Dissertations/Theses - Department of Urban and Regional Planning

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    Study on land cover changes in the vicintiy of Purbachal new town and JhilMil residential area
    (Department of Urban and Regional Planning, BUET, 2021-09-30) Mowla, Tasliha; Hasan, Dr. Md. Musleh Uddin
    Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is one of the fastest growing megacities in the world. The ever-growing population has led Dhaka to an unplanned urban expansion. Due to the scarcity of land, urban expansions and unprecedented land conversions are taking place outside Dhaka North and South City Corporation areas at the costs such as habitat destruction, loss of arable land, wet land, water body, flood flow zones and natural vegetation cover. In many cases the location of government declared land development and infrastructure building projects are triggering the conversions of land to different uses. In this research, areas in the vicinity of two well renowned land development projects by RAJUK, namely Purbachal New Town (PNT) and Jhilmil Residential Area (JRA), have been considered as study areas. Since RAJUK, the regulatory agency of government, undertook these projects, the precious lands of the surrounding areas are being converted by the real estate developers. The areas surrounding PNT were predominantly rural in nature and were designated as high value agriculture land, forest area and water retention zone. On the other hand, the areas surrounding JRA located in Keraniganj was actually a part of South -Western flood flow zone. But no sooner RAJUK officially declared undertaking these projects there, land covers changed rapidly and lands continued to be grabbed for the last 20 years. About 40 developers are involved in the conversion of land in both eastern and western fringe areas. This research conducted a spatiotemporal analysis of the study areas from 1992 to 2017 at 5 years interval to investigate land cover change in four major land cover classes as, Vegetation cover, Water cover, Bare soil cover and Built-up cover. Thus, the chronology of changes and the factors responsible for the changes has been sought to investigate. This study has found different type of land cover changes because of different reasons in the both study areas. Both projects have been initiated violating DMDP Structure plan 1995-2015. There was a clear demarcation of conserving these lands as high value agriculture land, forest area, wet land and flood flow zones in DMDP. Although RAJUK has now declared these areas as Growth Management Area in Dhaka Structure plan 2016-2035, its plans and guidelines have failed to protect these lands from indiscriminate conversion. The factors behind the land cover changes are revealed by identifying the ‘latent themes’ in the contents of FGD, KII and Experts Opinion through Thematic Analysis. Contents of relevant plans, policies have been examined to identify the ‘latent’ themes in their contents facilitating land cover changes. Based on these ‘latent’ theme factors, lack of proper active land use plans or guide lines, weak land regulation act and laws, and inactive and inefficient law enforcing agencies are identified as responsible for the changes in the both study areas. The ultimate aim of this study is to support the decision maker people and authorities of conventional land use planning practice in Bangladesh to stop unplanned land cover change. It highlights the land cover change trend as an essential and fundamental part, so it should keep in head before any kinds of land development plan formulation. So, no further urban sprawls, renewals or enhancement will not come up without prior initiative to protect project surrounding areas. In the end, this study aspires to bridge the research gap among the researchers about conventional land use planning practice in Bangladesh.
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    Livelihood vulnerability of char area a comparative study between riverine and coastal chars
    (Department of Urban and Regional Planning(URP),BUET, 2024-02-03) Nejhum, Israt Jahan; Akther, Dr. Mohammad Shakil
    The most vulnerable and landless displaced people of Bangladesh usually live on the newly created sandy islands, which are locally known as char. Char areas are disaster-prone areas and frequently face flooding, cyclones, erosion, and accretion. These events affect the flow of life and the livelihood of the people living there. These climatic shocks not only affect their livelihood but also create vulnerable conditions for them. Livelihood vulnerability assessment explores the extent to which a community is exposed to coping with natural hazards, climatic events, and social and economic pressure. This research work investigated the livelihood vulnerability of both riverine char (Hasail-Banari, Padma Char) and coastal char (Noler Char) communities to determine which entities are more exposed to natural disasters and climate change. This study assessed and compared the vulnerability of the livelihoods of riverine and coastal char communes using the Hahn, Riederer, and Foster (2009) Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI). In addition, factor analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were utilized to identify the influential indicators of the livelihood vulnerability index. A structured questionnaire survey and focus group discussions were used to collect primary data for this study. The findings showed that in each of the chars, a household typically consists of four people, with one family member having completed primary schooling. The average monthly income of residents in riverine and coastal char is 14,302.00 BDT and 12,357.50 BDT, respectively. Based on the LVI calculation, the coastal char commune exhibited a marginally higher level of vulnerability (0.13) than riverine char (0.11). Following the exploratory factor analysis, twenty-two variables were retained under eight major components that induce the livelihood vulnerability of char communities. Finally, multiple linear regression analysis showed six independent variables that influence the livelihood vulnerability score. These variables are number. of members completes primary schooling, number of pigeons, number of income sources, number of meals you take in a day, cultivable land amount owned by the household and rented cultivable land amount. Determining the significantly influential elements of the vulnerability index provides a clear vision of the challenges limiting the residents' coping capabilities. This research offers policymakers significant insights for modifying existing policies and implementing alternative strategies to help people in riverine and coastal char areas adapt to the impacts of disasters and climate change.
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    Development of an age friendly environment index and its application on Dhaka city corporations
    (Department of Urban and Regional Planning (URP), BUET, 2022-08-02) Tarannum, Afsana; Akther, Dr. Mohammad Shakil
    Age Friendly City has become a cross-cutting issue in this current time. However, there has been little to no study regarding this issue in our country. Therefore, this study has been conducted to create an Age Friendly Built Environment Index suitable in our local context. In order to create the index, comprehensive study has been carried out through reviewing various literatures. Based on the literature review, a set of parameters and variables has been selected for this study. After that Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and Key Informant Interview (KII) has been organized depending on the selected parameters and variables via the literature review. Next an initial set of variables has been formulated.The initial list of variables has been validated by the experts and later weighed by the experts using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). In the process, the experts also suggested the evaluation criteria for assessing the variables. In order to observe the age friendliness of Dhaka city in a map format, weighted sum overlay analysis has been conducted in ArcGIS. Afterwards the study area has been classified into three categories which are – low age friendly area, medium age friendly area and high age friendly area. The result of the map portrays thatmore Wards of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) are high and medium age friendly area compared to Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC). However, there are less low age friendly Wards in DNCC compared to DSCC. This is because DNCC has less number of Wards in comparison to DSCC. The index generated in this study could be useful while making local level planning. Besides, the maps could be used to compare the age friendliness of Dhaka city with other cities over a period of time.
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    Study on intervention in water and sanitation facilities in selected slums of Dhaka north city corporation
    (Department of Urban and Regional Planning (URP), 2022-05-28) Paromita, Shome; Akther, Dr. Mohammad Shakil
    Dhaka, the capital and the largest city of Bangladeshis straining under the pressure of its rapidly increasing slum residents.The dwellers are facing difficulties in water and sanitationfacilities in terms of sharing status, safety, accessibility, reliability, quality, and so on.To improve this critical situation, researchers have been trying to assess the water and sanitation services in the slums of Dhaka.Different national policies and global commitments like Sustainable Development Goals, National Water Policy, National Policy for Safe Water Supply and Sanitation, Eights 5-Year Plan, National Strategy for Water Supply and Sanitationdemand for necessary water and sanitation interventions and monitoring in the slums for ensuring water and sanitation facilities for all. In line with this, the study identifies the types of interventions by different organizations involving FGDs, assesses the level of service through HH questionnaire surveys applying relevant criteria, indicators and forming indices, and addresses sustainability of the interventions derived fromthe results of level of service and conducting KIIs. The slum dwellers, leaders, managers and the relevant working organizations were involved in the data collection process. According to DNCC record, and FGDs; different NGOs (national and international) work at the field level regarding water and sanitation facilities. Construction activities involved establishment of new tube wells, water platforms, establishment of new latrine superstructures, toilet platforms etc. Maintenance works included enhancement of water quality, cleaning of toilets etc. Regarding level of service, the situation of sanitation is poorer than the water facilities. Considering availability, accessibility, safety, affordability and acceptability of the facilities,water acceptability index is the worst for water facility; whereas for sanitation facility, availability index is lower in the study area. The difference between the composite water index and sanitation index is significant in the slums based on whether subsequent support from the organizations after the accomplishment of the interventions is available. This indicates the unsustainability of most of theinterventions. The targets of SDG 6 call for achieving safe and affordable drinking water for all and special attention towards the sanitation needs of women and girls. But the slum dwellers are not so satisfied with the water safety or quality depicted by the lowest water acceptability index. There is also no menstrual hygiene management in any slum and the privacy index is so low according to the females participated in the HH questionnaire survey reflecting thewomen and girls are not being given specific considerations complying the targets of SDG 6. According to 8th 5-years plan, the capacity of local government needs to be strengthened to provide universal water and sanitation to all. This study would be helpful for the local level authority to comprehend and manage the water and sanitation services in the slums and integrate the local level plans with the goals and targets of the national policies and the global commitments.
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    Spatio-temporal analysis of covid-19 pandemic in Bangladesh
    (Department of Urban and Regional Planning (URP), 2022-06-29) Sadia, Afroj; Haque, Dr. Afsana
    The world has been experiencing the shock of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) with multiple waves. Bangladesh, like other countries, is witnessing pandemic waves as of March 8, 2020. Within three successive waves in Bangladesh, approximately two million cases of COVID-19 infection and thirty thousand deaths have been reported.Various demographic, climatic, and hospital factors have already been proven as linked to the infection scenario in the literature. Implemented aspatial countermeasures, according to some studies, could also have an impact on the pandemic situation. The regional and temporal growth of pandemic waves could be regulated based on these features. Although many studies have been conducted around the world, the majority of them have focused on the initial COVID-19 outbreak, projections of spatial diffusion and temporal trends during this time, mapping of infected cases related to public movement, and public perception of the pandemic, and advancements in healthcare technology. To the best author’s knowledge, there are still few studies comparing the spatio-temporal dynamics of waves and emphasizing both the temporal and spatial aspects. In this context, this study aims to look at how spatial factors affect the COVID-19 pandemic's temporal variation in Bangladesh. Under this aim, the temporal patterns of the three successive waves of COVID-19 are compared from both spatial and aspatial perspectives. The effects of spatial features on waves are investigated later. In this research, the incident rate is considered to represent the spread.Sixty-four districts of Bangladesh comprise the study area for this research.The data on district-wise confirmed cases and the daily number of tests of three waves have been collected from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).Additionally, information on demographic characteristics, healthcare facilities, infrastructure facilities, geographic features, meteorological attributes, and economic attributes have been obtained from other secondary sources. Sen’s slope estimation, the Pettit test, and the Mann-Kendall (M-K) test have been used to examine the temporal pattern. Global and local spatial autocorrelation methods (Moran’s I) have been used to figure out the spatial pattern. Scan statistics have been employed in conjunction with a discrete Poisson probability approach to comprehend the spatiotemporal growth of the outbreak. Finally, the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model and spatial regression models have been used to identify the effects of spatial components. Bangladesh as a whole exhibited no statistically significant trend throughout the first and second waves, but the deployment of long-term spatial containment measures caused an abrupt drop in infection during the first wavein almost all districts. The Bangladesh government implemented many of these non-pharmaceutical measures during the initial wave, including the closure of educational institutions and social gathering places, lockdown, social distancing measures, case isolation, demarcating of the most infected regions, and movement restrictions.The third wave had a noticeable decline in incident rates and lasted for a shorter period. In all waves, Dhaka and the neighboring areas were the first hit and were infected more heavily. Due to the arrival of new virus strains in the surrounding nations, the Western area of the country suffered a cluster of greater COVID-19 occurrences during the second and third waves.In terms of infection, theEastern portion, including the districts of Sylhet and Mymensingh division, were always in a better state due to their local geographic features. The country’s testing facilities were unevenly distributed, which had an impact on the number of confirmed cases in areas. May to July is identified as the period of time when the infection was most likely to spread. Urban population density, poverty rate, the number of ICU beds in each district, and the population over 65 are all identified as contributing spatial features during the first wave. On the other hand, factors that are determined to be significant in the second wave include rainfall, the number of bus stops, and the distance from the most affected area. The third wave highlights important contributions of urban population density, hospitals per thousand people, temperature, and rainfall. To conclude, it is anticipated that the findings of this study could help to formulate an appropriate pandemic management framework that takes into account seasonal and regional factors to combat future outbreaks.
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    Study on integration of proposed public bus route network with BRT and MRT system in Dhaka city
    (Department of Urban and Regional Planning (URP), 2022-11-15) Fahmida, Hanif; Akhter, Dr. Mohammad Shakil
    The public transportation system greatly influences the total effectiveness of any city's transportation system. A well-developed public transportation infrastructure can aid the economic growth of a city. Public buses offer a flexible mode of public transportation that can accommodate a range of needy individuals across the metropolis. Congestion, poor traffic management, high accident rates, and a growing pollution issue, however, are depicted public bus service scenario in Dhaka's. Earlier in Dhaka public buses are Dhaka's only means of mass transportation, many people rely on them every day, but in recent days MRT is also included. The study focuses on the integration of various public transit network in Dhaka city. In Dhaka along with existing bus route network, several transit projects are taken such as MRT 1, 6, 5 and BRT 3. These transit projects have their own operation plans. However, none of them mentioned about integration with other transit services. Following this, this study attempted to work on the integration aspect of transit services considering their designed operational characteristics. Based on this, the study has three major objectives. In the first objective the study tried to review the ongoing and proposed transit projects following their operational and network characteristics, after that, in the second objective the traffic impact of rationalized bus route network on BRT and MRT corridor has been studied. Following these, on the third objective an integrated transit network system has been developed considering their operational aspects. To pursue the activities for achieving first objective, the operation plans of different services have been reviewed and discussed along with this, the network overlapping ratio following intra and inter network are studied. Apart from this, using the network analyst tool of ArcGIS, service areas around transit stops are developed and the access road density and structure density are studied. However, in case of second objective, following the overlapping ratio of rationalized bus routes along with BRT and MRT services, the bus routes were grouped into different categories. After that, based on their fleet distribution the transit traffic impacts of BRT, MRT corridors was analyzed. Following this, buffer areas around transit corridors were developed and the distribution of different land use categories within these areas were studied. Lastly, on the third objective, a macro simulation model using future (year 2035) peak hour transit travel demand matrix has been developed, on which different transit network combinations have been studied and the traffic impact of integration on networks are studied. As a part of the study, it has been found out, that, the accessibility rationalized network is better than the existing one. Along with this, the existing network has higher overlapping ratio (both intra and inter) than rationalized one. Apart from this, following the coverage issue, rationalized network has better spatial coverage than existing one. Moreover, around the BRT and MRT lines, there is a greater concentration of mixed-use, residential, and industrial land use than there is of other land uses. However, owing to their alignment, MRT 6 and MRT 1 also have high percentages of vacant lands. In case of macro-simulation model, first scenario developed considering only existing bus routes (base scenario), and on this scenario the number of transit trips is the highest among all scenarios. The trip number stays nearly the same as the basic one when considering current bus routes that connect to MRT lines 1, 5, and 6. Although there are significant operational speed, transfer fee, and per-kilometer fare differences between the MRT system and bus, transit users still favor both in a comparable way, and the load factor value of 2.12 makes this the best fit scenario. However, the alignment plan of the rationalized routes caused the network of bus routes to receive 93% fewer trips than the current bus route network. Along with this, while considering BRT network with rationalized bus routes, it seems that, the transit trip number from rationalized base scenario increased by 43%, and with MRT it increased by 81%, and with both MRT and BRT, the value increased by 93%. To conclude, it can be said that, although the current network has operational and functional limitations, it still serves the purpose better when considering fleet alignments and distribution.
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    Study of the effects of built environment on pedestrian crash frequency and severity in Dhaka
    (Department of Urban and Regional Planning (URP), 2022-04-04) Zafri, Niaz Mahmud; Khan, Dr. Asif-Uz-Zaman
    Pedestrian crashes have become a major safety concern in urban areas throughout the world, including Bangladesh. This scenario is no better in Dhaka, the capital and megacity of Bangladesh. From 1998 to 2014, more than 10 thousand crashes occurred here, and 4,514 pedestrians died in those crashes. To improve this critical situation, researchers have been trying to identify the contributory factors behind pedestrian crashes through studies at both macroscopic and microscopic levels. Macroscopic level pedestrian crash occurrences analysis and microscopic level pedestrian crash severity analysis are the most common techniques used for identifying contributory factors behind pedestrian crashes. Recent literature suggests to improvepedestrian safety by altering the built environment of urban areas considering its effect on pedestrian crashes. Therefore, identifying contributory built environment factors behind pedestrian crashes is important to reduce the number of crashes and their severity level. In the case of macroscopic level pedestrian crash occurrences analysis,built environment-related factors have primarily been examined in the developed countries, resulting in a limited understanding of the phenomenon in the context of developing countries. Methodologically, these studies mostly used global regression models, which failed to incorporate spatial autocorrelation and spatial heterogeneity. Althougha fewof these studies usedspatial regression models, they applied them randomly without following a comprehensive logical framework behind their selections. This study aimed to develop a comprehensive spatial regression modeling framework to examine the relationships between pedestrian crash occurrences and the built environment at the macroscopic level in Dhaka.Using secondary data, the study applied one global non-spatial model, two global spatial regression models, and two local spatial regression models following a comprehensive spatial regression modeling framework.The analysis results identified the factors thatwere found to significantly contribute to pedestrian crash occurrences in Dhaka. Those factors were employed person density, mixed and recreational land use density, primary road density, major intersection density, and share of non-motorized modes. Except for the last factor, all the other ones were positively related to pedestrian crash density. Among the five models used in this study, the multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) performed the best as it calibrated each local relationship with distant spatial scale parameter. The findings and recommendations presented in this study would be useful for reducing pedestrian crashesand choosing the appropriate model for crash analysis. In the case of microscopic level pedestrian crash severity analysis, a large number of studies tried to explore the relationships between the built environment and pedestrian crash severity in developed countries.Unfortunately, there is a lack of similar studies in developing countries, especially Bangladesh. Methodologically, the contributory factors influencing pedestrian crash severity are commonly identified through global logistic regression (GLR) models.However, these models are unable to capture the spatial heterogeneity in the relationships between the dependent and independent variables. The local logistic regression model, such as geographicallyweighted logistic regression (GWLR), can potentially overcome this issue. Still, the application of local logistic regression to model pedestrian crash severity is absent in the literature. Therefore, this study applied the GWLR technique to explore spatially heterogeneous relationships between the natural and built environment-related factors with pedestrian crash severity in Dhaka. First, using secondary data, a binary logistic regression model was developed to identify significant factors influencing pedestrian crash severity. Results of the model showed that the probability of fatal pedestrian crash occurrence increased at night, in unlit locations, and during adverse weather conditions. Also, the likelihood of fatal crashes increased on straight and flat roads and at locations with more bus stops. On the other hand, the chance of fatal crashesreduced around institutional land uses and when medians exist on roads. Finally, this study explored spatial variation in the effect intensity of these significant variables across the study area using the GWLR technique. High-intensity variation across the study area was found for road geometry and institutional landuse factors. On the other hand, low-intensity variation was found for light conditions and the presence of median factors. This technique can be applied in any area, and the results would be helpful to provide insights into the spatial dimension of traffic safety.
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    Study on development of a water logging index
    (Department of Urban and Regional planning, 2022-10-10) Kauser, Md. Rakibul Hasan; Akther, Dr. Mohammad Shakil
    Disasters like earthquake, tropical storm, flood or drought, etc. are increasing both in number and severity. Like other disasters, waterlogging-induced human losses are not common. But financial and infrastructural damage is increasing in different cities every year due to waterlogging. So, from the investment perspective, it is important to know about an area's vulnerability due to waterlogging. This research aimed at developing an index to identify the vulnerability of an area due to waterlogging and applying the tool to look at its consistency and relevance in real-world scenarios. Bearing those in mind two objectives have been set for this research. The first objective was to develop a composite index for waterlogging and the second objective was to apply the composite index in Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) area to find out the vulnerability of different areas of the city to waterlogging. To fulfill the first objective, through extensive literature review considering global and local factors of waterlogging 25 factors have been found. After then, from expert opinion survey five factors related to waterlogging have been identified. Those five factors were Surface Runoff, Slope, Tidal Water Effect, Distance from drainage network, and Solid waste management. Then those factors were weighted using the AHP method. Finally, the Composite water logging index (CWLI) has been developed by combining all factors and weightage related to waterlogging from expert opinion survey. To fulfill the second objective, the CWLI was applied to the CCC area to look at its consistency and relevance in real-world scenarios. The surface runoff of CCC was estimated utilizing Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS-CN) method. Other four attribute map slope map, tidal water effect map, distance from drainage network map, and solid waste map also prepared using different GIS techniques. After then all layers were overlaid together using the Weighted Sum tool of ArcGIS. The weightage maps were classified into Five (5) classes using the Natural breaks (Jenks) classification method. However, from the vulnerability map it has been seen that 10% area falls into very high, 18% area falls into high, 31% area falls into moderate, 18% area falls into low and 23% of the area falls into very low vulnerable areas. Finally, based on the study it can be concluded that if the government and other concerned authorities take the necessary steps, the vulnerability of water logging can be reduced to an extent tolerable to the city people. In addition, the developed tool could be used for other cities in Bangladesh that were facing waterlogging. Key words: Waterlogging, Vulnerability, CWLI, Surface Runoff, AHP, GIS.
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    Study on spatial distribution of climate fund projects in urban areas of Bangladesh and their linkages with plans, policies and local context
    (Department of Urban and Regional planning, 2021-03-24) Tabassum, Nawshin; Islam, Dr. Ishrat
    The urban areas of the world hold more than 50% the world’s total population, most of its built assets and economic activities which contribute to high proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions generated by urban-based activities. According to IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), Bangladesh is as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change facing climate change induced flood, cyclone, sea level rise, heavy rainfall etc. which affect infrastructure, water supply, energy, transportation, housing and health sector of many cities of Bangladesh. To continue the economic growth of a country, it is important to ensure climate resilient development in the urban areas. This research aims at investigating the allocation of different climate fund projects in the urban areas of Bangladesh for addressing the impact of climate change induced hazards in the light of plans, policies and local context. To achieve desired outcome of the research, three objectives has been formulated. The first objective is to study the spatial distribution of climate fund projects in the urban areas of Bangladesh while the second objective studies those projects in the light of national and international plans, policies and local context. The third objective analyzes the view of local people regarding some selected projects under climate funds and their association with climate change induced hazards at local context. To achieve first and second objectives, the projects under different climate funds in urban areas of Bangladesh along with the project type, location, objective, time frame, budget, stakeholders, project implementing agency and ministry, activities and expected outcome of the project, type and name of the fund etc. were studied. Urban areas of Bangladesh have been selected as a study area to achieve first and second objective while to achieve third objective, five study areas (DNCC, DSCC, Mongla Port municipality, Feni municipality and Bauphal municipality) have been selected based on allocation of completed climate fund projects and vulnerability of the urban areas. Secondary data from different sources were collected on climate change induced drought, flood, storm surge inundation, salinity intrusion, temperature rise and excessive precipitation, climate fund projects, national and international policy documents etc. In addition, Key Informant Interview (KII) and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) have been conducted in the selected urban areas and different Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools have been used to understand local people’s view regarding the impacts of climate change induced hazards and their linkage with the projects under climate funds. Among, 703 climate fund projects until 2019, only 245 projects have been taken in urban areas under Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCTF), Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF), Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Global Environment Facility (GEF) Trust Fund with total fund of around 5,729 crore BDT. Around 50% of the total fund is allocated to address climate change impacts in Dhaka division. There are 121 urban areas without any climate fund project. The analysis of the urban area climate fund projects in the light of different national and international plans and policies showed that most of the climate fund projects in urban areas addressed infrastructural development. The projects under BCCTF in municipalities addressing waterlogging failed to solve the problem due to lack of proper maintenance of the drains, irregular cleaning, uncovered drains, solid waste dumping, lack of well-connected drains etc. The recommendations of this research are to increase allocation of climate fund projects to address all type of climate change induced hazards in the vulnerable urban areas. The upgradation and formulation of national plans and policies should also put more focus on the impact of climate change induced hazards in the urban areas. The urban area climate fund project objectives and outcomes should not only address the issue of infrastructural development but also other strategies suggested in the national and international plans and policies. Local people need to be consulted in all phases of project planning to have better understanding of local dimensions of climate induced hazards. The findings of this research would help the policy makers, planners, engineers and other stakeholders to identify the most vulnerable urban areas facing different climate change induced hazards along with the need of climate fund allocation in those areas.
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    Study on changes of open spaces in selected goverment housing projects in Dhaka in terms of size, use, acess and facilities
    (Department of Urban and Regional planning, 2022-10-14) Banu, Laila Arzumand; Islam, Dr.Ishrat
    Open space provides an array of social, health, economic and environmental benefits to individuals and the community as a whole.Open space is an essential ingredient for enhancing the livability of an area and improving the quality of life of its residents. Since 1959, the government has developed about 18 housing projects under the Site and Service Scheme in Dhaka. As a basic element of the neighborhood, open spaces were part of these housings. Planning documents of different cities follow specific standards for open spaces.There is no planning standard of open spaces for government housingprojects though prevailed private land development rules in Dhaka. The stock of open space is found to be declining in Dhaka during the last 20 yearsby unplanned construction and encroachment. Many parks and playgrounds have already been grabbed by governmental and non-governmental organizations. This research is aimed to study the size and type of open spaces in the approved master plan and their present condition in the selected government housing projects. Also, it finds out their changes in term of size, use, access and availability of facilities and identifies the factors responsible for changes of selected open spaces. Parks and playgrounds of three government housing projects among 18 are selected for this research. Selected projects are i)Housing Estate at Mohammadpur, ii)Uttara Model Town (sector one to four) and iii) Khilgaon rehabilitation project. Secondary data is collected from government housing provider and maintenance authorities of the study areas and literature review. Primary data is collected with direct observation using an observation checklist, Focus Group Discussion with users of open spaces and Key Informant Interview with representatives of concerned authorities and inhabitants of housing. In the approved master plan, neighbourhood areas were well served by the number, size and type of open spaces. Number of open spaces as well as area of open spaces were reduced and some parks were converted into playgrounds over the time. The present physical, environmental and maintenance condition of playgrounds are not so suitable for play. Lack of grass, uneven ground, noise, dust, lack of proper cleaning of playground and toilet, lack of lighting at night are problems in using active and passively of playgrounds. Parks were designed and suitable for use though there are some maintenance problems and restriction for user were imposed by scheduling of time. In most cases, losses in number and reduction in size of open spaces are found due to full and partial encroachment by workshop, shops, rickshaw garage, club house , school for disabilities, Urban Primary Health Care Project building, water pump etc. Playgrounds are used for active and passively recreation and parks are used for passive recreation. The uses of playgrounds are interrupted by encroached buildings.Proximity and lack of alternative open space are the two vital reasons for using these playgrounds and parks though some problems are there.Though buffer area of accessibility in study areas covered all areas of Housing Estate at Mohammadpur and Uttara Model Town but actual physical distance is quite high in reality. There are other prevailing factors that obstruct the use of outdoorplay and recreation facilities are location, layout type, maintenance of open spaces etc. Lack of security, poor maintenance and inadequate facilities and playaccessories are the main reasons for fewer uses in these playgrounds and parks. Conversion and encroachment have occurred with the involvement of the maintenance authorities and influence of local leaders. Lack of proper management, maintenance, accountability and transparency of maintenance authorities are responsible for changes in number, size, use, access and lack of facilities of playgrounds and parks. The amount of open space per person is reducing inversely with population growth in Dhaka City. So, it is very necessary to protect playgrounds and parks in Dhaka. To protect the existing playground and parks in housing areas, the list and the open space mapping should be publicly available and impose an immediate embargo. Encroached open spaces should be revived and more facilitated with play and recreational facilities to attract more users; safety, security and cleanliness should be ensured. User participation planning and management are necessary for proper management and maintenance of playgrounds and parks in government housing areas. Also necessary to provide policy support to priorities play and recreation.