Content

Topic Page

Executive Summary 2

Overview 3

Situation Analysis 6

Urbanization in Dhaka 8

House Rental Framework: Why it’s the Main Type of Housing solution in Dhaka? 13

Ceiling on house rent: is it implemented? 14

Expected Effect of Rent Ceiling in Dhaka 16

Actual Effect of Rent Ceiling in Dhaka 17

Conclusions 17

References 18

Executive summary

Government regulation of house rent in Bangladesh has been studied in this report on the context of Dhaka city. The rent control act of 1991 has been considered. How this law and its implementation has been affecting the urban growth in Bangladesh has also been studied considering the context of Dhaka city.

The following Report analyzes the extent of Government intervention in rent control and the effect of the measures taken on the growth of Dhaka city.

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1. Overview

1.1 Prelude

The population of Dhaka is now nearly 10 million within its city area of 360 sq. km. In addition to this about one million commuters visit the city everyday in search of their livelihood. The population of Dhaka city has increased rapidly, with a growth rate of 3.72% per year. In Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) area, (which is now devided between DNCC and DSCC) 60% houses are of low income, 37% middle income and the rest 3% constitutes high-income houses. The old part of Dhaka is more densely populated than the new part of Dhaka.

DCC was headed by a Mayor who was an elected representative of the people. Currently DCC has been subdivided into two separate city corporations: DNCC and DSCC. In structure and incorporation both are similar to DCC. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) a senior level bureaucrat deputed by Government, is responsible for overall management of five principal areas of responsibility in DCC, i.e. engineering, conservancy, revenues, accounts and health.

In Bangladesh Govt. controls house rent. The pertinent act is Premises Rent Control Act, 1991. Dhaka City Corporation was responsible for implementing this law in Dhaka city. In reality, DCC never enforced the law with much vigor. This current situation and the past 50 year rent data have been considered in this report to evaluate the effect of rent control measures on the growth of the city.

1.2 Origin of the report

This report was prepared for professor Dr. A. K. M. Saiful Majid, the course instructor of “Managerial Economics”.

1.3 Objective

The objective of this report is to analyzes the extent of Government intervention in rent control and the effect of the measures taken on the growth of Dhaka city.

1.4 Scope of the Report

Government regulation of house rent in Bangladesh has been studied in this report on the context of Dhaka city. The rent control act of 1991 has been considered. Last 50 year data has been considered to prepare the report.

1.5 Methodology

The report has been prepared on the basis of secondary data collected from publications, other research material, internet and texts.

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2. Literature review

One common example of a price ceiling is rent control. In some cities, the local government places a ceiling on rents that landlords may charge their tenants. The goal of this policy is to help the poor by making housing more affordable. Economists often criticize rent control, arguing that it is a highly inefficient way to help the poor raise their standard of living. One economist called rent control "the best way to destroy a city, other than bombing."

The adverse effects of rent control are less apparent to the general population because these effects occur over many years. In the short run, landlords have a fixed number of apartments to rent, and they cannot adjust this number quickly as market conditions change. Moreover, the number of people searching for housing in a city may not be highly responsive to rents in the short run because people take time to adjust their housing arrangements. Therefore, the short-run supply and demand for housing are relatively inelastic.

Fig: Rent control in short run

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Fig: Rent control in long run

The above figure shows the short-run effects of rent control on the housing market. As with any price ceiling, rent control causes a shortage. Yet because supply and demand are inelastic in the short run, the initial shortage caused by rent control is small. The primary effect in the short run is to reduce rents.

The long-run story is very different because the buyers and sellers of rental housing respond more to market conditions as time passes. On the supply side, landlords respond to low rents by not building new apartments and by failing to maintain existing ones. On the demand side, low rents encourage people to find their own apartments (rather than living with their parents or

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sharing apartments with roommates) and induce more people to move into a city. Therefore, both supply and demand are more elastic in the long run.

Above mentioned figure illustrates the housing market in the long run. When rent control depresses rents below the equilibrium level, the quantity of apartments supplied falls substantially, and the quantity of apartments demanded rises substantially. The result is a large shortage of housing.

In cities with rent control, landlords use various mechanisms to ration housing. Some landlords keep long waiting lists. Others give a preference to tenants without children. Still others discriminate on the basis of race. Sometimes, apartments are allocated to those willing to offer under-the-table payments to building superintendents. In essence, these bribes bring the total price of an apartment (including the bribe) closer to the equilibrium price.

To understand fully the effects of rent control, we have to remember one of the Ten Principles of Economics People respond to incentives. In free markets, landlords try to keep their buildings clean and safe because desirable apartments command higher prices. By contrast, when rent control creates shortages and waiting lists, landlords lose their incentive to be responsive to tenants' concerns. Why should a landlord spend his money to maintain and improve his property when people are waiting to get in as it is? In the end, tenants get lower rents, but they also get lower-quality housing.

Policymakers often react to the effects of rent control by imposing additional regulations. For example, there are laws that make racial discrimination in housing illegal and require landlords to provide minimally adequate living conditions. These laws, however, are difficult and costly to enforce. By contrast, when rent control is eliminated and a market for housing is regulated by the forces of competition, such laws are less necessary. In a free market, the price of housing adjusts to eliminate the shortages that give rise to undesirable landlord behavior.

3. Situation Analysis

Dhaka is the nucleus city of Bangladesh and has come to be known as one of the mega cities of the world. The city in 2001 had over 12 million people for the larger conurbation and 6 million people within the central city area (Islam, 2005).

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Map of Dhaka City

The quick growth of population of Dhaka has been caused by high rate of in-migration, territorial expansion and natural growth. As housing cannot keep pace with the population increase, the city has experienced tremendous housing lack since 1970s. Phenomenal growth of the city population is dominantly contributing to the dynamic changes in residential areas. It is a deplorable fact that residential areas have lost much of their residential character in order to cope with rapid urbanization. The traditional urban housing form in Dhaka has undergone many radical transformations over the past few decades. The traditional fabric of the city has either been damaged, remodeled or has disappeared entirely. Architecturally significant buildings that are fifty to hundred years old, representing their time, and located in the older part of the city, have now become obsolete primarily because of economics (Ahmed, 2004). Thus the increasing housing demands are being fulfilled essentially by multi-storied apartments. The dwelling culture has also changed gradually over a short span of time. The traditional dwelling custom has changed in different orders from the native origin. The concept of living in multi-storied apartments is something that is ordinarily not ingrained in the cultural experience of most Bangladeshi’s. It is a new experience for many people to live in apartments and maintain their life style, thus changing the urban and social fabric from the classic single storied independent house, to sharing smaller units of space side by side with numerous other families.

The characteristic of the residential areas in the city has undergone dynamic changes mainly due to commercialization. Thus, urban lifestyle and house form experiences a series of alteration and adjustment in its planning, organization and hierarchy of space, and façade treatment, that correspond to the changing habits and activities as opposed to traditional behavior.

The rapid urbanization rises demand for housing which results in a hike of house rent. Dhaka City Corporation was the sole governing body to regulate the rent hike empowered with the rent control act of 1991before the division of the corporation between north and south. We consider the unified DCC rent data to analyze the past and present situation and measure the effect of rent control on growth

4. Urbanization in Dhaka

Three decades back the city dwellers were reluctant to live in apartment while ten years back someone would have thought twice before buying an apartment. But in the last couple of years people have shown an increased interest living in apartments either by owning or renting. In recent years it becomes the most popular housing form in Dhaka. Multi-storied apartments seems to be a feasible solution to housing need of an increased pressure of population provided that good housing and urban design are factors to be taken into account.

4.1 Population and Area

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The land area and population statistics are usually expressed in terms of two jurisdictions. One is Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) and the other one is of Capital Development Authority (RAJUK). Within DCC boundaries (with about 520 square kilometers i.e. 200 square miles), there are already over 7 million people and growing at 5.5 percent annually (1981-2000). Gross density is about 13,500 persons per square kilometer, whereas in some parts the density is over 38,580 persons per square kilometer. Outside DCC, but within RAJUK boundaries, there are 1008 square kilometers, wherein live another 2 to 3 million people. Densities in such areas vary from very high to very low.

Population and area of Dhaka city: 1961-1999

Population and Area Year1961 1974 1981 1991 1999

Population

Area in Sq.

in million

Km.

0.557

90*

1.772

250*

3.416

390*

6.105

1353

9.132

1528

* Denotes the figure is approximate

Source: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics & Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan (DMDP), RAJUK

4.2 Development and Redevelopment within the City

Dhaka is a city of migrants. Currently 60 percent of population of the city is migrants. Such huge in-migration has caused the skewed land ownership of Dhaka. Less than 30 percent of the households of the city own more that 80 percent of its land (Islam, 1985). The permanent citizens inherited land and high and middle income households who migrated in early period could acquire land as the land price was not unreachable then. But, with time it has become very difficult for migrants to own land in Dhaka (see Figure 5.1), which have caused such skewed land ownership. Migrants acquired land from individual permanent citizens and from government land projects. Within the city, there are some permanent residents who still subdivide their land and sell to individuals. The owners of plots provided by government land projects during the 60s or 70s also sell their vacant or built-up plots due to financial or other reasons. In almost all cases of developers' housing projects and self-built housing, the plots are purchased from the original owners of the government land plots (See Appendix 3). Hence vacant lands within the city are being used for residential development and those occupied by old structures are being used for redevelopment. Currently, the users of such lands are only the high income individuals and housing developers. However, such land for development and redevelopment is very limited as the city is already developed. Moreover, a significant portion of land is state owned and most of this owned by the army, police, railway, government offices, etc.

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4.3 Introduction of Apartments

With a rising population and increasing housing demand, apartment culture has grown up in Dhaka sharply. The horizontal expansion of the city is very limited as Dhaka is hemmed by a network of rivers that makes outward expanding difficult and only vertical expansion is possible to accommodate the growing numbers of residents. Apartments were first introduced by the formal private developers in early 80s to the housing history of Dhaka. It first appeared in Dhaka near Eastern Plaza and subsequently Dhaka experienced a boom in apartment development in all residential areas including Paribagh, Maghbazar, Siddeshwari, Shantinagar, Dhanmondi, Mirpur, Banani, Old DOHS, new DOHS, Gulshan and Baridhara, to name just a few. Soon after, small scale developers, individual home owners choose apartments to construct on their own properties demolishing the earlier house form due to high demand of housing as a result of rapid urbanization and population growth. Later building apartments become well accepted to this informal housing provider and spread out all over the city. Twenty years ago there were fewer than five companies in Bangladesh engaged in developing apartments while today there are more than 250 developers. But there are many other companies/individuals engaged in such development in smaller scale or in informal sector. In most of the cases an individual or real estate company constructs one or more buildings comprising of several apartments, which are later sold to individual purchasers. This has prompted many individual entrepreneurs to develop apartment buildings resulting in an increased number of real estate companies in the city.

4.4 Types of Apartments

Apartment housing in Dhaka has become increasingly popular in recent days and is likely to continue. It may be worthwhile to describe here the types of apartments, which are now being built in Dhaka. Broadly speaking two types of apartment development can be noticed. Firstly, up to G + 5 story walk up apartments, which are usually RCC frame structure. The second types of development are those apartments in high-rise buildings of more than six stories. But the present trend in Dhaka City is 12-20 stories. Besides, there are other apartments provided by the informal private sector mostly for rental use.

4.5 Factors to the Emergence of Apartments

Due to the growth of huge population over a short span of time, the pressure on land for residential use has been very high. As a result, land price as well as construction cost increased significanty. Apartments are found well suited in Dhaka due to scarsity of land resources. Dhaka has experienced an unprecedented increase in land value since the early seventies. The value of land in Dhaka city, mainly in the central area, has increased at a rate much higher than the increase in cost of living in Dhaka. The price of typical residential land has increased 40 times (approx.) during the period 1975-2006. In the absence of any proper land value records it is very difficult to compare the land value over the past decades. But Table 5 will provide some idea regarding the increase in land value between 1975 and 2006.

Table Land Pri in (US$/sq.m)Area 1975 2000 2006

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Motijheel 72 900 1,650Dhanmondi 36 567 1,430Mohammadpur 36 309 362Mirpur 14.5 180 385Goran 6 155 242

There are also other reasons such as reluctance of individuals to spend time and energy in house construction, increased awareness of apartment living and western influence. This is how apartment living is becoming increasingly popular. Moreover the absentee i.e. the wage earners in Middle East and other countries are also a major contributing factor towards the increasing demand for apartments. As a result of increased demand, many apartment builders have appeared in the market in recent years. Some of the other factors that have contributed to development of apartments includes, desire to live within the city, increasing commercial market for apartments, profitability for both owners of land and developers, availability of loans from financial institutions, existence of flexible rules for development and number of reliable developers in real estate. Furthermore fragmentation of ownership of land due to inheritance laws has led primarily the well off families to seek developers to build apartments on their lands that bring not only ownership of a few apartments to co-owners but also ready cash. Personal security has also been a big factor for many residents moving from residential houses to apartments.

4.6 Informal Development

According to the definition of UN Habitat (2003), informal housing are the one which begins informally, without a title deed or services, and which the members of the household design, finance and often build with their own hands. Such housing usually belongs to the poor and gradually improves over time. In case of Dhaka, most apartments are built in their own land but construct building violating the development rule. In some cases informal apartments in Dhaka are also both legal and illegal service deficient settlements. For example, informal developers are constructing apartments without honoring the height limit of residential areas and covering 70-80% of the plot which eventually treated as an informal apartment.In the absence of well-established formal land and housing markets, informal sector has been playing the major role to cater the housing needs of a vast majority of urban population. Small-scale builders and developers, (self-help) owner-builders, slum landlords and their intermediaries, operating in the informal private sector, are the largest suppliers of land and shelters in Dhaka. The dominant role of the informal sector is revealed as it has the 95% share of the total owned properties. In Dhaka, the rental sub-market in informal apartment is the single largest supplier of housing. Informal rental apartments in Dhaka have been estimated to vary between 50% to 55% of the total housing stock in Dhaka. With regard to the types of new housing produced, formal private developers generally serve only the upper and upper middle income groups. The dominance of the informal delivery systems over the formal system is highlighted by a breakdown of the housing stock into sub-categories. The informal sector is estimated to have produced 85 percent of the 1.0 million housing units in the Dhaka city area. Among them private informal sector (apartments) accounts for half of the total stock and formal sector represent the only 15 percent of it.

Relative Importance of Informal Housing Delivery Sub-Sectors in Dhaka

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Housing Sub-sector Units Percentage (%)Formal Sector Public housing 100,000 10

Private Housing 48,000 4.8

Cooperative 2,000 2

Total Formal Sector 150,000 15

Informal Sector Private Housing 500,000 50

Slums 200,000 20

Squatter Settlements 150,000 15

Total Informal Sector 850,000 85

Total 1,000,000 100

4.7 Housing Quality

Although the informal apartments are playing an important role in Dhaka, there exists a wide range of differences in the quality of housing provided by the informal sector in comparison with the formal one. Characteristics and the difference in the housing quality by both the providers are figured out in the following table:

Differences in Formal and Informal ApartmentsFactors Formal Private Apartments Informal Private ApartmentsFinance Housing projects are usually backed

by strong financial support i.e. banks, housing financing institutions and mortgage bodies which eventually provides quality housing.

Weak, poor and informal finance like loan from individuals, relatives, selling other assets in rural origin are most common. Thus finance remains the main barrier to provide quality housing.Construction Industrialized and costly

construction method are practiced Self help activity and low cost construction are

Material High quality AverageStructure Mid to high rise low to mid rise, walk up apartmentDwelling Unit size Units are over 100 sq. m size is typical Unit are between 50-70 sq. mPlanning Fairly good (Planned as owner user) Poor (Planned as rental use)Utility and service Adequate Inadequate and lack of infrastructureEnvironment Good Poor neighborhood

5. House Rental Framework: Why it’s the Main Type of Housing solution in Dhaka?

5.1 Housing Prices

Residential land values in prime locations of Dhaka range between US $ 30 and $ 60 per square foot, similar to prices reported in other regional cities such as Hyderabad, Kuala Lumpur or New Delhi.4Nevertheless, land prices are high compared to those found in developed countries. For example, areas in the US where land prices exceed $60 per square foot are rare (Housing finance in Bangladesh, World Bank, 2004).

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These prices make it impossible for the poor to purchase land in the open market within the DCC area. The cheapest ready-to-build plot within DCC is priced at Tk. 500,000 per katha (i.e., 720 square foot lot) or US $ 12 per square foot. Normally RAJUK does not grant building permission on lots smaller than 1050 square foot. This would cost Tk. 729,000 (US $ 12,600), which is equivalent to nearly 20 years of income for an average poor household (Tk. 3000 per month). The cost of housing would be additional. In any case, such small lots are hardly available in the open market, and only rarely supplied by the government in a subsidized market. Consequently, it is estimated that 97 percent of the urban poor in the city do not own any land.

5.2 Unresponsiveness to price signals for a large portion of the land in the city

The very high level of land prices is the major constraint of urban policies in Dhaka. Land prices appear to be comparable to those in suburban New York, whereas the average income of Dhaka residents is a hundred times lower. For example, the Bangladesh Institute of Planners estimates that land in Dhanmondi, the most expensive area in Dhaka, is Tk. 3,500/square foot or roughly $60. Similarly, land in Gulshan is priced at Tk. 3,194/square foot and Baridhara at Tk. 3,000/square foot. Even more remarkable is that land in the least expensive residential areas in Dhaka, is valued at Tk. 1,600, around $27 per square foot. These areas include Uttara, Pallabi, and Shyamali, which are on the periphery of the city.

In comparison, land prices in most cities of the United States are much lower.In a study of land and housing costs in US cities, Glaeser and Gyorko (2003) report the following prices (in $/square foot) for a sample of cities: Boston $13.10; Chicago $14.5; Los Angeles $30.4; Miami $11.1; New York $32.3; San Diego $26; San Francisco $64. These prices reflect a mix of land shortages and development constraints (land use zoning regulation), but only in a few cases is developed land priced higher than in parts of Dhaka. Land prices in Khulna have been estimated to be similar to those in Dhaka, and are about 15 percent lower in Chittagong (World Bank, 2004). In any case across the metropolitan areas, land values are extraordinarily high. In fact, the least expensive middle class housing in the country is estimated at about Tk. 700,000, which is more than 10 times the median income (World Bank, 2004).The main reason for such high land prices is topographical, resulting in land supply constraints. Because of the city's location there is a real scarcity of developable land, which is reflected in the very high density of Dhaka (20,000 persons per square kilometer, and up to 100,000 in some areas of the city). Dhaka is situated in a flood plain and surrounded by rivers which periodically flood the lowlands around the city. The local topographical configuration led to a city development following a north-south pattern, rather than as a circle, as shown in Map 2. Most of the high lands immune to flood are already built. Newly developed areas are built on the flood plain by progressive filling.

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This real scarcity is compounded by an artificial scarcity, stemming primarily from the lack of utilization of public land within the city. Large amounts of public land in central Dhaka remain undeveloped. Government-owned land (called Khas) is now scarce (at most 1500 ha, but only 430 would be free of occupation today). Other locations are occupied by Government-related activities with very little or no use for construction (this is the case of the Tejgaon airport, the military cantonment, and land tracks left for future construction of public buildings). This may characterize as much as 20 percent of the land in the inner city area as shown in Map 2. Other areas, also centrally located, such as the public housing stock are developed at very low densities given the land prices.

Finally, there is a gap between technically usable land and formally usable land. The latter is defined by RAJUK master plans. The current approach is obsolete, resulting in areas potentially developable for residential use being not zoned as such.

A consequence of this scarcity of formal serviced land has been the development of the city almost entirely by the informal sector over the last 20 years. As shown in Maps 1 and 2, most of the new urbanization in the last 20 years has occurred at the enforcement.This dominance of the informal delivery systems over the formal system is also highlighted by a breakdown of the housing stock into sub-categories. The informal sector is estimated to have produced 85 percent of the 1.0 million housing units in the DCC/DMA area. While self-construction accounts for half of the total stock, slums and squatter settlements represent the other 35 percent of it. By contrast, the public sector's contribution to the housing system in Dhaka has been around 100,000, while that of the formal private sector (real estate companies or developers) has been estimated to account for around 48,000. The contribution of the cooperative sector is very small, probably less than 2000 units. Thus, the total formal sector contribution to housing in Dhaka would be only about 150,000 units, or about 15 percent of all units in the central city or DCC/DMA area.

6. Ceiling on house rent: is it implemented?

We consider Dhanmondi area as a sample and analyze whether imposed ceiling on house rent is implemented here or not.

6.1 Ceiling at Dhanmondi area:

DSCC (Dhaka South City Corporation) has set the house rent ceiling at dhanmondi area as follows:

Type Rent per Sq ft

Residential 8

Commercial 9

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Industrial 8

6.2 Actual rent at Dhanmondi area

The real rent at Dhanmondia area are presented below:

Rent per sq.ft. in Dhanmondi areas according to size of flats

Size of Dhanmondi

Freq. (%) Per sq.ft. rent (Tk.)

\< 1500 10 27.0 9.44

1501-2000 - - -

2001-2500 21 56.8 8.73

2501-3000 5 13.5 9.37Above 3000 1 2.70 7.81

Total 37 100Avg. per sq.ft rent (Tk.) 8.9

Source: Field survey, 2002.

The actual level of house rent depends on various factors e.g. house type, location, size of house, utility services, environmental characteristics of the area, distance from CBD, length of tenancy, etc (Nur, 1981). Clearly, the market does not follow the ceiling.

Now we see the occupancy status in this area:

Occupancy status in Dhanmondi area

Occupancy status Dhanmondi

Frequency (%)

Owner 44 49.4

Rented 37 41.6

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Vacant 8 9.0

Total 89 100

Source: Field survey, 2002.

Rented houses are only 41.6% in Dhanmondi, this lack of supply pushes the rent upward.

7. Expected Effect of Rent Ceiling in Dhaka

In the short run:

Now, we review what would is the expected effect of rent ceiling in Dhaka city. In the short run, landlords would have a fixed number of apartments to rent, and they could not adjust this number quickly as market conditions change. Moreover, the number of people searching for housing in a city might not be highly responsive to rents in the short run because people take time to adjust their housing arrangements. Therefore, the short-run supply and demand for housing should remain relatively inelastic.

As with any price ceiling, rent control is expected to cause a shortage. Yet because supply and demand are inelastic in the short run, the initial shortage caused by rent control would be small. The primary effect in the short run would be reduction of rents.

In the long run:

The long-run would be very different because the buyers and sellers of rental housing respond more to market conditions as time passes. On the supply side, landlords would respond to low rents by not building new apartments and by failing to maintain existing ones. On the demand side, low rents would encourage people to find their own apartments (rather than living with their parents or sharing apartments with roommates) and induce more people to move into a city. Therefore, both supply and demand are more elastic in the long run. . When rent control depresses rents below the equilibrium level, the quantity of apartments supplied falls substantially, and the quantity of apartments demanded rises substantially. The result would be a large shortage of housing.

8. Actual Effect of Rent Ceiling in Dhaka

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The above mention effects are expected with greater certainty in an economy where the rent ceiling is actually enforced. In case of Dhaka city, we actually don’t see these situation comeing into effect. The cause is weaker enforcement.

If the enforcement of the rent regulation would have been strict, we would have seen a short term rent reduction in Dhaka city. It is never seen. Also in the long run a shortage of housing is expected, which is also not the case for Dhaka. Housing is costly but its adequately available in Dhaka. The weaker enforcement of the ceiling in Dhaka, resulting from the practice of weaker enforcement of law as a whole in Bangladesh makes the housing market a market driven market.

9. Conclusion:

The usual effect of rent ceiling is not apparent in Dhaka, though the Govt. intends to regulate the rent using the local governments: the two city corporations. Theoretically speaking, Dhaka should experience a rent drop in short term and a housing shortage situation in the long run. But these two situations have never occurred in Dhaka. House rent is always rising and there is no shortage of flats to rent in Dhaka ( though they are costly). Strangely, lack of enforcement, an administrative weakness of the local government has contributed in developing such a peculiar situation, which is far deviant from the theory. Dhaka housing market, practically acts as a market driven one. The laws of demand and supply, not the price ceiling, determine the rent and supply of apartments.

References

Principles of Microeconomics – Gregory Mankiw

FAWZIA FARZANA SHORTAGES OF MIDDLE-INCOME OWNEROCCUPIED HOUSING IN DHAKA - FAILURES OF GOVERNMENT OR MARKET? DEPARTMENT OF REAL ESTATE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2004

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Md. KAMRUZZAMAN, M. Eng. Nobuyuki OGURA, Ph. D Apartment Housing in Dhaka City: Past, Present and Characteristic Outlook Residential Building/Young Researchers Award, Faculty of Engineering, University of the Ryukyu's, 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan.

A S M Mahbubun Nabi, Md. Kamruzzaman,Wahida Khalil, Fahmida Khandokar Apartment Housing in High Class Residential Areas of Dhaka City: A Case Study of Dhanmondi, Gulshan and Baridhara Jahangirnagar Planning Review Vol. 2, June 2004, pp. 33-42

www.dhakacity.org

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