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This study examined pollution and shrinkage of urban lakes in the rapidly urbanizing city of Dhaka, Bangladesh. A mixed‐method approach was employed, nested within the European Environmental Agency Drivers, Pressure, States, Impacts, Responses Framework and Environmental Systems Analysis tools (as stakeholder and functions analysis methodologies). A variety of stakeholders and policymakers were first interviewed, being asked to participate in an exercise identifying their perceptions of the greatest challenges facing urban lakes in Dhaka. The current quantity and quality of lakes in Dhaka was subsequently assessed through a combination of field work, government reports and satellite imagery analysis. The results indicated that past management strategies have failed to prevent the infill and pollution of lakes and wetlands. Many key indicators of poor water quality have exhibited sharp increases over the past decade. Urban encroachment into lakes has been curtailed in only four of Dhaka’s 14 districts, with ten districts losing water land cover over the past 66 years. Policymaker and stakeholder opinions on the drivers of lake pollution were highly variable in this study, creating additional roadblocks in implementing and enforcing effective management strategies. It is concluded that the regulatory policies must be implemented to prevent furthermore environmental degradation, while also observing that such policies will be very difficult to enforce under current conditions.
