A satellite study published recently compared Dhaka’s environmental conditions in 2004, 2014 and 2024. The area classified as livable fell from a 30.53 per cent share in 2004 to 20.75 per cent in 2024 in a composite index. The study describes selected physical conditions rather than measuring residents’ happiness or proving the effects of a particular urban policy.
The share of Dhaka classified as environmentally livable fell across successive measurement years: 30.53 per cent for 2004, then 26.87 per cent for 2014, and finally 20.75 per cent for 2024. A peer-reviewed satellite study published recently reports the comparison. The paper compares historical observations; it does not report new measurements made today. The classification also recorded expanding unlivable areas, reaching 30.80 per cent in 2024.[1]
The index combines indicators for vegetation and moisture alongside built-up land, night lighting, air pollution and urban heat islands from multiple satellite sources. Geographical information systems, statistical methods and multicriteria weighting supplied the composite classification. Spatial analysis compared neighbourhood patterns as well as citywide clustering, exposing differences that a single average would hide. The researchers also varied weights in sensitivity analyses to examine how underlying assumptions affected the result. The narrower category of very livable areas declined alongside the broader livable classification.[1]
This single remote-sensing study assesses selected physical conditions, not residents’ happiness, diagnosed health or every dimension of urban life. Its historical comparisons are observational; they do not experimentally measure the causal effect of a particular planning policy. The authors consider the maps relevant to environmental planning, including green and water spaces and heat-island conditions. Planning applications would still require evaluation of specific interventions and information about residents beyond the physical indicators used here.[1]
