Gulshan Thana

Gulshan ( _bn. গুলশান) is a prosperous area of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.cite news
last = Islam
first = Kajalie Shehreen
title = The Death of Dhaka's Posh Spots
publisher = Daily Star
date = 2004-06-16
url = http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2004/07/03/cover.htm
accessdate = 2007-12-16] cite news
last = Khan
first = Imran H.
title = Through the Windscreen
publisher = Daily Star
date = 2003-08-10
url = http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2003/10/02/impression.htm
accessdate = 2007-12-16] [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/south_asia/6729787.stm Jail for Bangladeshi businessman] , BBC, 7 June 2007; "Retrieved: 2007-12-16"]

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. [cite news
last = Ghafur
first = Shayer
title = The Future of Gulshan South Park
publisher = Daily Star
date = 2006-04-21
url = http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2006/04/03/env.htm
accessdate = 2006-11-15] cite web | last = Ahmed | first = Syed Sabbir | title = Gulshan Thana | work = Banglapedia | publisher = Asiatic Society of Bangladesh | date = 2003-01-01 | url = http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/G_0221.htm | format = HTML | accessdate = 2007-08-20] In 1984, Gulshan, along with Mirpur municipality, was absorbed into Dhaka. [Syed Ali Mortuza, "Rural-urban Migration in Bangladesh: Causes and Effects", page 59, Dietrich Reimer, Berlin 1992]

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. The reason often stated is a lack of urban planning. [cite news
last = Hasan
first = J.
title = Residential areas losing their character to commercialisation
publisher = Weekly Holiday
date = 2002-10-05
url = http://www.weeklyholiday.net/100502/heri.html
accessdate = 2006-11-11] Availability and use of recreational drugs, including yaba, has become a problem for the area since early 2000s. [cite news
last = Roy
first = Pinaki
title = Danger of 'yaba' spreads rapidly among affluent youth
publisher = Daily Star
date = 2006-02-14
url = http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/07/26/d607262501134.htm
accessdate = 2006-12-16] [cite news
last = Islam
first = Kajalie Shehreen
title = Drug running goes mobile
publisher = Daily Star
date = 2005-07-16
url = http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/02/14/d6021401055.htm
accessdate = 2006-12-16]

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. 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.

Gulshan is a commercial cum residential area, originally meant for offices and embassies of diplomatic missions, as well as posh residences. 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. 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. The increasing crowd of English-medium schools along road 55 in Gulshan Circle 2 is a particular area of concern. 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.

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. [ [http://www.iwmbd.org/html/proj_6218.htm Flood Study for Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara] , Institute of Water Modelling (IWM), Bangladesh; "Retrived: 2007-12-14"] [Prof Mustafizur Rahman Tarafdar, [http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=3883 Floods, rains and Dhaka city drainage] , The Daily Star, 2007-12-14, Environment; "Retrived: 2007-12-14"] Drains and sewerage pipes dumping wastes in the Gulshan lake has been identified as major pollution problem by DWASA. [cite news
last = City Correspondent
title = Relocating Gulshan drains to reduce lake pollution
publisher = Daily Star
date = 2003-10-13
url = http://www.thedailystar.net/2003/10/13/d310132504110.htm
accessdate = 2007-12-16] The malodorous wastes tend to spill over when the roads are flooded. [cite news
last = Rahman
first = Avik Sanwar
title = Wading through sewage in a posh area
publisher = Daily Star
date = 2003-10-20
url = http://www.thedailystar.net/2003/10/20/d310202506112.htm
accessdate = 2007-12-16]

Demography

As per 1991 Bangladesh census, Gulshan had a population of 28,1337. [Male 55.22%; female 44.78%] 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%.cite web | accessdate = November 10 | accessyear = 2006 | url = http://www.bangladeshgov.org/mop/ndb/arpc91_v1/tables04.htm | archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20050327072826/http://www.bangladeshgov.org/mop/ndb/arpc91_v1/tables04.htm | archivedate = 2005-03-27 | title = Population Census Wing, BBS.] 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. [cite news
last = Sadique
first = Mahfuz
title = Dhaka’s facelift: Untamed beauty
publisher = New Age
date = 2005-02-04
url = http://www.newagebd.com/2005/feb/04/feb04/xtra_cover.html
accessdate = 2007-04-17] There are 25 mosques in this area, including Gulshan Azad Mosque Fact|date=June 2008 and Banani Bazaar Mosque. The area features a number of churches and Christian missions, including that of the Missionaries of Charity.

Commercial activities

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. A plethora of food, bank and fashion outlets are located all over the area.

Entertainment

The area hosts a number of elite private clubs. While the Gulshan Clubcite web | title = Entertainment | work = Tourist Attractions | publisher = Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation | date = | url = http://www.bangladeshtourism.gov.bd/entermaint5_club.php | format = HTML | accessdate = 2007-08-20] 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) [ [http://www.americanclubdhaka.com/ Official Site] of American Club, Dhaka] ] , the Canadian Club, the Dutch Club, the Australian Club (membership also available to New Zealanders), the Nordic Club (membership available to citizens of Scandinavian countries) and the German Club (membership available to EU citizens). 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. [ [http://www.geocities.com/baghaclub/Bagha.html Geocities: BAGHA Club] ] 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. [ [http://travel.yahoo.com/p-hotel-17765380-the_westin_dhaka-i Westin, Dhaka] at Yahoo Travels; "Retrieved: 2007-12-14"]

Health

The headquarters of ICDDR,B is in Mahakhali. [ See Home Page of [http://www.icddrb.org/ ICDDRB] ] 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. [http://www.ais-dhaka.net/healthcare.pdf Local Health Care Providers] , American International School, Dhaka; "Retrived: 2007-12-14"] The Dental Studio, Sarah Dental Clinic, and Johnson's Dental Clinic are in Banani Model Town. The Apollo Hospital is in Basundhara. 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. [ [http://www.timemachine1.com/dir/mdata.asp?page=1&subcategory_id=493 Medical directory] , TimeMachine.com; "Retrieved: 2007-12-14"] 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. [ [http://www.bizbangladesh.com/imp_health_services_bangladesh.php Medical services] , BisnessInfo Bangladesh; "Retrieved: 2007-12-14"]

Diplomatic missions

* Delegation of the European Commission
* Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany
* Embassy of the Republic of France
* Embassy of the Republic of Italy
* Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium
* Royal Danish Embassy House
* Royal Netherlands Embassy
* Embassy of Sweden
* Royal Norwegian Embassy
* Embassy of the Russian Federation
* Embassy of the Republic of Poland
* Embassy of the Republic of Hungary
* Embassy of Romania
* Consular Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan
* Australian High Commission
* Canadian High Commission
* High Commission For the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
* The High Commission of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
* Royal Bhutanese Embassy
* Embassy of the Union of Myanmar
* Embassy of the State of Palestine
* Embassy of the Islamic State of Afghanistan
* Embassy of the State of Kuwait
* Embassy of the State of Qatar
* Embassy of Saudi Arabia
** Office of the Saudi Military Attache
** Dawa Office, The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia
* Embassy of the United Arab Emirates
* Embassy of the Republic of Turkey
* Embassy Of The Arab Republic Of Egypt
* The People's Bureau of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
* Malaysian High Commission
* Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia
* Royal Thailand Embassy
* Consulate of the Republic of Singapore
* Embassy of the Republic of Philippines

"Source: [http://www.embassyworld.com/embassy/Bangladesh/Bangladesh.html Embassy World] "

Universities

*American International University-Bangladesh
*Atish Dipankar University of Science and Technology
*BRAC University
*East West University
*Independent University, Bangladesh
*Manarat International University
*North South University
*Presidency University
*Prime Asia University
*Royal University of Dhaka
*South East University
*University of Information Technology & Sciences

Footnotes and references