The increasing importance of the informal market economy as a livelihood strategy in urban areas across developing countries, particularly in Bangladesh, secures an important position for the low- and middle-income people of a city. This study focuses on Bou Bazar market of Dhaka, Bangladesh, to examine the spatial, temporal, and managerial dynamics of a market characterized by a unique structure that combines both formal and informal elements of a market. Thus, it allows the investigation of a distinct type of market model, which has the potential to perform better than pure informal markets. The study involved Focus Group Discussion with different stakeholder groups, a series of interviews, and the utilization of different Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) tools for data collection. Qualitative analysis was employed through clustering, grouping, and comparison within the collected data. Key findings include increased vendor diversity driven by growing demand, efficient use of public space with limited operating hours, improved vendor satisfaction through balancing their autonomy, external management with stakeholder collaboration and a discretionary policy of service fee which could not be assigned to any useful purpose other than exploitation. The study suggests that formal management of any informal market offers comparative advantages to ensure inclusive economic growth that can be a beneficial learning for other developing countries as well.

Extreme weather-induced vulnerability has acquired global prominence for posing frequent threats, resulting in significant socio-economic losses and infrastructure damage. As an unplanned city in the global south, Dhaka frequently grapples with such vulnerabilities due to a rapid rise in temperature and changes in precipitation patterns. Investigating zones susceptible to the combined effects of these extreme events is essential for robust planning and interventions to enhance the city’s resilience. However, no previous research examined this dual vulnerability. Therefore, this study aims to identify the sensitive zones to extreme heat and heavy rainfall (waterlogging) in the city by applying the advanced techniques of GIS, including a multi-criteria decision-making method (MCDA) and analytical hierarchy process on four spectral indices and other non-spectral, physical, hydrological, and geomorphological variables. The findings reveal that only 20% of the city exhibits low sensitivity to the combined effects, which are primarily concentrated in the northeastern and central part of the city. The remaining areas are moderate to high sensitive to extreme weather events, with around 49.39% being under high to very high susceptibility. This indicates that a major part of the city is highly susceptible to extreme weather events, suggesting a widespread vulnerability. The findings are useful in addressing extreme weather's potential to pose a substantial environmental obstacle and yield insights for the sustainable, efficient, and healthy development of the city.