The old utility infrastructures in a city often serve as significant urban landmarks, reminiscing about the city’s history of development and contributing to its unique identity. However, rapid urbanization has resulted in many cities struggling to make efficient use of their abandoned infrastructural components. In Dhaka, several prevalent water supply infrastructures comprising zone-based water pumps and overhead water tanks, have been abandoned due to technological advancements. With unique structural aesthetics, abundance, and widespread distribution, these water towers are often perceived in popular mental mapping as local landmarks that are also reminiscent of the eighteenth-century colonial period. Yet, they were designed and developed using a mono-functional design strategy, leading to inaccessible dead voids of arid landscapes within this dense city texture. Despite their potential as government-owned open spaces and their widespread presence in nearly every neighborhood, these urban blights depict a disheartening image of overlooked prospects. This study investigates the potential of conserving and reactivating these infrastructural components as the city’s identity by developing the concept of adaptive and inclusive hydro-infrastructures as urban utility heritages. The study evaluates the inclusive and localized public place-making potential of these undervalued infrastructural offshoots, followed by historical and contextual study, typology categorization, studies on global perspectives, site observations, photographic documentation, ethnographic survey, activity mapping, land use pattern analysis, program formulation, and design workshop. Challenges such as structural stability, accessibility, and zoning regulations have also been studied. This research reveals that the adaptive reuse of high-water tanks in Dhaka can offer numerous benefits, including generating economic growth, promoting cultural and social activities, preserving architectural heritage, and enhancing urban sustainability. Overall, this research provides insights for urban planners, policymakers, and architects on how to leverage existing infrastructure for sustainable urban development.