Peter Calthorpe saw Transit Oriented Development (TOD) as a neotraditional guide to sustainable c... more Peter Calthorpe saw Transit Oriented Development (TOD) as a neotraditional guide to sustainable community design, rather than an excuse for new infrastructure development. Coming to Dhaka, it has become a mega city with more than ten million inhabitants, and its population is projected to reach 16 million by 2015. Lack of sufficient public transport facilities to support this growing demand and efficient transport management paired with increasing automobile dependency resulting into serious traffic congestion in addition to air pollution induced health hazard, reduced productivity and additional stress on city dwellers. Considering this situation the government of Bangladesh has identified priority issues such as improvement of mass transit system (buses and rail transportations). But in spite of all the detail technical guidelines regarding the transit networks, little evidence has been found regarding how the surrounding community is going to be affected or benefited due to this new transit infrastructures and how these changes can be guided. This is where this paper considers to critically investigating the problems and prospects of mass transit system in Dhaka and potential of TOD as a promising concept for strengthening the local communities. The investigation has been based on examining documented evidences such as national guidelines, international case study and informal social survey in one of the busiest influence zones along the proposed mass transit corridors. The findings focus on the positive perspectives of the local community supporting the TOD and some of the policy and institutional barriers that might hamper the benefits TOD application may yield in the context of Dhak
Bangladesh is one of many such countries that are in immediate need to imply concepts of sustaina... more Bangladesh is one of many such countries that are in immediate need to imply concepts of sustainability to deal with crises like water, energy security, poverty, climate change and so on. The concept of sustainability is interdisciplinary in nature, which demands participation from every level of the community, aiming at maintaining a balanced ecological, social and economic system. As built environment is one of the indicators of socio-economic and ecological conditions, architects are implicitly connected to maintain the sustainability process. Architects form an integral part in visualizing and implying this concept since they play a vital role in the creation of built environment. So it is very crucial for the architects of Bangladesh to be made aware of their responsibilities by incorporating the concepts of sustainability from a very elementary level of architectural pedagogy. In Bangladesh, a significant number of institutes are offering architectural education and the number...
The objective of this paper is to reveal the shift of thoughts in city planning in terms of livab... more The objective of this paper is to reveal the shift of thoughts in city planning in terms of livability demonstrated in one of the newly planned satellite towns of Dhaka city. Ever since the emergence of the term 'livable cities' back in 1980’s by IMCL (International Making Cities Livable LLC), considerable amount of research and practice have been oriented towards understanding how the contemporary cities should grow or be planned for livability, in terms of physical, socio-economic and cultural aspects. Cities around the globe demonstrate diversified vision, policies and strategies for achieving these desired goals. This paper takes Dhaka city as a case study to critically investigate the intentions and attempts of urban planning and design practice focused on the livability aspects of the city. The human settlement of Dhaka city can be traced back as early as the 12th century. Till then, the city received attention, negligence, natural calamity, political instability and w...
Geo-Climatic factors encouraged people of different periods to shape their settlement strategy fr... more Geo-Climatic factors encouraged people of different periods to shape their settlement strategy from the beginning of human race. House became the emblem of protection and safety for human existence. Whenever people plan to build their houses, geo-climatic factors come forward as the primary consideration to deal with the adverse natural calamities and unusual environmental behavior. Geo-Climatic and economic reasoning have always been a foremost apprehension in any housing technology being practiced specifically among those groups of people who have been living in close association with the nature for years. In order to adjust with the environmental behavior, the people have generated traditional paradigm of well-protected, sustainable and ecologically-sound housing form and technology. Bangladesh possesses a rich tradition in the formation and developments of its human settlement. The built forms of these settlements have their own specific characteristics. Indigenous people of thi...
From the very beginning of industrialization in Bangladesh, tanning industries have been playing ... more From the very beginning of industrialization in Bangladesh, tanning industries have been playing a significant role in the country’s economy. Due to its importance as a labor based export oriented industry the full flourish of this industrial sector is essential but these industries are discharging and dumping their wastes and effluents without treatment into nearby water bodies and due to these reasons Hazaribagh tannery area of Bangladesh is considered an extremely polluted area and this industrial zones which have been formerly deemed as a vital part of human daily lives turned into a formidable obstacle and catastrophic place within the city. Dhaka is the world's one of the largest densely populated city and Hazaribagh is very important place and almost situated at the center of the city. Due to its harmful industrial activity government of Bangladesh decided to shift the whole place to out skirt of Dhaka city where the ETP ( Effluent Treatment Plant) will be established to...
International Journal of Architecture, Engineering and Construction
As built environment is one of the vital indicators of socioeconomic and ecological sustainabilit... more As built environment is one of the vital indicators of socioeconomic and ecological sustainability, it is integral for the architects to be aware of their role in the sustainable development process. In Bangladesh, apart from a significant number of academic institutes offering architectural education, various research and professional institutes are dedicated towards furthering the awareness regarding sustainability among architects through dissemination of knowledge and offering professional training. The focus of this paper is to outline the current efforts of these institutes and evaluate the efficacy of their role in linking the gaps between theory and practice of promoting sustainability agendas with reference to some of the documented guidelines. The study was based on archival research by tracing down activities of a few selected institutes in Bangladesh actively promoting sustainability agendas among professionals over the period of 2009 to 2015. Investigation has revealed that a significant contribution of these institutes towards disseminating sustainability issues has been made. However, lack of coordination and complicated issue of competition among them leaves sporadic impact on the desired link between pedagogy and practice, which forms the basis of a set of recommendations through this study.
This paper is an attempt to question whether the current planning approach for Dhaka city is appr... more This paper is an attempt to question whether the current planning approach for Dhaka city is appropriate for sustaining the socio cultural cohesion within the planned settlements; whether we need to go back to our past. Dhaka city holds a glorious history of 400 years along which it has grown from a riverside medieval trading town to its current stature of a large metropolis. Within its framework, two distinct spatial patterns can be found; they are the planned and the spontaneously developed (i.e. organic or informal) patterns. The historic old Dhaka follows a spontaneous organic pattern with its winding, narrow, intricate and intimate network of streets; acting as vibrant urban spaces for social cohesion. However, vast areas of the new city are also spontaneously developed containing labyrinthine mixture of lanes, by-lanes and cul-de-sac like old Dhaka but wider and less intricate. On the contrary, the planned areas are the resultant of top down planning approach, with wide grid iron pattern road network dividing the land parcels into regular shaped plots. What appears to be alarming is the apparent incoherence between the urban spaces and the social interaction pattern in these planned settlements. Thus this paper attempts to investigate the planned settlements based on case study method along with correlation, observation and archival research and trace the inspiration that lies in understanding and adopting the underlying components of the indigenous settlements responsible for promoting social cohesion instead of direct replication of the past. For further validation of the argument, new informal settlements have also been investigated as an adoptive model of indigenous planning principles.
Keywords: Social coherence, planned city, spontaneous spatial pattern
Industrial Ecology has emerged in response to the growing concerns about the environmental damage... more Industrial Ecology has emerged in response to the growing concerns about the environmental damage associated with the continued natural resource exploitation. IE‟s primary concepts are based on the natural ecological principles where the consumption of energy and materials are optimized, waste generation is minimized and the effluents of one process serve as the raw material for another process. Hazaribagh is one of the two major industrial zones in Dhaka. In Hazaribagh area, about 183 tannery industries, two paint industries and several metal industries are located. The pollution emanating from the tanneries is directly affecting surface water, ground water, the soil and air of the Hazaribagh area. This paper aims to explore how policies can be used to implement IE in the context of the tanneries of Hazaribagh, as a sustainable development strategy. IE has some obvious environmental and economic benefits for the business organization But the social sustainability issues are still in lack of proper attention that will be addressed in this paper.
This paper aims to evaluate the possibilities of introducing urban greenery to improve the therma... more This paper aims to evaluate the possibilities of introducing urban greenery to improve the thermal climate of the commercial districts of the city of Dhaka, Bangladesh, a tropical region characterized by high density of population and built up areas. Dhaka had a legacy of being a green city in the past. However, due to rapid and unplanned urbanization, most of the greens were erased for the sake of development. However, there is still possibility to revive the green heritage of the city. This research views the recently introduced Dhaka Building Construction Regulation, 2008 as a prospective means to revive greenery in the high dense urban environment of the city. The regulation mandates 25% of the plot to be absolute soil for the purpose of ground water recharge. Nevertheless, it can be as well utilized for the purpose of tree plantation that will have positive effect on the overall thermal environment. In view of that, a distinct commercial district was considered for studying the thermal condition of the existing and the hypothetical situation configured according to the Building Construction Regulation and with greenery. GIS and STEVE tool, a web based air temperature prediction model developed in the context of Singapore has been used for studying the thermal environment. The validation of STEVE tool in the context of Dhaka has been also tested through the field survey.The results showed how the new construction rules might impact the existing heat island effect and what the scope of improvement is. Keywords: Urban Heat Island Effect (UHI), Urban greenery, Dhaka Building Construction Regulation, 2008, GIS, STEVE tool
This paper is an attempt to question whether the current planning approach for Dhaka city is appr... more This paper is an attempt to question whether the current planning approach for Dhaka city is appropriate for sustaining the socio-cultural cohesion within the planned settlements; whether we need to go back to our past. Dhaka city holds a glorious history of 400 years along which it has grown from a riverside medieval trading town to its current stature of a large metropolis. Within its framework, two distinct spatial patterns can be found; they are the planned and the spontaneously developed (i.e. organic or informal) patterns. The historic old Dhaka follows a spontaneous organic pattern with its winding, narrow, intricate and intimate network of streets; acting as vibrant urban spaces for social cohesion. However, vast areas of the new city are also spontaneously developed containing labyrinthine mixture of lanes, by-lanes and cul-de-sac like old Dhaka but wider and less intricate. On the contrary, the planned areas are the resultant of top down planning approach, with wide grid iron pattern road network dividing the land parcels into regular shaped plots. What appears to be alarming is the apparent incoherence between the urban spaces and the social interaction pattern in these planned settlements. Thus this paper attempts to investigate the planned settlements based on case study method along with correlation, observation and archival research and trace the inspiration that lies in understanding and adopting the underlying components of the indigenous settlements responsible for promoting social cohesion instead of direct replication of the past. For further validation of the argument, new informal settlements have also been investigated as an adoptive model of indigenous planning principles.
Keywords:Social coherence, planned city, spontaneous spatial pattern
Peter Calthorpe saw Transit Oriented Development (TOD) as a neo-traditional guide to sustainable ... more Peter Calthorpe saw Transit Oriented Development (TOD) as a neo-traditional guide to sustainable community design, rather than an excuse for new infrastructure development. Coming to Dhaka, it has become a mega city with more than ten million inhabitants, and its population is projected to reach 16 million by 2015. Lack of sufficient public transport facilities to support this growing demand and efficient transport management paired with increasing automobile dependency resulting into serious traffic congestion in addition to air pollution induced health hazard, reduced productivity and additional stress on city dwellers. Considering this situation the government of Bangladesh has identified priority issues such as improvement of mass transit system (buses and rail transportations). But in spite of all the detail technical guidelines regarding the transit networks, little evidence has been found regarding how the surrounding community is going to be affected or benefited due to this new transit infrastructures and how these changes can be guided. This is where this paper considers to critically investigating the problems and prospects of mass transit system in Dhaka and potential of TOD as a promising concept for strengthening the local communities. The investigation has been based on examining documented evidences such as national guidelines, international case study and informal social survey in one of the busiest influence zones along the proposed mass transit corridors. The findings focus on the positive perspectives of the local community supporting the TOD and some of the policy and institutional barriers that might hamper the benefits TOD application may yield in the context of Dhaka.
The objective of this paper is to reveal the shift of thoughts in city planning in terms of livab... more The objective of this paper is to reveal the shift of thoughts in city planning in terms of livability demonstrated in one of the newly planned satellite towns of Dhaka city. Ever since the emergence of the term 'livable cities' back in 1980’s by IMCL (International Making Cities Livable LLC), considerable amount of research and practice have been oriented towards understanding how the contemporary cities should grow or be planned for livability, in terms of physical, socio-economic and cultural aspects. Cities around the globe demonstrate diversified vision, policies and strategies for achieving these desired goals. This paper takes Dhaka city as a case study to critically investigate the intentions and attempts of urban planning and design practice focused on the livability aspects of the city. The human settlement of Dhaka city can be traced back as early as the 12th century. Till then, the city received attention, negligence, natural calamity, political instability and went through a number of philosophical views as well as planning proposals for its development. In all its efforts, the intrinsic components of livability were much less emphasized due to the major thrust on city’s physical constraint, limited land resources along with negligence in detail area and neighborhood planning. But recent efforts in one of the newly planned satellite town Purbachal shows evidence of change in the traditional paradigm of planning practice. The ultimate objective of this paper is to reveal the points where the proposed master plan of Purbachal succeeded or failed to embrace the principals of livability learnt from earlier precedence of greater Dhaka city. The findings of this paper have been extracted from the studio exercise of Urban Design Studio of the Department of Architecture, University of Asia Pacific. The study was mainly based on case study, examining documented evidence and map & model study along with expert interview.
Bangladesh is one of many such countries that are in immediate need to imply concepts of sustaina... more Bangladesh is one of many such countries that are in immediate need to imply concepts of sustainability to deal with crises like water, energy security, poverty, climate change and so on. The concept of sustainability is interdisciplinary in nature, which demands participation from every level of the community, aiming at maintaining a balanced ecological, social and economic system. As built environment is one of the indicators of socio-economic and ecological conditions, architects are implicitly connected to maintain the sustainability process. Architects form an integral part in visualizing and implying this concept since they play a vital role in the creation of built environment. So it is very crucial for the architects of Bangladesh to be made aware of their responsibilities by incorporating the concepts of sustainability from a very elementary level of architectural pedagogy. In Bangladesh, a significant number of institutes are offering architectural education and the number of students and graduating architects is increasing remarkably. Although most schools recognize the need to implement sustainable design, environmental (both social and ecological) agenda still continue to be insignificant. The focus of this paper is to evaluate the reasons why there is necessity to achieve the long term sustainability goals and the critical issues involved in reformation of architectural curriculum to build the awareness. Keywords: Sustainability, Sustainable Built Environment, Architectural Education, Curriculum
Geo-Climatic factors encouraged people of different periods to shape their settlement strategy fr... more Geo-Climatic factors encouraged people of different periods to shape their settlement strategy from the beginning of human race. House became the emblem of protection and safety for human existence. Whenever people plan to build
their houses, geo-climatic factors come forward as the primary consideration to deal with the adverse natural calamities and unusual environmental behavior. Geo-Climatic and economic reasoning have always been a foremost apprehension in any housing technology being practiced specifically among those groups of people who
have been living in close association with the nature for years. In order to adjust with the environmental behavior, the people have generated traditional paradigm of well-protected, sustainable and ecologically-sound housing form and technology. Bangladesh possesses a rich tradition in the formation and developments of its human settlement. The built forms of these settlements have their own specific characteristics. Indigenous people of this country have hereditarily been exercising this sort of housing technology for years that reflect ecological and environmental concern. There is a long history regarding eco-adaptive, environmentally sound and self-sustaining traditional house form and technology in this region. The paper explores such traditional housing technologies practiced in different parts of Bangladesh. It aims to investigate those traditional rural houses as a suitable form of architecture in Bangladesh. It also presents the regional expression, cultural significance, ecological and economic reasoning of
the rural housing technology of Bangladesh.
Peter Calthorpe saw Transit Oriented Development (TOD) as a neotraditional guide to sustainable c... more Peter Calthorpe saw Transit Oriented Development (TOD) as a neotraditional guide to sustainable community design, rather than an excuse for new infrastructure development. Coming to Dhaka, it has become a mega city with more than ten million inhabitants, and its population is projected to reach 16 million by 2015. Lack of sufficient public transport facilities to support this growing demand and efficient transport management paired with increasing automobile dependency resulting into serious traffic congestion in addition to air pollution induced health hazard, reduced productivity and additional stress on city dwellers. Considering this situation the government of Bangladesh has identified priority issues such as improvement of mass transit system (buses and rail transportations). But in spite of all the detail technical guidelines regarding the transit networks, little evidence has been found regarding how the surrounding community is going to be affected or benefited due to this new transit infrastructures and how these changes can be guided. This is where this paper considers to critically investigating the problems and prospects of mass transit system in Dhaka and potential of TOD as a promising concept for strengthening the local communities. The investigation has been based on examining documented evidences such as national guidelines, international case study and informal social survey in one of the busiest influence zones along the proposed mass transit corridors. The findings focus on the positive perspectives of the local community supporting the TOD and some of the policy and institutional barriers that might hamper the benefits TOD application may yield in the context of Dhak
Bangladesh is one of many such countries that are in immediate need to imply concepts of sustaina... more Bangladesh is one of many such countries that are in immediate need to imply concepts of sustainability to deal with crises like water, energy security, poverty, climate change and so on. The concept of sustainability is interdisciplinary in nature, which demands participation from every level of the community, aiming at maintaining a balanced ecological, social and economic system. As built environment is one of the indicators of socio-economic and ecological conditions, architects are implicitly connected to maintain the sustainability process. Architects form an integral part in visualizing and implying this concept since they play a vital role in the creation of built environment. So it is very crucial for the architects of Bangladesh to be made aware of their responsibilities by incorporating the concepts of sustainability from a very elementary level of architectural pedagogy. In Bangladesh, a significant number of institutes are offering architectural education and the number...
The objective of this paper is to reveal the shift of thoughts in city planning in terms of livab... more The objective of this paper is to reveal the shift of thoughts in city planning in terms of livability demonstrated in one of the newly planned satellite towns of Dhaka city. Ever since the emergence of the term 'livable cities' back in 1980’s by IMCL (International Making Cities Livable LLC), considerable amount of research and practice have been oriented towards understanding how the contemporary cities should grow or be planned for livability, in terms of physical, socio-economic and cultural aspects. Cities around the globe demonstrate diversified vision, policies and strategies for achieving these desired goals. This paper takes Dhaka city as a case study to critically investigate the intentions and attempts of urban planning and design practice focused on the livability aspects of the city. The human settlement of Dhaka city can be traced back as early as the 12th century. Till then, the city received attention, negligence, natural calamity, political instability and w...
Geo-Climatic factors encouraged people of different periods to shape their settlement strategy fr... more Geo-Climatic factors encouraged people of different periods to shape their settlement strategy from the beginning of human race. House became the emblem of protection and safety for human existence. Whenever people plan to build their houses, geo-climatic factors come forward as the primary consideration to deal with the adverse natural calamities and unusual environmental behavior. Geo-Climatic and economic reasoning have always been a foremost apprehension in any housing technology being practiced specifically among those groups of people who have been living in close association with the nature for years. In order to adjust with the environmental behavior, the people have generated traditional paradigm of well-protected, sustainable and ecologically-sound housing form and technology. Bangladesh possesses a rich tradition in the formation and developments of its human settlement. The built forms of these settlements have their own specific characteristics. Indigenous people of thi...
From the very beginning of industrialization in Bangladesh, tanning industries have been playing ... more From the very beginning of industrialization in Bangladesh, tanning industries have been playing a significant role in the country’s economy. Due to its importance as a labor based export oriented industry the full flourish of this industrial sector is essential but these industries are discharging and dumping their wastes and effluents without treatment into nearby water bodies and due to these reasons Hazaribagh tannery area of Bangladesh is considered an extremely polluted area and this industrial zones which have been formerly deemed as a vital part of human daily lives turned into a formidable obstacle and catastrophic place within the city. Dhaka is the world's one of the largest densely populated city and Hazaribagh is very important place and almost situated at the center of the city. Due to its harmful industrial activity government of Bangladesh decided to shift the whole place to out skirt of Dhaka city where the ETP ( Effluent Treatment Plant) will be established to...
International Journal of Architecture, Engineering and Construction
As built environment is one of the vital indicators of socioeconomic and ecological sustainabilit... more As built environment is one of the vital indicators of socioeconomic and ecological sustainability, it is integral for the architects to be aware of their role in the sustainable development process. In Bangladesh, apart from a significant number of academic institutes offering architectural education, various research and professional institutes are dedicated towards furthering the awareness regarding sustainability among architects through dissemination of knowledge and offering professional training. The focus of this paper is to outline the current efforts of these institutes and evaluate the efficacy of their role in linking the gaps between theory and practice of promoting sustainability agendas with reference to some of the documented guidelines. The study was based on archival research by tracing down activities of a few selected institutes in Bangladesh actively promoting sustainability agendas among professionals over the period of 2009 to 2015. Investigation has revealed that a significant contribution of these institutes towards disseminating sustainability issues has been made. However, lack of coordination and complicated issue of competition among them leaves sporadic impact on the desired link between pedagogy and practice, which forms the basis of a set of recommendations through this study.
This paper is an attempt to question whether the current planning approach for Dhaka city is appr... more This paper is an attempt to question whether the current planning approach for Dhaka city is appropriate for sustaining the socio cultural cohesion within the planned settlements; whether we need to go back to our past. Dhaka city holds a glorious history of 400 years along which it has grown from a riverside medieval trading town to its current stature of a large metropolis. Within its framework, two distinct spatial patterns can be found; they are the planned and the spontaneously developed (i.e. organic or informal) patterns. The historic old Dhaka follows a spontaneous organic pattern with its winding, narrow, intricate and intimate network of streets; acting as vibrant urban spaces for social cohesion. However, vast areas of the new city are also spontaneously developed containing labyrinthine mixture of lanes, by-lanes and cul-de-sac like old Dhaka but wider and less intricate. On the contrary, the planned areas are the resultant of top down planning approach, with wide grid iron pattern road network dividing the land parcels into regular shaped plots. What appears to be alarming is the apparent incoherence between the urban spaces and the social interaction pattern in these planned settlements. Thus this paper attempts to investigate the planned settlements based on case study method along with correlation, observation and archival research and trace the inspiration that lies in understanding and adopting the underlying components of the indigenous settlements responsible for promoting social cohesion instead of direct replication of the past. For further validation of the argument, new informal settlements have also been investigated as an adoptive model of indigenous planning principles.
Keywords: Social coherence, planned city, spontaneous spatial pattern
Industrial Ecology has emerged in response to the growing concerns about the environmental damage... more Industrial Ecology has emerged in response to the growing concerns about the environmental damage associated with the continued natural resource exploitation. IE‟s primary concepts are based on the natural ecological principles where the consumption of energy and materials are optimized, waste generation is minimized and the effluents of one process serve as the raw material for another process. Hazaribagh is one of the two major industrial zones in Dhaka. In Hazaribagh area, about 183 tannery industries, two paint industries and several metal industries are located. The pollution emanating from the tanneries is directly affecting surface water, ground water, the soil and air of the Hazaribagh area. This paper aims to explore how policies can be used to implement IE in the context of the tanneries of Hazaribagh, as a sustainable development strategy. IE has some obvious environmental and economic benefits for the business organization But the social sustainability issues are still in lack of proper attention that will be addressed in this paper.
This paper aims to evaluate the possibilities of introducing urban greenery to improve the therma... more This paper aims to evaluate the possibilities of introducing urban greenery to improve the thermal climate of the commercial districts of the city of Dhaka, Bangladesh, a tropical region characterized by high density of population and built up areas. Dhaka had a legacy of being a green city in the past. However, due to rapid and unplanned urbanization, most of the greens were erased for the sake of development. However, there is still possibility to revive the green heritage of the city. This research views the recently introduced Dhaka Building Construction Regulation, 2008 as a prospective means to revive greenery in the high dense urban environment of the city. The regulation mandates 25% of the plot to be absolute soil for the purpose of ground water recharge. Nevertheless, it can be as well utilized for the purpose of tree plantation that will have positive effect on the overall thermal environment. In view of that, a distinct commercial district was considered for studying the thermal condition of the existing and the hypothetical situation configured according to the Building Construction Regulation and with greenery. GIS and STEVE tool, a web based air temperature prediction model developed in the context of Singapore has been used for studying the thermal environment. The validation of STEVE tool in the context of Dhaka has been also tested through the field survey.The results showed how the new construction rules might impact the existing heat island effect and what the scope of improvement is. Keywords: Urban Heat Island Effect (UHI), Urban greenery, Dhaka Building Construction Regulation, 2008, GIS, STEVE tool
This paper is an attempt to question whether the current planning approach for Dhaka city is appr... more This paper is an attempt to question whether the current planning approach for Dhaka city is appropriate for sustaining the socio-cultural cohesion within the planned settlements; whether we need to go back to our past. Dhaka city holds a glorious history of 400 years along which it has grown from a riverside medieval trading town to its current stature of a large metropolis. Within its framework, two distinct spatial patterns can be found; they are the planned and the spontaneously developed (i.e. organic or informal) patterns. The historic old Dhaka follows a spontaneous organic pattern with its winding, narrow, intricate and intimate network of streets; acting as vibrant urban spaces for social cohesion. However, vast areas of the new city are also spontaneously developed containing labyrinthine mixture of lanes, by-lanes and cul-de-sac like old Dhaka but wider and less intricate. On the contrary, the planned areas are the resultant of top down planning approach, with wide grid iron pattern road network dividing the land parcels into regular shaped plots. What appears to be alarming is the apparent incoherence between the urban spaces and the social interaction pattern in these planned settlements. Thus this paper attempts to investigate the planned settlements based on case study method along with correlation, observation and archival research and trace the inspiration that lies in understanding and adopting the underlying components of the indigenous settlements responsible for promoting social cohesion instead of direct replication of the past. For further validation of the argument, new informal settlements have also been investigated as an adoptive model of indigenous planning principles.
Keywords:Social coherence, planned city, spontaneous spatial pattern
Peter Calthorpe saw Transit Oriented Development (TOD) as a neo-traditional guide to sustainable ... more Peter Calthorpe saw Transit Oriented Development (TOD) as a neo-traditional guide to sustainable community design, rather than an excuse for new infrastructure development. Coming to Dhaka, it has become a mega city with more than ten million inhabitants, and its population is projected to reach 16 million by 2015. Lack of sufficient public transport facilities to support this growing demand and efficient transport management paired with increasing automobile dependency resulting into serious traffic congestion in addition to air pollution induced health hazard, reduced productivity and additional stress on city dwellers. Considering this situation the government of Bangladesh has identified priority issues such as improvement of mass transit system (buses and rail transportations). But in spite of all the detail technical guidelines regarding the transit networks, little evidence has been found regarding how the surrounding community is going to be affected or benefited due to this new transit infrastructures and how these changes can be guided. This is where this paper considers to critically investigating the problems and prospects of mass transit system in Dhaka and potential of TOD as a promising concept for strengthening the local communities. The investigation has been based on examining documented evidences such as national guidelines, international case study and informal social survey in one of the busiest influence zones along the proposed mass transit corridors. The findings focus on the positive perspectives of the local community supporting the TOD and some of the policy and institutional barriers that might hamper the benefits TOD application may yield in the context of Dhaka.
The objective of this paper is to reveal the shift of thoughts in city planning in terms of livab... more The objective of this paper is to reveal the shift of thoughts in city planning in terms of livability demonstrated in one of the newly planned satellite towns of Dhaka city. Ever since the emergence of the term 'livable cities' back in 1980’s by IMCL (International Making Cities Livable LLC), considerable amount of research and practice have been oriented towards understanding how the contemporary cities should grow or be planned for livability, in terms of physical, socio-economic and cultural aspects. Cities around the globe demonstrate diversified vision, policies and strategies for achieving these desired goals. This paper takes Dhaka city as a case study to critically investigate the intentions and attempts of urban planning and design practice focused on the livability aspects of the city. The human settlement of Dhaka city can be traced back as early as the 12th century. Till then, the city received attention, negligence, natural calamity, political instability and went through a number of philosophical views as well as planning proposals for its development. In all its efforts, the intrinsic components of livability were much less emphasized due to the major thrust on city’s physical constraint, limited land resources along with negligence in detail area and neighborhood planning. But recent efforts in one of the newly planned satellite town Purbachal shows evidence of change in the traditional paradigm of planning practice. The ultimate objective of this paper is to reveal the points where the proposed master plan of Purbachal succeeded or failed to embrace the principals of livability learnt from earlier precedence of greater Dhaka city. The findings of this paper have been extracted from the studio exercise of Urban Design Studio of the Department of Architecture, University of Asia Pacific. The study was mainly based on case study, examining documented evidence and map & model study along with expert interview.
Bangladesh is one of many such countries that are in immediate need to imply concepts of sustaina... more Bangladesh is one of many such countries that are in immediate need to imply concepts of sustainability to deal with crises like water, energy security, poverty, climate change and so on. The concept of sustainability is interdisciplinary in nature, which demands participation from every level of the community, aiming at maintaining a balanced ecological, social and economic system. As built environment is one of the indicators of socio-economic and ecological conditions, architects are implicitly connected to maintain the sustainability process. Architects form an integral part in visualizing and implying this concept since they play a vital role in the creation of built environment. So it is very crucial for the architects of Bangladesh to be made aware of their responsibilities by incorporating the concepts of sustainability from a very elementary level of architectural pedagogy. In Bangladesh, a significant number of institutes are offering architectural education and the number of students and graduating architects is increasing remarkably. Although most schools recognize the need to implement sustainable design, environmental (both social and ecological) agenda still continue to be insignificant. The focus of this paper is to evaluate the reasons why there is necessity to achieve the long term sustainability goals and the critical issues involved in reformation of architectural curriculum to build the awareness. Keywords: Sustainability, Sustainable Built Environment, Architectural Education, Curriculum
Geo-Climatic factors encouraged people of different periods to shape their settlement strategy fr... more Geo-Climatic factors encouraged people of different periods to shape their settlement strategy from the beginning of human race. House became the emblem of protection and safety for human existence. Whenever people plan to build
their houses, geo-climatic factors come forward as the primary consideration to deal with the adverse natural calamities and unusual environmental behavior. Geo-Climatic and economic reasoning have always been a foremost apprehension in any housing technology being practiced specifically among those groups of people who
have been living in close association with the nature for years. In order to adjust with the environmental behavior, the people have generated traditional paradigm of well-protected, sustainable and ecologically-sound housing form and technology. Bangladesh possesses a rich tradition in the formation and developments of its human settlement. The built forms of these settlements have their own specific characteristics. Indigenous people of this country have hereditarily been exercising this sort of housing technology for years that reflect ecological and environmental concern. There is a long history regarding eco-adaptive, environmentally sound and self-sustaining traditional house form and technology in this region. The paper explores such traditional housing technologies practiced in different parts of Bangladesh. It aims to investigate those traditional rural houses as a suitable form of architecture in Bangladesh. It also presents the regional expression, cultural significance, ecological and economic reasoning of
the rural housing technology of Bangladesh.
Uploads
Papers by nabanita islam
Keywords: Social coherence, planned city, spontaneous spatial pattern
consumption of energy and materials are optimized, waste generation is minimized and the effluents of one process serve as the raw material for another process. Hazaribagh is one of the two major industrial zones in Dhaka. In Hazaribagh area, about 183 tannery industries, two paint industries and several metal industries are located. The pollution emanating from the tanneries is directly affecting surface water, ground water, the soil and air of the Hazaribagh area. This paper aims to explore how policies can be used to implement IE in the context of the tanneries of Hazaribagh, as a sustainable development strategy. IE has some obvious environmental and economic
benefits for the business organization But the social sustainability issues are still in lack of proper attention that will be addressed in this paper.
Keywords: Urban Heat Island Effect (UHI), Urban greenery, Dhaka Building Construction Regulation, 2008, GIS, STEVE tool
Keywords:Social coherence, planned city, spontaneous spatial pattern
deal with crises like water, energy security, poverty, climate change and so on. The concept of sustainability
is interdisciplinary in nature, which demands participation from every level of the community, aiming at
maintaining a balanced ecological, social and economic system. As built environment is one of the indicators
of socio-economic and ecological conditions, architects are implicitly connected to maintain the sustainability
process. Architects form an integral part in visualizing and implying this concept since they play a vital role in
the creation of built environment. So it is very crucial for the architects of Bangladesh to be made aware of their
responsibilities by incorporating the concepts of sustainability from a very elementary level of architectural
pedagogy. In Bangladesh, a significant number of institutes are offering architectural education and the
number of students and graduating architects is increasing remarkably. Although most schools recognize the
need to implement sustainable design, environmental (both social and ecological) agenda still continue to
be insignificant. The focus of this paper is to evaluate the reasons why there is necessity to achieve the long
term sustainability goals and the critical issues involved in reformation of architectural curriculum to build the
awareness.
Keywords: Sustainability, Sustainable Built Environment, Architectural Education, Curriculum
their houses, geo-climatic factors come forward as the primary consideration to deal with the adverse natural calamities and unusual environmental behavior. Geo-Climatic and economic reasoning have always been a foremost apprehension in any housing technology being practiced specifically among those groups of people who
have been living in close association with the nature for years. In order to adjust with the environmental behavior, the people have generated traditional paradigm of well-protected, sustainable and ecologically-sound housing form and technology. Bangladesh possesses a rich tradition in the formation and developments of its human settlement. The built forms of these settlements have their own specific characteristics. Indigenous people of this country have hereditarily been exercising this sort of housing technology for years that reflect ecological and environmental concern. There is a long history regarding eco-adaptive, environmentally sound and self-sustaining traditional house form and technology in this region. The paper explores such traditional housing technologies practiced in different parts of Bangladesh. It aims to investigate those traditional rural houses as a suitable form of architecture in Bangladesh. It also presents the regional expression, cultural significance, ecological and economic reasoning of
the rural housing technology of Bangladesh.
Keywords: Social coherence, planned city, spontaneous spatial pattern
consumption of energy and materials are optimized, waste generation is minimized and the effluents of one process serve as the raw material for another process. Hazaribagh is one of the two major industrial zones in Dhaka. In Hazaribagh area, about 183 tannery industries, two paint industries and several metal industries are located. The pollution emanating from the tanneries is directly affecting surface water, ground water, the soil and air of the Hazaribagh area. This paper aims to explore how policies can be used to implement IE in the context of the tanneries of Hazaribagh, as a sustainable development strategy. IE has some obvious environmental and economic
benefits for the business organization But the social sustainability issues are still in lack of proper attention that will be addressed in this paper.
Keywords: Urban Heat Island Effect (UHI), Urban greenery, Dhaka Building Construction Regulation, 2008, GIS, STEVE tool
Keywords:Social coherence, planned city, spontaneous spatial pattern
deal with crises like water, energy security, poverty, climate change and so on. The concept of sustainability
is interdisciplinary in nature, which demands participation from every level of the community, aiming at
maintaining a balanced ecological, social and economic system. As built environment is one of the indicators
of socio-economic and ecological conditions, architects are implicitly connected to maintain the sustainability
process. Architects form an integral part in visualizing and implying this concept since they play a vital role in
the creation of built environment. So it is very crucial for the architects of Bangladesh to be made aware of their
responsibilities by incorporating the concepts of sustainability from a very elementary level of architectural
pedagogy. In Bangladesh, a significant number of institutes are offering architectural education and the
number of students and graduating architects is increasing remarkably. Although most schools recognize the
need to implement sustainable design, environmental (both social and ecological) agenda still continue to
be insignificant. The focus of this paper is to evaluate the reasons why there is necessity to achieve the long
term sustainability goals and the critical issues involved in reformation of architectural curriculum to build the
awareness.
Keywords: Sustainability, Sustainable Built Environment, Architectural Education, Curriculum
their houses, geo-climatic factors come forward as the primary consideration to deal with the adverse natural calamities and unusual environmental behavior. Geo-Climatic and economic reasoning have always been a foremost apprehension in any housing technology being practiced specifically among those groups of people who
have been living in close association with the nature for years. In order to adjust with the environmental behavior, the people have generated traditional paradigm of well-protected, sustainable and ecologically-sound housing form and technology. Bangladesh possesses a rich tradition in the formation and developments of its human settlement. The built forms of these settlements have their own specific characteristics. Indigenous people of this country have hereditarily been exercising this sort of housing technology for years that reflect ecological and environmental concern. There is a long history regarding eco-adaptive, environmentally sound and self-sustaining traditional house form and technology in this region. The paper explores such traditional housing technologies practiced in different parts of Bangladesh. It aims to investigate those traditional rural houses as a suitable form of architecture in Bangladesh. It also presents the regional expression, cultural significance, ecological and economic reasoning of
the rural housing technology of Bangladesh.