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Gulshan Thana

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Gulshan Thana

Gulshan Thana (By towns)
Administration
Wards 72, 73, 74
Parliamentary Seat Dhaka 5 (Gulshan-Dhaka Cantonment)
Municipalty Dhaka
Coordinates 23°48' N, 90°25' E
RAB Area RAB 1
Information
File:Gsdhaka.jpg
Gulshan lake view (2005)
Established 1972*
Area 53.59 km²*
Population 28,1337 (Density 5250/km²)*
HQ Gulshan Circle 2
Neighboring Thanas Kafrul, Badda, Tejgaon, Khilgaon, Dhaka Cantonment*
Website DMP Map of Gulshan Thana
* Bangladesh National Census Data, 1991
This article is about the neighborhood in Dhaka. For Gulshan Town, see Gulshan Thana (disambiguation).

Gulshan (Bengali: গুলশান) is one of the posh and luxurious areas of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.[1][2][3]

History

Gulshan was founded as a planned model town in 1961 with its own Pourashabha (municipal corporation), while the neighboring Banani Model Town was founded in 1964. Gulshan Thana was established in 1972. Gulshan Pourashabha was abolished in 1982.[4][5]

The area was originally built with the purpose of being solely residential, however, over the years many commercial buildings have been set up. The celebrated scenic view of the area, dominated by the Gulshan Lake, is detoriating.[1] The reason often stated is a lack of urban planning.[6] Availability and use of recreational drugs, including yaba, has become a problem for the area since early 2000s.[7][8]

Geography

The Gulshan thana comprises an area of 53.59 km², consisting of three wards (72, 73 and 74), 37 mouzas and 20 villages, including Gulshan Model Town, consisting of Gulshan circle 1 and circle 2, Banani Model Town, Baridhara Diplomatic Zone, and Mohakhali. 50% of the area is residential, 20% commercial, and 12% is diplomatic area.[5] 18% land in Gulshan consists of other areas, including slums, of which the biggest is the Karail slum. Apart from the urban areas, the 37 mouzas of Gulshan thana also contain 20 villages.[5]

Gulshan is a commercial cum residential area, originally meant for offices and embassies of diplomatic missions, as well as posh residences.[2] The area has seen an upsurge, since mid-1990s, in the number of high-rise buildings, posh restaurants, lavish residential areas, modern markets and ice-cream parlors which are open past midnight. The independent houses of early 1970s that stood far from each other in Gulshan area have vanished because of the commercial boom, to the point of old residents claiming it is not a residential area anymore.[1] The traffic jams due to a lack of parking space and increased traffic activity for private schools and local clubs are have added to the problems, as well as a vanishing lake, flooded streets and growing slums.[1] The increasing crowd of English-medium schools along road 55 in Gulshan Circle 2 is a particular area of concern.[2] The Banani area faces further problems in the form of private university and shopping complex crowds, as well as rundown roads that has a lack of street lights.[1]

Though Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara, as well as Uttara and other satellite towns like Bashundhara are relatively on higher lands, substantial part the Gulshan thana area remained under water for a prolonged duration during the 1998 Bangladesh flood. Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) conducted a survey to investigate the causes of and remedial measures in 1998 with particular focus on the Gulshan Lake and the Gulshan and Banani canals. Flood water runoff flows into these water bodies practically turning these into buffer flood control reservoirs, except some pockets of transient water-logging.[9][10] Drains and sewerage pipes dumping wastes in the Gulshan lake has been identified as major pollution problem by DWASA.[11] The malodorous wastes tend to spill over when the roads are flooded.[12]

Demography

As per 1991 Bangladesh census,[13] Gulshan had a population of 28,1337.[14] Many of Dhaka's richest reside here. 21.59% of residents are occupied with commerce, while 40.92% are service professionals. Average literacy rate of the area is 59.7% for people over the age of 7 against the national average of 32.4%.[13] 93.65% of the Gulshan population are Muslims.

Urban layout

Most foreign diplomatic missions in Bangladesh area located in Gulshan or Baridhara Diplomatic Zone. Thoroughfares in the area are beautified by major cellphone companies of Bangladesh.[15] There are 25 mosques in this area[5], including Gulshan Azad Mosque [16] and Banani Bazaar Mosque. The area features a number of churches and Christian missions[5], including that of the Missionaries of Charity.

Commercial activities

International brand stores in Gulshan
Food: Baskin-Robbins • Mövenpick • Pizza Hut • Coffee World • A&W • Wimpy • KFC
Clothes: Levi's • Dockers • Nike • Reebok • United Colors of Benetton
Others: Archies Ltd. • Hallmark • Nokia Care • Westin Hotels • Ethan Allen Interiors • Siemens • Samsonite

Many local and multinational companies have their local headquarters located in Gulshan, including Grameenphone, Banglalink, Standard Chartered Bank, P&G, GSK, Reckitt Benckiser, Siemens, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Coca Cola and Pepsi.

There are some 45 markets, bazaars and shopping centres in Gulshan. Most notable are Gulshan Shopping Centre, Navana Shopping Centre, Banani Bazar, DCC Market I, DCC Market II, Alam Market, Shahzadpur Bazar, and Iqbal Centre. There also are mega-stores such as Nandan, Agora, Aarong, Shopper's World, Pink City shopping mall and the ABC Shopping Complex.[5] A plethora of food, bank and fashion outlets are located all over the area.

Entertainment

The Westin Dhaka at Gulshan circle 2

The area hosts a number of elite private clubs.[5] While the Gulshan Club[17] and International Club have their own policies, most of the rest are sponsored by the various diplomatic missions. These include the American Recreation Association (American Club)[18], the Canadian Club[17], the Dutch Club[17], the Australian Club (membership also available to New Zealanders), the Nordic Club (membership available to citizens of Scandanavian countries) and the German Club (membership available to EU citizens)[17]. The BAGHA (British Aid Guest House Association) Club is nominally independent, but members of the British High Commission Club (located nearby in Baridhara) are also automatically considered BAGHA members. [19] While it is not a club as such, the quarters of the American Embassy's Marine Guard unit maintains a small private bar.

It also features Wonder Land, a children's theme park. There is a 250 room five star hotel, Westin, located at circle 2.[20]

Health

ICDDR, B head office at Mahakhali

The headquarters of ICDDR,B is in Mahakhali.[21] Gulshan Mother and Child Clinic (Gulshan Maa O Shishu Clinic), Gulshan Group Clinic, Retina and Eye Center, DNS Diagnostics and Telemedicine, Sikder's Women's Hospital, Ear Care Center, and Balaka Pharmacy are in Gulshan Model Town.[22] The Dental Studio, Sarah Dental Clinic, and Johnson's Dental Clinic are in Banani Model Town.[22] The Apollo Hospital is in Basundhara.[22] There also Japan Bangladesh Friendship Hospital in Gulshan, Aysha Memorial Specialized Hospital and Life Line in Mahakhali, and Nova Medical Center, Peerless Diagnistic & Treatment Centre and Prince Medical Center in Banani.[23] There also Midway Clinic, Adventist Dental Clinic, Modern Clinic & Blood Center and Shifa Pharmacy in Gulshan, Christian Medical Hospital in Baridhara, and Metropolitan Medical Center and Marie Stopes Clinic in Mahakhali.[24]

Diplomatic missions

Source: Embassy World

Universities

Footnotes and references

  1. ^ a b c d e Islam, Kajalie Shehreen (2004-06-16). "The Death of Dhaka's Posh Spots". Daily Star. Retrieved 2007-12-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ a b c Khan, Imran H. (2003-08-10). "Through the Windscreen". Daily Star. Retrieved 2007-12-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Jail for Bangladeshi businessman, BBC, 7 June 2007; Retrieved: 2007-12-16
  4. ^ Ghafur, Shayer (2006-04-21). "The Future of Gulshan South Park". Daily Star. Retrieved 2006-11-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Ahmed, Syed Sabbir (2003-01-01). "Gulshan Thana" (HTML). Banglapedia. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Retrieved 2007-08-20.
  6. ^ Hasan, J. (2002-10-05). "Residential areas losing their character to commercialisation". Weekly Holiday. Retrieved 2006-11-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Roy, Pinaki (2006-02-14). "Danger of 'yaba' spreads rapidly among affluent youth". Daily Star. Retrieved 2006-12-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Islam, Kajalie Shehreen (2005-07-16). "Drug running goes mobile". Daily Star. Retrieved 2006-12-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ Flood Study for Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara, Institute of Water Modelling (IWM), Bangladesh; Retrived: 2007-12-14
  10. ^ Prof Mustafizur Rahman Tarafdar, Floods, rains and Dhaka city drainage, The Daily Star, 2007-12-14, Environment; Retrived: 2007-12-14
  11. ^ City Correspondent (2003-10-13). "Relocating Gulshan drains to reduce lake pollution". Daily Star. Retrieved 2007-12-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ Rahman, Avik Sanwar (2003-10-20). "Wading through sewage in a posh area". Daily Star. Retrieved 2007-12-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ a b "Population Census Wing, BBS". Archived from the original on 2005-03-27. Retrieved November 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ Male 55.22%; female 44.78%
  15. ^ Sadique, Mahfuz (2005-02-04). "Dhaka's facelift: Untamed beauty". New Age. Retrieved 2007-04-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ For a bird's-eye view of the mosque check Wikimapia
  17. ^ a b c d "Entertainment" (HTML). Tourist Attractions. Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation. Retrieved 2007-08-20.
  18. ^ Official Site of American Club, Dhaka]
  19. ^ Geocities: BAGHA Club
  20. ^ Westin, Dhaka at Yahoo Travels; Retrieved: 2007-12-14
  21. ^ See Home Page of ICDDRB
  22. ^ a b c Local Health Care Providers, American International School, Dhaka; Retrived: 2007-12-14
  23. ^ Medical directory, TimeMachine.com; Retrieved: 2007-12-14
  24. ^ Medical services, BisnessInfo Bangladesh; Retrieved: 2007-12-14


23°7917′N 90°4167′E / 154.950°N 159.450°E / 154.950; 159.450 Coordinates: latitude minutes >= 60
Coordinates: longitude minutes >= 60
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