Gulshan Thana

Gulshan (গুলশান) is a thana situated in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is an affluent residential and business neighbourhood and is now home to a number of the city's restaurants, five star hotels, shopping centers, schools, banks, offices and members' clubs; it also hosts the majority of embassies and high commissions in Bangladesh. Many Bangladeshi and international companies have their offices in Gulshan.

History
An old village named Bhola Gram used to be located in what is now Gulshan. The city was founded as a planned model town in 1961 with its own Pourashabha (municipal corporation), while the neighbouring Banani was founded in 1964. Gulshan Thana was established in 1972. Gulshan Pourashabha was abolished in 1982. In 1984, Gulshan, along with Mirpur municipality, was absorbed into Dhaka.

The area was originally built with the purpose of being solely residential; however, over the years many commercial buildings have been set up in the area. Gulshan is now a mix of a serene residential area and also a city center with shopping malls and commercial buildings. The Gulshan city center consists of Gulshan, Baridhara and Niketan. The Thana of Gulshan also includes the neighborhood of Mohakhali to the southwest. Banani was a part of Gulshan Thana, but was separated with the establishment of Banani Thana. Despite this, Banani and Gulshan are often referred together as "Gulshan-Banani", due to their proximity, same characteristics and history and being in the same thana, before the separation of Banani as a different thana.

On 3 January 2017, at approximately 2:30 a.m. BST midnight, a fire broke out in a local market, DCC, in Gulshan.

Geography
The Gulshan Thana comprises an area of 8.85 km2, consisting of ward 18 and ward 19 (partial), including Gulshan Model Town, consisting of Gulshan circle 1 and circle 2, Baridhara Diplomatic Zone, Mohakhali, and Niketan Housing Society. 50% of the area is residential, 20% commercial and 12% is the diplomatic area. 18% of land in Gulshan consists of other areas, including slums, of which the biggest is the Karail slum and Gulshan Lake.

Gulshan is a commercial and residential area, originally meant for offices and embassies of diplomatic missions, as well as residences. The area has seen an upsurge in the number of high-rise buildings, restaurants, residential areas, modern markets and ice-cream parlors since the mid-1990s. The independent houses of the early 1970s that stood far from each other in the Gulshan area have vanished because of the commercial boom, to the point that older residents claim it is no longer a residential area.

Though Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara, as well as Uttara and other satellite towns like Bashundhara, are relatively on higher lands, substantial parts of the Gulshan Thana area remained underwater for a prolonged duration during the 1998 Bangladesh floods. Dhaka WASA conducted a survey to investigate the causes of and remedial measures in 1998 with a particular focus on the Gulshan Lake and the Gulshan and Banani canals. Flood water runoff flows into these water bodies practically turning these into buffer flood control reservoirs, except for some pockets of transient water-logging. Drains and sewerage pipes dumping wastes in the Gulshan lake has been identified as major pollution problem by DWASA. The malodorous wastes tend to spill over when the roads are flooded.

Demography
As per 1991 Bangladesh census, 93.65% of the Gulshan population are Muslims.

Urban layout
Thoroughfares in the area are beautified by major cellphone companies of Bangladesh. There are 25 mosques in this area, including Gulshan Azad Mosque and Gulshan Society Mosque. The area features a number of churches and Christian missions, including that of the Missionaries of Charity. There are some public urban parks in this area including Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed Park and Shahid Dr. Fazle Rabbi Park.

Commercial activities
Many local and multinational companies have their local headquarters located in Gulshan, including Nokia, Banglalink, Augere, Standard Chartered Bank, P&G, GSK, Reckitt Benckiser, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., The Himalaya Drug Company, Siemens, Adidas, Nokia Siemens Networks, Sony Ericsson, Ericsson, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company and Microsoft.

There are some 45 boutiques, markets, bazaars and shopping centers in Gulshan. There also are mega-stores such as Shwapno, Agora, Aarong, Unimart, Meena Baazar and Lavender. There are also many shopping malls like Shopper's World, Pink City and the ABC Shopping Complex. A plethora of food, bank and fashion outlets are located all over the area.

Entertainment
The area hosts a number of private clubs. While the Gulshan Club and International Club have their own policies, most of the rest are sponsored by the various diplomatic missions. These include the American Recreation Association (American Club), the Canadian Club, the Dutch Club, the Australian Club (membership also available to New Zealanders), the Nordic Club (membership available to citizens of Scandinavian countries) and the German Club (membership available to EU citizens). The BAGHA (British Aid Guest House Association) Club falls under the British High Commission umbrella and also accepts membership from EU citizens. While it is not a club as such, the quarters of the American Embassy's Marine Guard unit maintains a small private bar.

There is a 250-room five star hotel, Westin, located at circle-2.

Health
The headquarters of icddr,b is in Mahakhali. Gulshan Mother and Child Clinic (Gulshan Maa O Shishu Clinic), Gulshan Group Clinic, Retina and Eye Center, DNS Diagnostics and Telemedicine, Sikder's Women's Hospital, Ear Care Center, and Balaka Pharmacy are in Gulshan Model Town. The Dental Studio, and Sarah Dental Clinic. There also Japan Bangladesh Friendship Hospital in Gulshan, Aysha Memorial Specialized Hospital and LifeLine in Mohakhali, and Nova Medical Center, Peerless Diagnostic & Treatment Centre. There also Midway Clinic, Adventist Dental Clinic, Modern Clinic & Blood Center and Shifa Pharmacy in Gulshan, Christian Medical Hospital in Baridhara, and Metropolitan Medical Center and Marie Stopes Clinic in Mohakhali.

Diplomatic missions
• Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

• Australian High Commission

• Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium

• Royal Bhutanese Embassy

• Canadian High Commission

• Embassy of the People's Republic of China

• Royal Danish Embassy

• Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt

• Embassy of the Republic of France

• Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany

• Embassy of the Republic of Hungary

• Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia

• Embassy of the Republic of Italy

• Embassy of the State of Kuwait

• The People's Bureau of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

• Malaysian High Commission

• Embassy of the Union of Myanmar

• Royal Netherlands Embassy

• Royal Norwegian Embassy

• High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

• Embassy of the State of Palestine

• Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines

• Embassy of the Republic of Poland

• Embassy of the State of Qatar

• Embassy of the Russian Federation

• Embassy of Romania

• Embassy of Saudi Arabia

• Consulate of the Republic of Singapore

• Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain

• The High Commission of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

• Embassy of Sweden

• Royal Thai Embassy

• Embassy of the Republic of Turkey

• Embassy of the United Arab Emirates

• British High Commission

• Embassy of the United States of America

• Consular Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan

• Delegation of the European Commission

Universities

 * Manarat International University (2001)
 * Presidency University (2003)

Schools

 * American Standard International School (ASIS)
 * Australian International School
 * Bangladesh International Tutorial (BIT)
 * Academia School Dhaka
 * Green Dale International School
 * Manarat
 * Scholastica