon it water i indeed a pectacle unmatched in 9haa- liing memory.atirheel8 howeer8 i neither a pace of pectacle nor a pace of utilitya @lae- lined to adrainage ytem and @road-depite their iual primacy. atirheel appear full of

poibilitie a it capture collectie imagination by puhing our deire of how we might lie.Aur rethining it eence beyond the tated functional obectie i a public neceity a9haa- deire and 'uet for lieable enironment hardly top at atirheel.

6he atirheel proect8 at it bae leel8 portray 9haa- ongoing tranformation of the builtenironment. Bt comparable interention are 9hanmondi +ae and Sonargaon 5oadC bothhae effectiely tranformed a neglected bacyard into an actie recreational open pace and

buy commercial trip repectiely. ,midt ongoing e)panion of land8 legal or illegal8atirheel open up poibilitie of reconfiguring land within an e)iting urban fabric. Btcontribute to land- coneration by alue additionC lae and road are mere intereningmean of land deelopment. oweer8 tranformation of paddy field into reidential areaand a neglected wamp into a reitalied lae are altogether different. Dor atirheel8 few

would argue it tranformation for the public interet depite the hegemonic tate or maretled tranformation- not benefitting all e'ually. 7)iting lowincome renter in the multi

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torey hacpreumably the preiou 'uatter in the wampwill hae to moe to thenew cheaper option outide atirheel once the deeloper moed in. 6he rehabilitation ofthe affected familie in atirheel that the prime miniter promied during it inaugurationeem to hae gone into obliion.6o minimie thi ind of predicted mifortune8 public authority crutinie the e)tent of alue

addition urban deign mae in tranforming urban landcape while enuring the bet returnof carce public inetment. ,rguably the mot important contribution urban deign maei it alternatie patial cheme for maing choice through public crutiny. &rban deigncan act a a democratic tool for eniioning8 laying out a hared public realm.

6he goernment conceied the atirheel proect a a dicrete infratructure proect duringthe mid1

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place in relation to different land ue and mode of tranportation. 6he latter bringtranparency of place by allowing people- iual and phyical acce. ater plan andurban deign brief are eential tool for enuring acceibility and permeability: 6hey bringintegration and incluion. Fithout their due conideration8 any gien proect i ulnerable to

become a @gated enclae- an aburdity at the e)pene of ta)payer- money in any

functional democracy.Bnfratructure deelopment of atirheel i mot liely to create alue added land for threegroup: preent acant landowner adacent to the new road8 future beneficiarie of 5auland deelopment for commercial ueC and latly8 pree)iting landowner in the adacentneighbourhood. Gien the alue addition of at leat four time the preent public inetment8atirheel become a billion dollar ite. Drom property deelopment perpectie8 atirheel i9haa- ne)t bet thing. edonic pricing of property in thi prime location i liely to replacethe primacy of Gulhan and Earidhara. ,midt acute carcity of central city land8 fore)ample8 the preent maret price of 6 2#8000308000 per 'uare feet for apartment inGulhan would fetch at leat 6 #08000/ft in fie year time in atirheel. So8 where wouldwe locate the rationale of the atirheel proect8 ma outdoor recreation8 utilitarian

conideration8 or property deelopment? Fe can aoid fathoming the ineitable realiationby conoling ourele that public wellbeing of ma recreation come at a high price. 4otmuch though8 only 'uarter of a billion dollar ta)payer- money. Fe can8 howeer8 e)pect tonow where the tradeoff i8 whether in deelopment ta) or land contribution toward green

belt to utify the priate land- benefiting from public inetment.

Bn the abence of a mater plan8 maing a lae edge with encircling road doe not legitimieiible illegal contruction lie the EG7, building. ,ll deeloped and ac'uired land-intended future ue are not alo utified through uppreion of a mater plan. Aure)perience ha hown that een preence of a mater plan could not top encroachment aobered in the hifting edge of Gulhan +ae. 6he abence of a mater plan maeatirheel ulnerable by not recording what e)it and what i yet to come. Bn the publicimagination8 mater plan manifet tranparency of preent and future ue. Bt uppreion ia denial of people- right a they ought to now what hape and would hape the etting oftheir urban liing. , mater plan8 therefore8 remain a ey to retoring ut ue of atirheel.Bn that puruit8 5au- recent focu on the management of pace ha to be an aftermath of the

production and conumption of pace8 and it mae no ene without a mater plan.

,ll rhetoric and euphoria of the atirheel proect eem premature due to it recent portrayala a @Haheel-. Bllegal ewage connection to the atirheel drainage ytem mae it9haa- celebrated new cepool. Gien preailing tendency for bending rule with impunity

one wonder how could thi happen. Fhat ha happened to our widom of predicting thefuture for ytem deign? Eeide8 atirheel appear a threat to public afety due to theurrounding highpeed road8 epecially8 for pedetrian. 9o thee incident ugget theineitable outcome when an urban proect lie atirheel i ut an @infratructure-8 in theciil engineering ene8 delined from it wider conte)t? , we tae into accountatirheel- technical glitche8 it narrow functional frame appear addreing only a tate oflac that we deire to hae. 6he metaphor of @organim- underpin thi way of undertandingatirheel proect a an enemble of dicrete part lae8 road8 landcape8 and drainageytem. ,n organim i a collection of different part8 each woring and upporting eachother8 and the harmony among the part manifet within the whole. 6he organimic iewtae atirheel a a definitie deign oercoming a et of lac intending to produce

tangible affect that an area and it populace deire but forced to repre under a ocio

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political reality. Sube'uently8 it ugget what atirheel enironment and people houldhae by oercoming their repreed deire through the proiioning interention.

Bn our alternatie metaphoric conceptualiation8 atirheel i a machineC it differ from anorganim that e)it a a elfregulating whole. , machine8 on the one hand8 conit of

different part acting a dicrete machineC there i no priileged unit. An the other hand8 amachine mae connection with other machineC relation among thee connection emergea one machine create the flow that another machine dirupt. +et u tae an e)ample of aman riding a bicycle where a lifele bicyclemachine connect to a lied manmachine.Eicycle wor through coordinated connection among paddle machine8 handle machine8 itmachine8 etc. Eicycle alo connect with a man whoe feet moe it paddle. Bn other cae8a bicycle connect a an art obect with a mueum machine8 a a commodity with a hopmachine8 a a ehicle to arrie at a unierity machine.

Drom the iew of pychoanalyi8 deire refer to the notion of lac. 9eire8 howeer8 loeit character if we thin it machinically. ere @9eire i a creator of connection8 not a lac

that mut be filled-. 6o deire i to connect with other8 in our cae enironmentally andocially8 to create new way of liing. 9eire i repreed if it energy i not channelledthrough and turned bac upon itelf: the propect of creating new poibilitie get lot.

atirheel i a deiringmachine creating connection among diparate part. 4ot only adicrete part mae connection within itelf8 lie a drainage ytem collecting torm waterfrom afar dicharging into a laeC or a bridge8 phyically connecting two ide of a laeC or alaeide bench8 proiding a etting for iewing the lae. 9icrete part of atirheel rieaboe them8 by maing more connection at different leel. Dor e)ample8 a drainage ytemutain a lae by pouring water into it. ;eople mar their preence by itting the benche forenoying the lae iew or chatting with their friend. ;eople driing car through the bridgemoe from one part to another part of the city. ,t ube'uent leel8 atirheel connectdifferent part of 9haa a much a their actiitie and populace. Similarly8 tree in theicinity mae connection with birdC mobile endor mae connection with trolling

pedetrian. 6here are machine8 and their connection8 eerywhere channelling money8matter8 motion8 and motie.

6he deiringmachine of atirheel embodie an eerpreent occaion of creatingpoibilitie of connection what people might hae8 an enironment might become8 or anenironmentpeople relation might emerge. 6hi deiringmachine pulate for going beyondconformity of nown olution by embracing uncertaintie and charting unnown territorie:

immanence not trancendence underpin it. 6he tatemachinethe ubect intrumentalbehind atirheel- emergencehad tepped outide it uual poition of ignoring grabbingof public land8 rier and water bodie. 7en the armymachine had effectiely plugged tothe tatemachine far beyond it uual role during proect implementation. ,midt the tate-compliance with paiity8 the atirheel proect i an enigma of a machine ind8 ditinctfrom the ret of all diconnection phenomena of grabbing and encroachment. 6hree differentregime bleed atirheel. 4ot only had the proect implementation continued withoutinterference8 it budget had in fact increaed.

6he 'uetion we need to a now i what role doe a mater plan hae in it? , mater plan8on the one hand8 become retrictie by acting a a template of pregien re'uirement

limiting atirheel- openended poibilitie. An the other hand8 abence of a mater planwould eopardie the whole machine by e)ternal encroachment and internal incompatible

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land ue outlined in the releant 9,; report. 6he oerall outcome of not haing a materplan would threaten the neceary flow and it diruption among all the dicrete partmachine8 and thereby8 eroding the potential of their creating connection. Bn oerallconideration8 a mater plan i an unaoidable neceity proiding a datum for atirheel

proect to act a a deiringmachine. &ndertanding the atirheel proect a a deiring

machine allow u to put other mega @infratructure- proect under crutiny. Fhatconnection all thee new flyoer or metro rail would mae to act a a machine in theirrepectie wider urban conte)t.