SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF PARKS AS URBAN GREEN SPACE IN KHULNA CITY: AN ANALYSIS IN CONTEXT OF EQUITY PLANNING

Equitable distribution of parks as urban green space over a city can provide recreational, health and environmental services to city people.  This research aims to assess the spatial distribution of parks as urban green space of Khulna City in equity planning. Primary data on existing condition of parks with facilities, user satisfaction level, improvement of existing parks, and proposals for new parks etc. are collected from questionnaire survey of 384 park users and key informants of urban planners, civil engineers and architects from Khulna Development Authority (KDA) and Khulna City Corporation (KCC), the city planning and urban service delivery government organizations. Implementation status of park proposals in 1961 and 2001 City Master Plans, and proposals in the 2018 Detailed Area Development Plan (DAP) along with relevant published research articles, reports etc. are reviewed as secondary data sources. Demand for parks is assessed through Buffer and Network analysis using GIS and also from Threshold Population analysis. Khulna, the 3rd largest industrial city of Bangladesh has about 0.7 million people in its 45.65 sq. km area. There are only 8 parks in Khulna City, most of which are small and cover only 0.15% of total KCC area. Among the 31 KCC Wards, only 7 (23%) Wards, where 27% city people live have parks. The remaining 24 (77%) Wards having 73% city people are deprived of parks. Increased urban population due to rapid urbanization is causing tremendous pressure on the existing limited number of parks. KCC and KDA have not followed equity principles while planning and implementation of park proposals. The parks are mostly found in the Wards having planned and old built-up areas. The existing parks are unable to fulfill the demand of city people. Considering the served, over served and underserved area of existing parks in a more conservative manner, a total of 14 new parks are proposed to ensure equity in planning and development of parks in Khulna City.