Masbah Uddin Khan

A landmark urban regeneration initiative in Bangladesh has earned international recognition, with Narayanganj’s Baburail Canal Restoration and City Park projects winning the Regional Award at the 2026 Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA) Social Impact Award.

The recognition was announced at the CAA General Assembly held in Auckland, New Zealand, on Wednesday.

The award honors the projects for transforming neglected, polluted, and degraded urban spaces into accessible, environmentally sustainable, and community-oriented public places.

Architect Ishtiaq Zahir Titas, Founder and Director of Bhitti Sthapati Brindo Limited, and Architect Iqbal Habib, Co-founder and Principal Architect of the firm, received the award on behalf of the projects. Bhitti Sthapati Brindo Limited served as the lead consultant and design firm for both the City Park and Baburail Canal developments.

The three-kilometer-long Baburail Canal historically served as an essential waterway connecting the Shitalakshya and Dhaleshwari rivers, supporting passenger boats, cargo movement, and local recreation. Prior to intervention, decades of illegal encroachment, unregulated dumping of municipal waste, and severe pollution had rendered the canal virtually lifeless.

Implemented with support from the World Bank, the restoration project revived the canal's flow while establishing pedestrian walkways, bridges, landscaped green zones, and public gathering spaces along its banks. The project previously secured the UN-Habitat Asian Townscape Jury Award in 2016 and the UNDP Smart City Innovation Award in 2017.

The second award-winning project, Narayanganj City Park, spans approximately 18 acres in the Deobhog area. Formerly a degraded waterbody and dumping site, the land was rehabilitated, landscaped, and converted into a modern public park through an initiative led by the Narayanganj City Corporation.

Urban planning experts noted that the international recognition highlights how restoring degraded urban ecosystems, expanding green infrastructure, and safeguarding natural waterways can provide scalable models for sustainable urban development in densely populated environments