Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed Park: An example of an ideal city park
A highly secured green public space in Dhaka’s diplomatic area spells hope for improvement of standard of living
It was 4:30 pm on a Monday. Rayna Rahman, a middle-aged housewife, was jogging inside a Gulshan park. She frequents the park every day for an hour to burn off. And sometimes, she comes in the evening for exercise.
"Firstly, I would say the area is secured, secondly the environment is soothing, and thirdly no one will disturb you inside the park," Rayna rattled off, walking.
The President Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed Park which lies in the heart of the Gulshan-2 area has set an example of how a public park should look like. The park is popular among joggers, children as well as disabled individuals too. And of course, others who like to spend time in green, open spaces with their family.
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Moinuddin Ahmed sat chatting with his wife while their toddler was attempting to walk more confidently. Moinuddin, a freelance web developer, comes to the park whenever he has time. Sometimes he makes it a family outing.
"Different areas in the park have different features. I get a different feeling when I walk along different lanes," said Moinuddin, "The trees are especially enchanting."
From holy basil, Justicina Adhatoda, neem (medicinal trees) to Gardenia jasminoides, garden croton, Singapore daisy (flower plants) and jackfruit, mango, blackberry, lichi trees; to name a few, the park hosts a myriad of green life.
However, the environment of the park was not quite inviting even a few years back. As the park is located in the diplomatic area of the city, foreigners nicknamed the park, "Tank Park" because there is a pond in the middle of it. Additionally, as the Gulshan Ladies Community Club is located next to the park and the women of the club frequent it, many called it Ladies Park.
The Dhaka North City Corporation took up a project of renovating Justice Shahabuddin Park at a cost of Tk15 crore, which began in December 2017 and finished in June 2019.
Security in a public city park
Due to the 'diplomatic area' location which consequently means the use of the park by foreign officials, the city authority set up high security arrangements inside the park, which includes 25 CCTV cameras installed within the park premises that get centrally monitored from the city corporation building.
"25 CCTV cameras is the highest in number in any public park in the city," said Tariq Bin Yousuf, additional chief engineer at Dhaka North City Corporation. Besides CCTV cameras, police have been deployed inside the park to maintain security.
The park has two gates and two security personnel stand guard from early morning till night time. The security guards of the city corporation do not allow any beggars and hawkers to dwell in the park.
"If anyone wants to come inside the park with a pet dog for walking, we do not allow them, because there are many people who are afraid of dogs," said Obidul Islam, a security guard.
Architect Iqbal Habib, whose firm has designed the park, said that the equipment for the Kid's Zone has already arrived in the country. "Our locally made equipment can be accident-prone. For this reason, the city authority has brought playground equipment from abroad."
"We only know how to use the swing; however there are many toys or equipment that are educational as well. Children will learn while playing and numbering things," said Iqbal Habib.
Like the kid's zone, the library has not yet been opened. The city corporation plans to manage the park through a two-tier committee: one from the city corporation and the other a local body, mainly made of locals of the area.
Iqbal Habib said that the management of the park will be different (joint management) from other parks in the city. He said that the cleanliness, safety and maintenance will be managed by the Dhaka North City Corporation while the local body will oversee if people are using the facilities properly.
He also said that the representation of disabled people, young people and women will be ensured in the local committee.
"I hope we will be able to hand over the park to the management committee early next year," said Mayor Atiqul Islam. The mayor also said he would open the library after the handover.
"Embassy officials, including some ambassadors as well as local people are very happy with the renovation work of the park and its environment," the mayor added.
In the coming December, a one-dish party and folk song festival will be held in the park where ambassadors from different countries will be invited, according to the mayor.
"Ambassadors who walk in the park in the evening said that they cannot believe what I have done for them," said Mayor Atiqul Islam.
The features of the park
Sitting on a 9.55 acre land, Justice Shahabuddin Park is mostly covered with more than 1,500 trees of nearly 40 species.
"We found 34 species of trees in the park area. But we removed some trees which were not environmentally-friendly on the recommendation of noted naturalists Dwijen Sharma and Mokarram Hossain," said Iqbal Habib.
And those trees were replaced with new trees. A combination of three types of trees: fruit, flower and medicinal trees can be found in the park, said the architect.
"We selected and planted flower trees in a way that in every season, people can get the charm of different flowers," he added.
In the same way, medicinal trees have a health value. It is believed that the whiff of neem trees provides a healthy atmosphere. While fruit bearing trees attract birds and protect biodiversity.
The park has three separate lanes for jogging, walking and cycling. There is no scope of head-on collisions in the lanes as one will have to walk or run or cycle in a single direction.
Young people and foreign embassy officials can often be spotted on the cycling lanes. In the past, children used to ride cycles on the dead-end streets of the Gulshan area. However, with increasing commercial activities, those streets became busy.
"Strong demand came from young people to make a separate lane for cycling and skating," said Iqbal Habib.
The city authorities have also modernised the pond with an elevated walkway. One can see their reflection in the pond water. An amphitheatre with a capacity of 300 people has been set up next to the pond.
A number of modern facilities have been added to the park which attracts the joggers as well as visitors. A gymnasium, mosque, library (to be opened), a separate space for women, basketball court and separate space for small children called the Kid's Zone (to be opened).
Green Dhaka Campaign
The refurbishment of parks and playgrounds initiative emerged on the back of the city dwellers movement centring the Dhanmondi Club ground a number of years back. The then Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor candidate Annisul Huq pledged a Green Dhaka Campaign during his election campaign to build a green Dhaka.
After winning the election, the mayor took the initiative of identifying the parks in the Dhaka North City Corporation and commencing with the renovation. He took up the project of renovating 22 parks. However, he untimely passed away.
The President Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed Park is one of the 22 parks.
"These parks are the result of the Green Dhaka Campaign. The project is expected to be completed in December this year," said Iqbal Habib.
He said that the main problem with parks in the city is that different government agencies have a tendency of occupying park land to do development work. Sometimes different clubs and influential people try to take control of the parks or playgrounds.
"Say, when Dhaka city corporation needs to set up a Secondary Transfer Station (STS) for keeping waste temporarily, they choose park land; when Dhaka WASA needs a space to set up a pump station, they choose park land. When the electricity supplying agencies need to set up a substation, they choose park land," said Iqbal Habib.
This way, the parks and its land have long been usurped. The first attack always falls on the park. But we are getting out of this cycle. People are becoming more and more aware of parks and playgrounds," explained Iqbal Habib.
