Asia's 'Biggest' Mall in Dhaka

Saturday, April 11, 2020
Your right to know
Asia's 'biggest' mall in Dhaka

Md Hasan
The interior view of under construction Jamuna Future Park, a giant shopping mall in Dhaka
(left)Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain
The giant glass and steel arch hangs like an upturned smile above the concrete and scaffolding,
each day welcoming hundreds of construction workers and prospective store holders into the
cavern like atrium of what is claimed will be Asia's biggest shopping centre.
No, this monster of a building is not on some retail park on the outskirts of Shanghai, or Kuala
Lumpur, but in Dhaka, Bangladesh. And whether or not the claim of its Asian predominance is
true, the sheer scale of 'Jamuna Future Park' cannot be questioned.
Standing in the entrance of the nine story building with sunlight cutting down through the glass
ceiling, Future Park's designer AJM Alamgir can roll off a list of staggering figures as testimony
to its scale.
So far more than 5.5 million bricks, 40,000 tones of steel, 2 million bags of cement and 3.6
million cubic feet of sand have been consumed in its construction. On average 1,200 workers are
busy on the site each day and when completed there will be 4.5 million square feet of shopping,
entertainment facilities and offices.
It is the largest ever private infrastructure venture, and will be three times the size of
Bashundhara City, the country's current number one shopping mall, according to the Jamuna
Group.
With space for more than 4,300 shops, a food court, children's theme park, cinema halls, an
exhibition centre and offices the centre's total yearly turnover will be around TK16,000 crore,
according to Nurul Islam Babul, chairman of Jamuna Group.
“It’s not only the biggest in the country, I must claim that it is the biggest ever shopping mall
project in South Asia,” said Babul.
But getting it built has not been easy. Work started on the site in 2001, but political disputes
delayed development. In February 2007 Babul was seized and sent to Dhaka Central jail, accused
under the emergency power rules of anti-state activities and land grabbing. He was released on
bail in December and is unwilling to comment on the accusations or the reasons for the project's
delay.
At present around 80 percent of work has been completed and the aim is to open the first phase
of the complex by mid 2009 with 140 escalators and 42 lifts still needing to be installed. A
second phase involving the construction of a hotel and hospital will come later.
But will there really be enough customers to keep the 4,300 shops going?
Babul has no doubt. “When I dreamed of such a big venture, I considered a place which must be
surrounded by areas that would be able to provide customers for Future Park. I think this is the
right spot.”
The centre is well located for most of the more affluent parts of the city, Gulshan, Baridhara,
Uttara, DOHS, and Banani, he said, adding that “Its population density will encourage the
prospective shoppers to become a part of the country's biggest business centre.”
The centre will have parking spaces for 5,000 cars and is surrounded by a 26 feet ringroad in
order to allow customers to bring their own vehicles.
Babul also insisted that Future Park, with its entertainment focus ranging from restaurants to
karaoke and bowling lanes to swimming pools, would attract non-shoppers.
“The park should not be considered a mall only, it's a city where you can find whatever you want
for passing a day time.”
One common question asked is about power supply, but Babul said power supply is not a
problem. “We will supply uninterrupted power to the mall by setting a 40MW private power
plant inside the area.”
Bangladeshi engineers have already proved their skills by developing huge projects around the
world. For example, everyone can recollect the name of Fazlur Khan, a Bangladeshi structure
engineer who designed the Sears Tower in Chicago.
But here in Bangladesh it still comes as a surprise to many that a local engineer, such as AJM
Alamgir is behind such a huge project as Future Park. Indeed Alamgir is involved in several of
the major developments going on in and around Dhaka at the moment such as the Unous Tower
at Motijhil, Silver Tower at Gulshan, and North Tower at Uttara.
Yet sometimes it is difficult to remain engaged in such a long running project as Future Park.
“Sometimes I feel a little bored. But when I realize this project is likely to be part of history, any
reluctance I have turns into enthusiasm,” he said.
It's a feeling echoed by Jamuna Group's Babul. “I will not be alive forever, but the 18,000 tones
of concrete used in the Jamuna Future Park will make me immortal,” he said smiling.

Asia's 'Biggest' Mall in Dhaka

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Asia's 'Biggest' Mall in Dhaka

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Asia's 'Biggest' Mall in Dhaka

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Your right to know

Asia's 'biggest' mall in Dhaka

You might also like