Chapter 11 (Final Draft) Dhaka Metropolitan Area Syeda Khaleda Department of Disaster Management, Government of Bangladesh. Dhaka, Bangladesh Qazi Azizul Mowla Department of Architecture, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh Yuji Murayama Graduate School of Life and Environmental Science, University of Tsukuba, Japan http://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789811032400 Abstract This chapter traces very briefly the origin of Dhaka Metropolis, one of the megacities of Asia and the capital of Bangladesh. It examines the urban primacy, urban land-use change patterns in Dhaka Metropolis mainly based on the analysis of land-use maps derived from remote sensing satellite images for several years. It also examines the driving forces that influence the rapid urbanization, as well as the potential implications of these elements to the future sustainable urban development of this megacity. Dhaka Metropolis is one of the very old cities of this region, which is centrally placed settlement in the largest active delta of the world, i.e. the Ganges and Brahmaputra estuaries. It is a capital city for more than 400 years and its rapid urbanization, a key feature of the densely populated Bangladesh’s recent development has been driven by various interrelated factors. Its accessibility (by land, air and water), relative position across the region, status as the country’s capital city, the passing of various key legislations, and its population and economic growth, together played a key role in its urban development. The results of the geospatial analysis of urban land-use changes show that the built-up land of Metropolitan Dhaka increased by over 10 times (from 11.59 km² to 117.99 km²) in 25 years between 1989 and 2014, and is predicted to increase to 169.69 km² by 2030. However, there are a number of key urban issues that need to be taken into consideration in its future development, such as the issue of relatively smaller buildable land for a huge population, urban poor, congestion, water system, water logging, disaster preparedness and traffic congestion etc. Both the local and national government need to push for the sustainable urban development of Dhaka Metropolis. 11.1 Origin and brief history 11.1.1 Context Dhaka has developed on the banks of the River Buriganga. The topography, river courses and wetlands have forced Dhaka into a generally north-south orientation (Fig. 11.1). The urban area averages from three to seven miles east to west (five to 11 kilometres) and is nearly 30 miles (50 kilometres north to south). The more circular development that would be expected for an inland urban area is precluded by the rivers and wetlands. Dhaka, with 400 years of history as a capital city behind it, is now at crossroads (Mowla 2013).