Every monsoon period, the households in Dhaka face extensive waterlogging in their localities. This recrudescing event leads to tangible and intangible losses in the lives of these residents. In general, loss and damage assessments for floods focus on insured losses at the meso or macro scale. However, in developing countries such as Bangladesh, household properties are uninsured. Consequently, the losses induced by the waterlogging that occurs in every monsoon period remain unassessed. The current study attempted to capture those losses for the monsoon period of 2017 (May–October) by addressing tangible and intangible losses. Tangible loss and damage were estimated in monetary terms, whereas intangible loss and damage were identified to depict a complete picture of their suffering. This paper conducted household surveys in slums and ground floor residences to include all income groups. Data were elicited from a detailed questionnaire by disaggregating losses into repair and damage costs of household assets, income loss, increases in transport cost, and coping costs associated with disrupted water supply and sanitation. The study findings show that the average losses of high- and middle-income households were higher than those of low-income households for the monsoon period of 2017. Alternatively, poor households shared the highest annual income percentage (approximately 8%) compared to the middle- and high-income households (approximately 5%). Turning to intangible losses, households suffered from health issues and psychological stresses, and all these consequences led to a loss of trust in authorities. As these losses remain undocumented, these study findings manifest significant policy implications regarding understanding urban communities' vulnerability to monsoonal waterlogging events in developing countries.

Local government bodies and other concerned agencies in developing countries spend a considerable amount of money on rural road development. However, in the absence of any robust and systematic methodology, road development largely relies on ad-hoc decisions and subjective judgement of public officials. Such a decision-making process often leads to inefficient resource allocation bypassing equity and long-term societal benefits. Although there are some established methodologies for road network planning, complexities exist in applying those methods. First, most of the established methods are not suitable for rural road development, particularly regarding the volume and nature of traffic on them. Second, some methods are highly complex and lack practical applicability. Third, road development planning should not be top-down alone but ensure the participation of local stakeholders. Given these limitations, this study proposes a methodology—Rural Road Planning and Prioritisation Model (RPPM). It consists of two major components (i) developing a core network in participation with local stakeholders and (ii) prioritisation of roads based on Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) and Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA). The proposed method is piloted in one district, and a web-based software is also developed for practical implementation by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), Bangladesh. The paper also discusses the results of the pilot study.

Rapid urban population growth stimulates the challenges of city government authorities in providing the municipal services adequately considering the citizen’s demand. While the gap persists between the service provision and citizen’s perception on it, the quality of life of cities may deteriorate due to psychological dissatisfaction of dwellers with urban services. Hence the evaluation of the urban service quality from the citizen’s perspective and accordingly addressing the gap is necessary for sustainable urban management. This study shows a common framework incorporating SERVQUAL, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Citizen’s Score Card to define the quality of municipal services spatially and functionally based on the satisfaction of citizens. The items under the dimensions of SERVQUAL and the weightages of each dimension were set through literature review and expert opinion. Dhaka, the only megacity of Bangladesh is experiencing an impetuous growth towards its northern portion and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) is the responsible authority to supply the municipal facilities within this area. Nine residential neighborhoods having homogeneous characteristics in terms of population density, residential land use, built up area and income level within the jurisdictional area of DNCC were selected to collect the data. The data were collected through household questionnaire survey using stratified random sampling technique where people responded for each SERVQUAL questions and scored the facilities provided by the DNCC. The result shows citizens are moderately satisfied (63.3%) with municipal services aggregately. To meet the demand of dwellers, the city government authority should be more functional, reliable and participatory and be equipped with qualified manpower and facilities. Despite the locational characteristics are uniform among the case areas, Ward 3, Ward 4 and Ward 31 are in unprivileged state in terms of municipal services. The facilities of public toilet, parking and disaster management activities performed by DNCC are commonly in unsatisfactory state in all areas that require special attention from the authority. Based on the findings, it could be stated that where the city government authority is roughly unsusceptible to meet the demand of the existing population, the enormous population growth within urban areas could affect the life quality poorly. Therefore this paper would fetch a course where the deficiency on urban services would be evaluated under a common arena considering the psychological aspect of citizen, thereby priority interventions could be ascertained for enhancing the life quality of urban areas.

Urban redevelopment is a critical process that needs to apporach issues from different angles with the intention to arrive at one single point: sustainability. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, with a density of 28,000 people/km2, is currently having a tough time to give its people access to urban facilities. Old Dhaka, the 400-year-old part of the city, has very distinctive characteristics: historical buildings, wholesale trade, a dense urban pattern, narrow roads, low standard of urban utilities. This study attempted to describe persisting problems and expectations of the local people in this area, to be considered during redevelopment. This study followed the method of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA). First, the existing development pattern and business zones were determined based on a historical timeline, a transact walk, a social and resource map, and a mobility map. The pair-wise ranking method was used in several focus group discussions to prioritize the problems. After prioritizing, a cause-effect diagram was created for the top problems. Then, after a rigorous SWOT analysis, several strategies were formulated from the point of view of historical conservation, development pattern, and the existing chemical industry. The importance of this study is that it is a real-time study and that it has some general implications for similar future cases, such as prioritizing the most persistent problems, thinking with empathy while dealing with old, traditional areas and to ensure local safety, livability and business performance simultaneously in the case of commercial areas. The results of this study are useful for local policy makers as they provide a valuable blend of technical analysis and local people's feedback.

Land use change in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, has been documented in several studies. In recent years, development outside Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan (DMDP) area is thriving and large chunks of agricultural land and wetlands have been converted with the growth of real estate projects. However, information on urban expansion around the boundary of DMDP is very limited in literature. In this context, our research selected a study area outside DMDP jurisdiction, where private real estate developers are operating large-scale projects. This research aims to identify the land development activities that resulted in changes in the agricultural and wetland. This chapter explores the spatial proponents to this change, and investigates the existing institutional and legal frameworks. Remote sensing and satellite imagery were used to trace land use change. Besides, different participatory research tools were employed to explore causes associated with this change. A comprehensive quantitative-qualitative analysis was carried out to analyze the data. Proximity to Dhaka’s CBD, connectivity to major transportation network and availability of vast tract of undeveloped land were identified as the key issues that attract real estate developments. Increased selling price and low yield from existing land use were found as root causes for booming land sale. Besides these push and pull factors, this study identified the limitations of the local government policy initiatives responsible for this unplanned development. Detailed findings of the study are expected to contribute in formulating physical planning and policy strategies for sustainable development.

Purpose Bangladesh is one of the most flood-prone countries in the world. A number of research works have identified that the flood scenario will be aggravated with climate change context in Bangladesh. In 2014, Bangladesh had prepared municipal level master plan for 222 municipalities with a view to planned urban development. But climate change-induced flood has not been considered in master plan, which poses a question toward the sustainability of the plan. Ullapara Municipality of Sirajganj district has been selected to conduct the research. This study aims to evaluate how infrastructure in proposed master plan will be exposed to climate change-induced flood. Design/methodology/approach The methodology of this study follows geographic information system (GIS)-based flood exposure analysis of selected infrastructure. These infrastructures include transport infrastructure, educational infrastructure, health infrastructure and other urban facilities. Climate change-induced flood for the year 2040 has been used for flood exposure analysis. Findings It is evident from the flood exposure analysis that about 33.99% roads will be exposed to 1.5 m–2 m inundation level; seven primary school, six secondary school and four colleges would be highly exposed to 2.0 m–2.50 m inundation level; four health facilities would be exposed to 1.0 m–2.0 m inundation level because of future climate change. This inundation scenario for long duration will lead to dysfunction of concerned infrastructure and, in turn, undermine the stability of a socioeconomic system of Ullapara Municipality. Originality/value As the master plan is not fully implemented till now, there is scope for intervention for considering climate change-induced flood to make the plan sustainable.

Ethical and professional dimensions of planning practice deal with the art and science of urban planning, in its many aspects. Ethics in planning are the values, standards, and philosophies that planners live by. Ethical planning helps planners establish codes of professional behaviors, and collectively ethics which translated into institutional, government policies and programs. In Dhaka, planning practitioners struggle with three priorities, i.e. environmental protection, economic development and social equity in the context of a fast paced urbanization and limited resources. In this chapter, we explore how the ethical issues of planning were perceived by the professionals, academics, civil society, media, government and politicians during the preparation, monitoring and implementation of Detailed Area Plan (DAP) of Dhaka Metropolitan Area.

Involuntary resettlement and quality of life are one of the important themes of research. Real estate is considered as one of the most lucrative sectors of business, and land market is extensively controlled by influential groups of private real estate developers. Because of high land price in central city areas of Dhaka, the majority of the land developers are attracted in the fringe areas of this city where vast tracts of wetland and agricultural land are available at lower price. In many cases, local people are exploited by the developers and forced to sell their land. The relocation of these local people in different areas of the country can be identified as involuntary resettlement of people. The objective of this study is to explore the quality of life of the relocated people in their present and previous locations from socioeconomic perspectives. This study is based on the information collected from relocated families who had to move from their original residence because of four land development projects of Dhaka. Approximately, 3,920 families were identified as relocated families from these project areas. About 350 relocated household heads were surveyed by a prestructured questionnaire. This research used snowball sampling for the questionnaire survey. A set of indicators were studied to assess and compare the present and past status of the socioeconomic condition of relocated families. Data were collected on housing condition, services, social network, occupation, income and expenditure, landownership, etc., for fulfilling research objective. It was found from the research findings that over all socioeconomic condition of the relocated people have been degraded from their previous status. At present, about 67.7% of the local people who were the owner of land in previous locations do not own any land at present. Similarly, local peoples’ occupation structure was changed significantly at their current location. Their housing condition and access to utility facilities are also deteriorated. Social network plays a vital role to enhance the quality of life of people. According to the respondents, they had lost their social network as they moved out from their original location.

This article discusses the trajectory of project implementation in the development of the Hatirjheel lake area in Dhaka, which involved forced relocation and socio-economic deprivation for most project-affected people. It raises questions over the extent to which such processes need to be seen as state-induced violations of basic justice, asking whether more justice-focused management of such projects is becoming an unrealistic expectation in an increasingly crowded Bangladesh. The article discusses the socio-political dynamics and community-related issues affecting different stakeholders during the implementation of the project. Despite the official presence of participatory planning techniques, the forceful imposition of the development plans and the drastic ramifications of forced land acquisition are shown to have violated basic principles of good governance. It is suggested that less violent and more inclusive approaches are possible despite resource scarcities and that lessons can be learned from such experiences for the future.

A growing body of research shows positive association between parks and physical activity, but very few studies have investigated the characteristics of users and how the activities vary according to different user groups. The purpose of this study was to investigate the socio-demographic profile of the users, their activities and motivation of visiting the park. Total 400 users of Ramna Park were surveyed in face to face interview in different time periods. The participants were asked to provide information about their socio-economic profile, frequency and purpose of visit, mobility and activity patterns in the park and level of satisfaction about different facilities. At a random selection of the sample, we found larger proportion of male visitors than female visitors with a majority in the age group 40-60 years. The park has a large catchment area which extends beyond the range of walking distance and the frequency of visiting the park was found closely associated with the proximity of the users. Besides, no significant association was found between the proximity and duration of staying in the park. An overwhelming majority of the visitors come to the park for health purpose mainly for walking, jogging and physical exercise. The findings suggest that the purpose of visiting the park significantly varies according to the gender and age group of the respondents. The visitors were also asked about their satisfaction level and problems they usually faced based on their individual perception. Most of them raised their concerns for poor toilet facility and waste management.

Earthquake risks in cities are compounded due to unplanned development in high-risk areas. To address this issue, Risk-sensitive landuse planning (RSLUP) has been considered very important in recent years. It is the process of mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and management parameters in landuse planning is termed as Risk-sensitive Land Use Planning (RSLUP). This research aims to propose a methodology to integrate earthquake risk sensitivity in landuse planning (RSLUP strategies) for a local level area at the development phase. For this purpose, Uttara Residential Model Town (URMT) (third phase), Dhaka, Bangladesh has been selected as the study area considering its earthquake risk for exposure to a potential earthquake. The area is in the process of development. So there is still scope to integrate risk sensitivity in the proposed landuse plan. This research has been carried out in two steps. Firstly, assessment of the earthquake risk sensitivity of the proposed landuse plan of the study area on the basis ofbased on the risk themes: macro-form risks, risks in urban texture, risks in land-use incompatibilities, risks in hazardous uses, special risk areas, risks in building stocks, open space scarcity risk, and risks in critical facilities. Secondly, formulate RSLUP strategies to be incorporated in the proposed plan addressing the assessed risks accordingly. Here, a combination of analytical and participatory approaches has been applied to ensure applicability as well as acceptability. This research will may guide policymakers to understand the importance and application of RSLUP and thereby take necessary steps for this purpose to mainstream RSLUP in the process of landuse planning and thereby to increase earthquake resiliency of an area.

Loss and damage in an area after an earthquake is increased due to complex nature of awareness, knowledge and perception influencing vulnerability of exposed communities. In this regard, the objectives of this research are firstly to understand the existing condition and distinction among people’s earthquake awareness, knowledge and their actualized perception in relation to their personal contexts and social capital and secondly to explore how such distinction influences earthquake vulnerability of the community. Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to earthquake, where Mymensingh municipality is located in high earthquake hazard prone zone. In this regard, Ward no. 14 of Mymensingh municipality has been considered as the study area. For the purpose of this research, questionnaire survey of 700 sample households in the study area was carried out. The study reveals that in spite of lower participation in earthquake-related program, most residents are aware of earthquake vulnerability of the area. But such awareness encompasses very limited knowledge. In spite of such lack of knowledge, most of the residents have better perception and are willing to work as a volunteer. In contrary, people, especially the owners, are in denial of their own vulnerability. The awareness, knowledge and perception is higher among educated people and people having social interaction. The findings of this study should be considered to design awareness raising and capacity building programs to ensure their success with participation of local people and thereby implement community-based disaster management in the study area. This study has opportunity to be replicated in other areas of Bangladesh as well as other countries with necessary modifications considering respective contexts and other hazards.

Street crime, like mugging and vehicle theft, are the significant crime problems in every developing city of the world. The study area for this research is Dhaka city, which is experiencing an situation of increasing street crime. This research focuses on the relationship between spatial planning and street crimes and tries to recommend different strategies for prevention of crime and violence in the streets of Dhaka city by proposing urban design and infrastructure planning. The study tries to assess the relationship from macro to micro level through different spatial and physical planning components. For the detail level study, four Thana (police station) areas have been selected from Dhaka City Corporation area (DCC) according to their physical layout and other characteristics. In this level, the relationship is studied through the association between spatial layout and different physical planning factors like land use along with some elements of streetscape. Space Syntax methodology was applied to assess the impact of spatial configuration in occurrence of street crime with the selected four study area. In the micro level the study reveals that different types of land use with different design elements lead to change in public activity spaces which have impact on occurrence of street crimes. For the overall research the street crime data (both macro and micro level) of mugging and vehicle theft were collected from the police authority and some insecure places are identified by the local people through field survey. It is expected that the outcome of this research will unveil the impacts of spatial planning on occurrence of street crimes in a city.

Fire, with its sudden appearance and destructive character, causes property losses and sometimes death and injury within a short time. High density of population and structures make the urban areas more vulnerable to fire hazard. In this context, fire incidents are very common in Dhaka city and the city is experiencing huge economic loss due to the increasing trend of fire incidents. These incidents are spread through different land use categories and the frequency of incidents also varies in these categories. This paper focuses on the distribution pattern of fire incidents of Dhaka Metropolitan Area according to different land use categories and structure types. The hot spots have been identified on the basis of density of fire occurrences using Kernel Density tool. The result of the research will help the policy maker in executing proper land use zoning as well as ensuring fire safety so that the loss due to fire incidents can be controlled.

Fast pace of urbanization and poor econoroy followed by inequitable distribution of resources bave created severe housing problems in Dhaka city, particularly for low and middle income population. With limited resource and capacity, the government bas contributed very little to address the housing problem, particularly for middle income group. A number of site and service schemes were the major focus of government which mostly beoefitted a privileged group of the society. In response to failure of the public sector, the Formal Private Sector Housing emerged as a doroinant force to cater to the housing demand of the resideoiB of Dhaka. Construction of apartment buildings bas becoroe a viable solution to meet the growing demand for resideotial accommodation in the limited land of Dhaka. Real estate business started in Dhaka in the late seventies and by the 1990s the business bad started to flourish and expand at a fast pace. At the beginning, the target groop of the developers were the upper income group of the society. But recently the private housing companies bave shifled their focus to middle incoroe group who are the largest segment of population (about 50 percent) of Dhaka city. Though real estate developers bave a coromitment to meet the housing demand of middleincome people, the question arises how far the cost matches with the affordability of the middle income group. This research reviewed the government policies and projects for housing the middle incoroe groop. It also explored the affordability of the middle-incoroe group to meet the housing cost developed by the private sector. The research bas stodied the cost of housing and existing modes of payment for housing. Findings have compared with the targets groups' income and affordability. A questionnsire survey bas been conducted on 180 middle-incoroe households located in four different middle-income areas who bave plans to boy an apartment in the near futore. Officials of 20 developer companies (about 10% of total developers who are engaged in construction of aparbncnt buildiogs) were also interviewed to understand their perspective on the middle-incoroe gmup. In conclusion, the gap between the housing market and the aspiration of the middle incoroe bas been portrayed. The study also suggested some measures to address the housing issue of middle income gmup.

The process of urbanization in most of the developing countries of Asia has witnessed two parallel tracks—planned and ad hoc. Spatial planning has been exercised in existing and evolving cities with an aim to create cities that offer healthy living conditions and nurture growth and prosperity. However, in parallel to planned development, cities are also experiencing ad-hoc growth to accommodate housing and other land uses. Most Asian cities face the challenges of high population density, vulnerability to disaster, and lack of good governance. Like many other Asian cities, Dhaka is exposed to frequent hydrometrological disasters. Thus, it is important to evaluate the present development pathways of Dhaka from a disaster resiliency perspective. This chapter describes examples from recent floods which have had an effect on Dhaka and build a case for integrating disaster risk reduction (DRR) considerations from the very beginning of city development. This chapter also analyzes the integration of flood resiliency in the development plans and the status of implementation of flood management policies in Dhaka.

Khulna, the third largest metropolis of Bangladesh has been identified as one of the 15 most vulnerable coastal cities under climate change and it is believed that this scenario will be exacerbated with time by cyclone, saline water intrusion, submerging of low-lying areas, and tidal and urban floods, etc. The city accommodates around 1.3 million people. The poorly drained city is approximately 25m above mean sea level. Climate change effects, especially sea level rise and flooding which is a major concern for the development of the city, was not considered when the structure plan 2000-2020 was prepared. The first objective of the research is to analyze the land use policies under Structure Plan and second is to assess the potential flood damage using secondary data, namely Digital Elevation Model of Flood for 2020 and stage-damage functions for different major land uses with Geographic Information System grid-based approach. It was found that climate change would cause damage to property depending on type of land uses. Maximum damage estimated for residential sector is 49% and next to commercial and other sector (39%). Minimum damage is estimated to industrial sector after agriculture use. Proposed commercial land uses are recommended to review for relocation in flood free areas. This research would provide a better understating of the future flood risk and facilitate the decision makers to review the existing and proposed land uses for taking mitigation and prevention measures.

As Dhaka city is at risk of earthquake and fire hazard, ward 29, an old part of Dhaka city has been selected for vulnerability assessment of both hazards in this study and social vulnerability has been included in the assessment as it has become an important issue in the recent years. The methodology of three different vulnerability assessments and the way of combining the results of the assessments to develop composite vulnerability score of the study area has been described. A sample of 350 buildings has been analyzed by a visual screening method FEMA-RVS for earthquake, a methodology developed by ADPC [1] for fire hazard and a methodology developed by World Bank [24] for social vulnerability. The composite vulnerability score has been developed by incorporating earthquake and fire hazard as well as social vulnerability condition of the study area and represented in form of map produced using ArcGIS 10 showing buildings of different vulnerable categories. The study area is relatively more vulnerable to fire hazard than earthquake. As it is one of the most densely populated wards in Dhaka city, social factors have compounded the overall vulnerability to higher scale. Most of the buildings are vulnerable to both earthquake and fire hazard considering social impacts. Thus ideal mitigation planning to reduce risk is almost impossible here without involvement of community people. By warning them of their own risk and making them resilient through awareness programs and training, disaster risk in the study area can be reduced effectively.

Worldwide, land cover change is monitored by conventional land cover mapping techniques using satellite imagery. Index method ends with assigning positive values to indicate vegetation, wetland and built-up area. However, not all positive values up to a certain threshold specify desired land cover and might indicate other covers erroneously. Therefore, a threshold value must be determined above which land covers are mapped more accurately. In this research, we employed an improved land cover mapping technique to extract vegetation, wetland and built-up area using semiautomatic segmentation approach. We used double-window flexible pace search technique not only for built-up features but also for vegetation and wetland mapping to increase the accuracy. Study is based on Landsat Thematic Mapper images of 1989, 1999 and 2010 with spatial resolution of 30 m. Integration of simple recoding of derived index images prior to threshold identification entails increased accuracy. Accuracy assessment of land cover mapping is done using high-resolution Google Earth satellite image which substitutes expensive aerial photography and time-consuming ground data collection. Error matrix presents 82.46, 96.83 and 90 % user’s accuracy of mapping built-up area, vegetation and wetland, respectively. Trend analysis discloses an average loss of vegetation and wetland by 2,664.6 and 5,328.8 acres per year, respectively, in study area from 1989 to 2010. Expectantly, future land cover mapping in similar researches will be greatly assisted with the diligent technique used in this study.

It is nearly 450 years old forest, forest of buildings reaching for the sun like the mangroves of south western coastal area. Although its urban infrastructure is the most developed in the country, Dhaka suffers fromurban problems such as pollution, congestion, and lack of adequate services due to the rising population. The civilized tenants now find it challenging to adopt with most of the parts of the city emerged in a quite natural way. Ward-45 of Dhaka Metropolitan city is a point charge taken into account for the predominating facts which now affects largely on living standards. Though it has become hard to cope up the growth of city with its limited resources, people aspires for the package of standard living with some relocations and renovations. This study has been conducted based on mainly primary data. This study will express the surveyed data on the socio-economic profile of the population in Ward-45, perceptions and visions of residents regarding amenities,infrastructure, and redevelopment and of the upcoming future. Land use plan of a particular area is not only a design of an area, but also a comprehensive development approach. This approach integrates the development with environmental and transport planning, economic and culture development as well as community development. Development pattern of an area can promote sustainability through efficient use of urban space and resources for the improvement of living standard and infrastructure. To ensure a sound life in a sound area these problems should be solved with proper planning and maintenance.

Background: Ecological Footprint assessment helps to identify what activities are having the biggest impact on nature and opens up possibilities to reduce our impact and live within the means of ‘one planet’. It provides measurement of collective consumption of the population whether they are exceeding the earth’s ecological limits or not. The introduction of ecological footprint has been very necessary for the context of Bangladesh especially in Dhaka, where the unplanned consumption pattern of the population is producing a very unsustainable situation. Objective: This study intends to introduce this new concept through calculating the Ecological Footprint Account (usually 90% of it consists with Carbon Footprint/Emission Account) of the prestigious residential area Dhanmondi, which is one of the major resource consuming area of Dhaka city. Method: A blending of ‘component’ and ‘direct’ method has been used. Questionnaire survey (in 240 HH) has been conducted to gather information about the consumption pattern for different components (i.e. energy, food, service etc.) in the households for the year 2011. Biocapacity of Dhanmondi RA is also measured from the bioproductive lands available within the area. Following the generated results, sustainability analysis has been done. Results: An enormous gap between demand (1.19 global hectare/person) and supply (0.02 global hectare/person) of natural resources has been observed from the scrutiny. Conclusion: Natural gas consumption for domestic purpose has been found as the main motive behind the high footprint figure compared to the national average followed by Electricity, Food and Transportation. Biocapacity has been discovered as very petite amount because of unplanned urban agglomeration.

Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, is one of the fastest growing megacities in the world. With the rapid growth of population and high urbanization rate, Dhaka is bound to expand the borders to accommodate the growing need of space. But this expansion is already taking its toll in the form of environmental degradation and social injustice hampering the geographical sustainability in the process. This study proposes a controlled and well-planned development in the eastern fringe of Dhaka City (comprising of Badda, Satarkul and Vatara) to meet up the challenge of future accommodation requirements. The area being geographically vulnerable with lots of agricultural lands, water bodies and retention ponds, the prime concern is to ensure the geographic sustainability of the area and use all the natural features as a vital tool in the process of development. As a planning technique, Land Readjustment Scheme is applied in this regard. This report contains all the measures and proposals regarding the natural features of the study area as well as the whole process of the development scheme including a financial proposal to recover the cost of the development to make this plan financially viable. Finally, the outcome of the study shows that it can be well implemented as all the objectives are fulfilled to the fullest.

Wetlands act as natural sponges that trap and slowly release waters over time and help in controlling floods. At the same time, they retain water and provide time for infiltration of water for groundwater recharge. But these intangible benefits are not properly assessed in developing countries. The significant problem is that such benefits cannot be evaluated as the same way as the market goods. In this context, nearly 11 sq. km area of the western flood plain of Dhaka is selected as the study area. To evaluate the flood control function of the site, Damage Cost Avoided Method is applied. And to evaluate the ground water recharge function at first total recharge quantity in a year is estimated than the quantity is valuated. Finally, the estimated value of these indirect use benefits of the site amounts to USD 0.13 million per sq. km in a year.

Urban and rural communities in a country are sometimes confronted with many problems which are well understood by the community residents itself. A Community Based Organization (CBO), in this regard, can play the major role to solve these problems by selfinitiative participatory approach. Community Based Organization (CBO) is such a non-profit institute which operates within a community to provide the local services and is usually run by the local people of that community. Rather depending on local/central government, the community itself can solve certain problems with the assistance of local people and CBOs. In such backdrop, this research was intended to unfold the role of CBO in improving the urban community through Participatory Reflection and Action (PRA) method. The study is based on an urban CBO of Lalbag Thana in South Dhaka, Bangladesh. This research was intended to identify the major problems, their causes and effects on the study area and possible solutions of those problems through active participation of both CBO and its people. Several PRA tools were employed to obtain the objectives. Sewerage and drainage problem, poor water quality and water supply, narrow and poor condition of access roads etc. were the major problems. Effective solutions came forth from the locality for solving those problems such as: provision of water extraction pump and reservoir, drain cover and street dustbins and enforcement of building bye-laws etc. Whilst having the potential, the CBO was found inadequate to implement the solutions due to lack of resource mobilization. However, success of this research is a clear indication that community improvement is possible through mobilization of CBO and ensuring public participation.

Urban population in Bangladesh is increasing day by day because of rural poverty and hope for a better living condition in the urban areas. With the increase of urban population, a gradual decrease has been occurred in the urban facilities and opportunities. Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh has become unlivable mainly because of indifference, mismanagement and wrong planning continuing over the years in an uninterrupted sequence. The authorities have failed to create a situation where the citizens can live in minimum comfort both within and outside their homes. They suffer most because of the lack of necessary infrastructures, power and gas supply being highly erratic, water crisis being most common during summer, and drainage and swear system being under-developed. Nearly onethird of the population lives having no basic amenities of life (Zahid, 2010). There are a number of studies available on services offered by urban governments (Hossain, 2006). But there is a little work especially in case of Dhaka focusing on people’s sufferings due to mismanagement of these services. Most of the researches conducted in Dhaka focused on the distressed low income group living in slums that cover 15% of the total citizens in Dhaka (Asian Development Bank, 2008). The suffering of the low middle and middle income group (the dominant income group of Dhaka city) has always been overlooked in most of the researches because of focusing on the low income group. But the extent of sufferings is different between these two groups. Where the Low income group generally suffer from health and environment related problems (Podymow et al, n.d), the middle income groups, also experience an adverse impact on their day to day life due to lack of necessary utility services. These differences are particularly evident in case of Dhaka due to its unplanned growth and inhabitants’ extremely divergent living standards (Bertuzzo, 2009). Capital Dhaka is considered as the mirror of Bangladesh. If Dhaka remains energy starved, it creates wrong image for the entire country. But for various reasons, Dhaka city suffers greatly from power load shedding, gas rationing and water crisis that affect Dhaka every now and then (Saleque, 2008). Gas, water and power supply have influence on the citizen’s daily life cycle and activities. If any interruption occurs, people try to handle it by occupying alternative sources and compromising their daily schedule. The poor urban management and planning have led to a very high extent of informality in its dwellers’ routines (Bertuzzo, 2009). People compromise their daily schedule, because these problems are infrastructure based and they can do a little in solving these problems.

This paper presents techniques of assessing the present state of water supply situation, sanitation condition and drainage system of an area by using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) method. South Begunbari Slum, Dhaka has been selected as the study area for this study. Several participatory planning tools have been adopted in course of the study for determining the present scenario of the previously mentioned utility facilities in the selected study area. Finally some recommendations have been specified to develop the overall condition. Local people’s participation has been ensured to the maximum limit during the study. Bottom-up approach of planning through PRA method has been demonstrated here. Existing scenario, local peoples vision and assessment of the prescribed needs with regards to the country standard has been also performed.

Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, has undergone rapid urbanization in an unplanned manner over the years. The high growth rate of urban population has made the city unable to cope with the changing situations of urban life. This large proportion of urban community is bestowed with various types of problems throughout their daily life. This paper provides an overview of the existing problems at community level in an urban area through PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) approach. In this research, an attempt has been made to investigate the physical and social characteristics of the community, activities of the Community Based Organization (CBO), its relationship with other institutions and stakeholders, existing problems of the community, the underlying causes and effects of those problems etc. Finally some internal and external factors reflecting the prospects and limitations of the community, possible solutions of the problems have also been discussed in this research. CBOs are nonprofit groups that work at a local level to improve the standard of life for residents within the community. A CBO can hold a great role for the overall improvement of a community and can also be used as means to route information and other resources for improving the living conditions in a community. The CBO of Monipuripara residential area of ward no. 27 of Dhaka City Corporation North, named “Monipuripara Kallyan Samiti” has been selected for this study. Different PRA tools have been used (i.e. social and resource map, time line, pair-wise ranking, cause-effect diagram, Venn diagram, SWOT analysis) to identify and evaluate the problems, obstacles, prospects and solutions toward a self-sustained and convenient community as a whole. The research identifies that the community leaders of the study area and Monipuripara Samabay Samiti (an organization, providing microcredit facility) have great influence on the CBO. They take almost all decisions in CBO considering others’ opinion. It is revealed from the local residents that the community faces several problems among which traffic congestion, increased number of roadside hawkers and inadequate community services are severe. Key Informant Interview has been also conducted to verify the identified problems and cause-effects of those problems. Throughout the research the mass people and the CBO of this locality have been facilitated to share, enhance and analyze the knowledge of their own neighborhood. However, the community itself affirms possible solutions for the associated problems and some recommendations have also been drawn by the facilitators considering the strength and weakness of the community to reach to a credible conclusion.

Dhaka the capital city of Bangladesh has merely been nourished with any planning guidelines or stringent development control policy since its inception. As a result, the city has been developed with lots of deprivation resulting in numerous problems such as traffic congestion, water logging, sewerage and drainage problem, water supply, gas and electricity problem, crime, unhygienic environment and many others. The old city of Dhaka (Strategic Planning Zone, SPZ 3), the most densely populated and congested area of the city inhabited by almost a million people, possesses 15% of the total population living in the city’s urbanized area (Urban Area Plan (1995-2005)). Occupying only 7% of the gross built-up area, it exhibits densities well in excess of the normal gross urban densities of 323 ppa, in localised areas with net residential densities in excess of 2000 ppa (Urban Area Plan, 1995-2005). Despite increasing congestion, a paucity of social and community facilities, inadequate and poorly maintained infrastructure and ever-increasing costs for ever-diminishing space, the evidence of existing trends suggests that the old city will experience a continued influx of population and densification well into the future. Various collective initiatives, measures and researches undertaken to address various problems with their tentative remedies have stumbled in various times due to lack of proper institutional set up, non-conformal policy implementation with local settings, lack of community efforts, lack of political stability and the last but not the least, ignoring people’s participation in problem identification, their perception regarding intensity of any particular problem and possible remedies that are likely to be enforceable and preferred by the local inhabitants. Old Dhaka signifies a lot by offering a contrast with the new Dhaka, but the existing situation can never support the future growth unless the old city is brought under long term sustainable policy framework. So an informative study based on the application of participatory methods can reveal an authentic and clear picture reflecting the state of mind and perception of the inhabitants of Old Dhaka regarding the intensity and magnitude of their problems and possible remedies felt by them.

Despite the advancement of technology in the recent past, the global scenario still remains grim in water supply as not all the inhabitants of the world have access to safe drinking water. Dhaka city is now facing tremendous challenges to fulfil the water demand of its inhabitants. Groundwater table depletion is increasing at an alarming rate. This study mainly focuses on the potential of a rainwater harvesting system in Kazipara area of Dhaka city. The study area has typical characteristics of an unplanned, congested development with a small plot size of Dhaka city. That is why this area has been chosen. Residents of this area face both water crises in dry summer and water logging in monsoon. It has been calculated that the potential of rooftop rainwater harvesting is 4,02,096.34 cubic meter water/year which can meet about a 66% demand of water for toilet flushing and cleaning purposes used by the residents of Kazipara all year round. If a rainwater harvesting system is used every buildings of the study area then 2,872.12 cum/hr surface runoff would be reduced during a rainfall event of 15 mm/hr, which means 61.71% of surface runoff would be reduced from the current surface runoff. As a consequence, water logging problem can be decreased in Dhaka city. Keywords: rainwater harvesting, feasibility, potential, willingness to install rainwater harvesting system.

Most of the slums in Dhaka lack in safe water supply and sanitation facilities. This study was performed in a slum situated near Mohammadpur embankment known as Shopon’s slum. Participatory rural appraisal method was used to collect information and analyze the WatSan problems of the slum. It is built on low lying marsh land and stagnant water. Water supply is illegally obtained from municipal connection and insanitary hanging latrines are used. According to the analysis lack of property rights, financing, lack of space and low elevation are the main reasons for water-sanitation problem of the slum. Resulting effects are inconvenience, long waiting time, disease outbreak, water logging etc. After considering standards set by DPHE and slum dwellers demand, a submerged septic tank system based sanitation plan and a legal water supply with storage tank and collection points for the community is proposed. PRA tools were proved to be helpful for this purpose.

Dhaka is one of the fastest growing megacities in the world with high pace of population growth. Most of the urban poor are living in the slums areas in a very inhuman condition which leads to the overall degradation of urban environment. But these poor people contribute significantly to the urban economy through their services in different sectors. Housing for poor is one of the crucial factors which needs immediate attention but both public and private sector has failed to address this issue. This paper focuses on understanding the socio-economic and living condition of the slum people. Among the 4,900 slums in Dhaka city, five slums were selected and a questionnaire survey was conducted on 150 households. Findings reveal the substandard housing condition of the slum dwellers though they are paying on an average 11 tk/sq. ft. rent which is comparable to the house rents paid by many high/middle class residents of Dhaka. Finally an on-site upgradation plan for the slum has been developed in consultation with the slum dwellers. It is found that the slum dwellers are willing to pay more for a better living. It is also possible to recover some portion of the valuable urban land occupied by the existing slum dwellers. Finally a framework was developed for implementation and management purpose to make the whole upgradation scheme a feasible project and also for the participation of the slum people in this scheme

Earthquake is a risk that needs to be addressed in a more concerted way. The historical seismicity and recent tremors occurred in Bangladesh and adjoining areas indicate that the country is at high seismic risk. The existing urban trend and urbanization process of Bangladesh have caused increased vulnerability to natural disasters like earthquake. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh is the hub of commerce, economy, education, politics etc. and accommodates a large population. According to a report published by United Nations IDNDR-RADIUS Initiatives, Dhaka and Tehran are the cities with the highest relative earthquake disaster risk. Seismologists believe a strong earthquake will strike Dhaka in the near future. It is acknowledged that the unplanned development with the existence of extreme population density, old dilapidated unreinforced masonry buildings, narrow road network, close proximity of adjacent buildings, irregular building shape and others have made older part of the city more vulnerable to any imminent earthquake. In any disaster risk reduction plan the major concern goes to the preparedness level of the local community as loss due to any hazard multiplies in a less aware community. In this paper the social vulnerability of household individuals to risk from earthquake is assessed for the older part of Dhaka City. The methodology starts by selecting social vulnerability indicators from the literature and then collects the relevant data needed for the analysis by a household questionnaire survey. Through analyzing different indicators the present status of the community regarding earthquake risk, their awareness level, past earthquake experiences and instant responses, perception about the vulnerability of the residing building as well as community is found. Finally a “Pressure and Release Model” is established for the study area to identify the root causes that make community vulnerable to earthquake and consequently try to find out some solutions in minimizing the risk at time. This model has provided direction to reduce the pressure and attain a comparatively safer condition for the community.

Bangladesh possesses a rich early heritage involving two great religions, Hinduism and Buddhism. These two beliefs, with their political patronization, developed an architectural vocabulary expressing their spiritual desire and aspiration. Later, when Muslims invaded India, they brought a different architectural approach, evident in their secular and religious structures all over the Indian subcontinent. Muslims built mosques with the use of imported features modified by local culture, climate, tradition, materials, and technology. From that period through the present, mosques in Bangladesh have developed a unique style in terms of architecture. The notion of mosque architecture has been changing over time, according to the desires of the ruling class and the common people as well. This study presents tangible evidence of the changing morphology of mosque architecture, and identifies the influencing factors that initiated the development over the ages.

Dhaka possesses a glorious history of 400 years since it started journey on the left bank of River Burignanga. There goes a saying that, the pre-Mughal Dhaka consisted of 52 bazaars and 53 lanes. The main settlement in this period was limited in between the River Buriganga and Dholai Khal with its center near Bangla Bazar. During the Mughal (1606-1764) reign Dhaka further flourished in the commercial sector and it covered the area presently known as old Dhaka. The Chawk (square) was the main market place of Mughal Dhaka. Till today, it is one of the major wholesale areas of the city and vibrant in a transformed physical and social context. The spatial expansion of Dhaka and formation of new Dhaka started in British period. It was expanded in size and was developed in commerce, administration and industrial sector. Dhaka experienced several inclusions of commercial centers during the Pakistan period (1947-1971) both in planned and unplanned manner. The commercial land development in Dhaka had undergone rapid changes since the independence of Bangladesh. Ribbon commercial development, initiated in the 1960s, became a popular addition to the city fabric. By the early 1980s, private developers started to enter the land market of Dhaka and commercial land development projects are primarily dominated by them. An analysis of commercial land use pattern of Dhaka reveals a long historical background of the growth of Dhaka in relation to the physical, socio-political and cultural context. Dhaka City Corporation area has been considered as the study area. This study aims at describing and analyzing the commercial land use trend of Dhaka from a spatio-temporal perspective. This paper also intends to analyze the contemporary commercial land use pattern of Dhaka city and its associated consequences. The distribution pattern and nature of commercial land uses of Dhaka over time has been studied from urban planning standpoint. For this purpose, land use maps of different periods, have been collected and GIS database have been developed for the preparation of necessary maps. The transformation of Dhaka from a monocentric to a polycentric city has been discussed here in detail. Urban spatial structure indicators such as density profile, average distance per person to Central Business Districts (CBD) have been used to understand the nature and spatial structure of these commercial cores of Dhaka. Necessary land use related data have been collected from Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) and Detail Area Plan (DAP). Several secondary sources have been utilized to collect old land use maps of Dhaka. The historic and concurrent trends of development of commercial land uses in Dhaka as discussed in this paper unveiled various issues regarding the growth of Dhaka and its sustainability.

Water logging has been disrupting livelihoods of about one million people in Bangladesh during past two decades. South-west Bangladesh is prone to water logging due to the vulnerable geographical setting and climate change. The worst hydro-geophysical vulnerability has been found in Keshabpur Thana of Jessore District where most of the land is waterlogged for over seven years. The researchers tried to identify people’s unique coping strategies under such adverse environmental condition. Necessary data were collected through questionnaire survey, Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and Participatory Vulnerability Assessment (PVA) tools. About 270 households of the study area were surveyed. Major findings revealed the constraints towards reducing people’s vulnerability such as climate change, poor coordination among stakeholders, limited institutional initiative of coping etc. Accordingly researchers tried to put some necessary recommendation such as promoting agricultural and institutional coping immediately in the study area.

Based on two case studies in Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Lahore (Pakistan), this paper attempts to illustrate how the emerging cultures and spaces are continuously either negotiated or contested (Shakur, 2008). Historic Mughal city of Lahore (Pakistan), once the cultural capital of Asia, has expanded speedily over time. A prominent example of such a case would be Anarkali, a vibrant bazaar from the 17th century. Anarkali has adapted the modern living in a disorganised manner. Even today the inner you go to these galli mohalla, the richer the environ gets as a lot of old residents have still kept on with the indigenous aspects. A thousand miles away in the east but in a similar cultural setting of Lalabagh (in old Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh) is considered as one of the prime icon of Mughal architecture in Bangladesh. The magnificent fort, since 1678 experienced changes in socio-political and cultural contexts. The surrounding built environment has significant visual impacts on the inside space characteristics of the conserved fort. As a result, contradiction among the old and new, complexity between the space uses and the incongruity between architectural language raises question regarding appropriateness of this historic structure in its present milieu.

Spatial polarization and geo-spatial inequality occur in case of development around the world. Importance of location and space for development is yet to receive attention in policy agenda of Bangladesh. This study is an attempt to assess the spatial variation in educational attainment and educational facilities at regional levels in Bangladesh. Regional variations in educational attainment have been assessed with respect to some selected indicators like literacy rate of 7 years and above, adult literacy rate, school enrolment rate, school attendance and student-teacher ratio. Relationship between poverty and educational attainment has also been assessed to find out the impact of poverty on education at regional levels in the country. In particular, this study has highlighted spatial variations in education facilities like number of primary school, secondary school, college through identifying developed and lagging regions in the country. Location Quotient (LQ) Analysis, Gini index, Composite Analysis have been used to identify the spatial variations in education at regional levels in the country. These findings may be helpful for government and policy makers to adopt necessary policies and strategies for education to ensure balanced development of the country at regional strata in Bangladesh.

After the devastating flood of 1988, the government adopted a program under FAP-8B to protect Dhaka city from flooding. It included two-part coordinated action plan, namely FAP-8A & FAP-8B. The project “FAP-8B” covered 136.5 sq. km of western part of Dhaka and the primary objective was to provide a relatively flood free and secured living environment. Proposals of FAP-8B focused on construction of retention ponds with pumping facilities and rehabilitation of 21 major natural canals having a total length of 78.6 km. The FAP-8B project started in 1991 and completed by 1997. This paper studied the land use changes within the designated retention pond areas and canals in the FAP-8B area through interpretation of satellite images and data on physical features. The study used satellite images of the years 1989, 1999, 2004, 2007, RS (Revenue Survey) maps and land use maps of Detailed Area Plan (DAP). Findings of the study revealed that proposed 4.5% retention pond areas of FAP-8B has been encroached by various land use activities and at present only 1.79% retention pond areas are left. Encroachments of natural canals are also alarming. It is found that 34% area of 13 natural canals has been filled up by developers, private individuals and others. Between 1989 and 2007, area of wetland was reduced from 22.15% to 12.17% in the west Dhaka. The results suggest that without government intervention to save the remaining retention areas and canals, it would be difficult to uphold the flood control functions of FAP-8B project.

Bangladesh has had a long history of malaria occurrence. During the British era, malaria mapping was first initiated by Bentley in 1916; the west central part of the country being moribund had the greatest concentration of malaria. There-after, during the Second World War large-scale anti-malaria activities were carried on using DDT. By the 1970s malaria incidents declined. It was wrongly thought that the disease has been eradicated. Malaria infected people from India, particularly Assam, and adjacent hilly areas brought the disease to Bangladesh, showing migration diffusion. By 1984, it was identified that there was a positive correlation between forested areas and high Annual Paradise Index areas. During the resurgence and post-resurgence periods the country was divided into several divisions based on convex growth pattern of malaria belying vector resistance to DDT and other insecticides.

Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is experiencing incessant process of urban expansion but mostly in an unplanned manner. To accommodate the growing population and various urban uses the city is experiencing vertical expansion in the inner city areas and horizontal expansion by encroaching the peripheral land. The Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan (DMDP) 1997-2015 proposed strategies of Urban Consolidation to optimize the city growth in the established urban areas by vertical expansion and through infill development on vacant land. But there is no such organized program undertaken to implement the consolidation strategies stated in the DMDP. This explorative study is an attempt to find the potentiality of urban consolidation process in Dhaka. The research aims to investigate the qualitative and quantitative status of available amount of vacant and underutilized land for redevelopment to ensure the optimum utilization of the scarce urban land.

One of the most important ecosystems of earth is wetland. It provides enormous services to the human being and the environment. But a significant amount of wetland has already been lost along with agricultural and industrial revolutions. Changing social, economic and political contexts of the regions often have devastating impact on the wetland. All over the world, scientist and professional are now become aware of the adverse impact of loss of wetland and thus come up with strategies and policies to save remaining wetlands of this blue planet. Like many other cities, Dhaka as one the most fast growing mega city of the world is also expanding by exploiting its natural resources and paying little attention to her ecological and social values. The recent trend of development in Dhaka has become an alarming threat for her remaining wetlands which has a close association with the life, livelihood of her people and natural setting of the city. The private land developers has filled out large tract of wetlands in the fringe areas of Dhaka despite of enactment of various environmental acts and policies and significantly deviated from the policies stated in the structure plan of the city. In this backdrop, this research designed from a realization that policy makers, environmentalist and inhabitants of Dhaka are all aware and concerned about the loss of wetland in the city and its adverse impact but there is absence of comprehensive research work which can give a clear perspective regarding the process, trend and context of loss of wetland in Dhaka Metro Area. The issue of loss of wetland is the outcome of interaction on number of forces. A clear understanding of these forces is a prerequisite to undertake programs to save remaining wetlands of Dhaka. This study primarily focused on three broad objectives: (i) To study the nature and process of loss of wetland in Dhaka Metro Area and associated consequences; (ii) To understand the social and economic forces related with the conversion of wetland; (iii) To assess the role of institutions and planning practice in Dhaka Metro regarding the conservation of wetland. Several research works has documented the loss of wetland in different parts of the city up to the year 2001. This research calculated the loss of wetland in Dhaka Metro Area over the period 1989-1999-2005. Findings portray the alarming Wetlands of Dhaka Metro Area: A Study from Social, Economic and Institutional Perspectives.....

Dhaka city is the home of more than five million and is one of the most densely populated cities of the world. Dhaka City Corporation is responsible for providing various services to its citizen with its limited resources. 'Citizen Report Card' is one of the new methods to measure the performance of civic services provided by urban government. This study used this method to measure the performance of waste management, mosquito control and certification service offered by Dhaka City Corporation in some selected wards of Dhaka City. The performance of each of these services is ranked using The Urban Governance Indicator value. The study concluded that citizen of Dhaka ranked the waste management and certification service as fair while mosquito control service was identified as poor. The paper ended with a discussion on possible improvement of quality of services.

Dhaka is bound and crisscrossed by a network of rivers, canals and large tracts of flood plains. However, this megacity is growing in an unsustainable manner and jeopardizing the social and environmental values. Citizens and management authorities are alarmed with the rapid rate of depletion of wetlands resulting in an increase in the frequency of floods, drainage problems, loss of agricultural activities, and destruction of aesthetically pleasant environments. The planning, development and management of Dhaka involves multiple government agencies. In addition, a large number of non government organizations and environmental groups are working relentlessly. Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan (DMDP 1995-2015) contains policies on conservation of the flood plain and detention areas, and the enactment of the Water Body Conservation Act has strengthened the legal aspects for securing wetlands. However, a rapid rate of loss of wetlands demonstrates that the pertinent institutions have failed to protect them. This research aims to identify the underlying reasons for the institutional weaknesses. The barriers for application of planning and legal tools are viewed from three perspectives; (i) institutional shortcomings and weaknesses in protecting wetland loss, (ii) level of coordination among the different institutions both in the public and private sectors, (iii) nature and strength of external forces that impede the desired course of improvement.