Mohammadpur Rezoning Plan Dhaka: 25-Storey Future

Rajuk, the capital's urban development authority, is circulating a draft rezoning framework that would reclassify large sections of Mohammadpur — specifically the blocks stretching from Asad Gate to Town Hall Road — from low-density residential to mixed-use commercial-residential zones. The proposal, reviewed by The Daily Dhaka this week, covers approximately 142 acres and would permit buildings of up to 25 storeys where current rules cap construction at six.

The timing matters. Dhaka's population density in core zones now runs at roughly 44,000 people per square kilometre, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics' 2025 urban survey, and the city's existing Detailed Area Plan — the DAP revised in 2022 — has already pushed developers to look westward for growth corridors. Mohammadpur sits at the intersection of three arterial roads and is served by two future BRTA bus rapid transit corridors planned for completion by 2028. For developers, that combination of infrastructure and relatively lower land costs compared to Gulshan or Banani makes it a target. A Rajuk reclassification would simply make it official.

On the ground, the change is already being priced in. Land brokers around Krishi Market and Shahjahan Road are quoting plots at Tk 18,000 to Tk 22,000 per square foot — up from Tk 12,500 eighteen months ago. At least three developer groups, including Sheltech and Rangs Properties, have quietly accumulated plots near the Mohammadpur Bus Stand in anticipation of a favourable zoning decision, according to two industry sources familiar with the transactions. The Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh, REHAB, held a closed-door session on the proposal at its Karwan Bazar office last month.

What the Rezoning Would Actually Allow

Under the draft framework, properties within the newly designated mixed-use corridors would be permitted a floor area ratio of 5.0, compared with the current 2.5 limit that applies to most of Mohammadpur's residential blocks. Ground floors would be required to accommodate commercial or retail use. Residential units would be permitted on all upper floors, and the proposal mandates that at least 10 percent of total built-up area in any development above 15 storeys be designated as affordable housing under the government's Grihayan Tahobil scheme.

That affordable housing clause is the proposal's most contested element. Urban planners at the Bangladesh Institute of Planners have argued the 10 percent threshold is too low to prevent displacement of the lower-income residents who currently occupy Mohammadpur's older four-storey walk-ups, many of which were built in the 1980s on plots originally allocated to 1971 war-affected families. Mohammadpur has one of Dhaka's higher concentrations of those original allotment holders, and their legal status under a rezoned regime has not been addressed in the current draft.

Residents and the Road Ahead

Rajuk has scheduled two public consultation sessions — the first on July 17 at the Mohammadpur Government College auditorium, the second on July 24 at the Dhaka City Corporation ward office on Nurjahan Road. Both sessions are open to registered landowners, tenant associations and civil society groups. Written submissions can be filed until August 10.

The proposal then goes to Rajuk's full board for a decision, likely in September. If approved, the new zoning classifications would take effect after a 90-day gazette notification period, meaning developers could begin submitting revised building plans as early as the first quarter of 2027.

For anyone holding property in the affected blocks, the practical advice from conveyancing lawyers currently working in Dhaka is straightforward: check whether your plot falls within the proposed corridor boundaries before July 17, because the consultation process is the last formal opportunity to object to boundary lines. Rajuk's zoning map is available at its head office in Agargaon and on the authority's website. Given what happened to land values in Bashundhara Residential Area after its mixed-use corridor was gazetted in 2019, few expect prices in Mohammadpur to sit still much longer regardless of the final decision.