‘Green Roof Concept for Eco-Sustainability in the Context of Urban Dhaka’, in the International seminar on ‘GO GREEN; the Architecture of the New Order’ on the occasion of ARCASIA, ACA-14 October 25-30, 2010 at Lahore, Pakistan. Green Roof Concept for Eco-Sustainability in the Context of Urban Dhaka Dr Qazi Azizul Mowla Professor, Department of Architecture, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka-1000; e-mail: qmowla@yahoo.co.uk Abstract: Urban green is fast diminishing in the dense cities like Dhaka resulting in a multitude of socio cultural and environmental problems. Urban ecology is the direct victim to the diminishing greens contributing to some extent towards global warming. A massive concentration of inorganic mass onto small patches of land due to rapid urbanization calls for a compensation of the losses of biomass on the ground. One of the ways could be to introduce as much compatible organic matter as possible in the form of diverse vegetation on the roof tops and terraces. Green roof concept, though not new deserves rethinking, as it has the potentialities to reduce the adverse ecological effect of the buildings by providing bio-physical diversity benefits, food, temperature and rainfall runoff regulation, wildlife habitat, as well as aesthetic and recreational opportunities. With an overview of green roof concept in the global context, the paper attempts to evaluate contemporary practice and effect of roof top vegetation (green roofs) in Dhaka. This paper provides an introduction to green roof, its infrastructure, the potentials of greening the built environment and to explore strategies to promote roof greening in Dhaka. Keywords: Green-Roof; Greening-System; Built-environment; Eco-sustainability; Urban Dhaka. Introduction Urban green is fast diminishing in the dense city like Dhaka resulting in a multitude of problem, particularly in urban ecology. To improve the quality of healthy living and to create better opportunities for social and environmental benefits; the environmentalists, urban designers, architects and urban planner are required to turn their attention to the need to reduce cities ecological footprint. To reduce the impact of densely built areas, roof top vegetation is an idea that is worth studying. In the dwellings, vertical gardening has evolved to provide the opportunities for the dwellers to enjoy the surroundings in the form of balcony (verandas), courtyards, open terrace, green pockets, rooftop garden, façade greening, and to make up for some of the loses in the ground [4]. In Dhaka the rooftops are an enormously untapped resource. The conventional uses of the rooftops are cloth drying, barbecuing, occasional social gatherings etc. Contemporary approaches to greening buildings are characterized by the integration of planting and it’s supporting structures with the construction of the building itself [1] without sacrificing the conventional utility. Green roofs offer opportunities for significant social, economic and environmental benefits that are both private and public in nature; particularly in cities. Fundamentally green plants are widely recognized as therapeutic [2]. Plants provide habitat for urban wildlife. Green plants act as natural filters, increase city’s biomass, counteract the climatic changes, and regulate the indoor climates of buildings by insulation against extreme heat and cold [3]. There is a need to offer an improved environmental quality by bringing the nature back into the city. Green roof is not a new feature for Bangladesh but in the context of Dhaka residential area, the utilization of green roof concept is not satisfactory [5&10]. This paper tries to analyze the effects of green roof on the residential buildings in the context of Dhaka and comes up with some observations for implementing the green roof installed on existing or new apartment buildings.