Study on the morphological transformation and the emerged built-forms along Gulshan avenue, Dhaka

Abstract

Dhaka, a mega-city is one of the oidest major cities in South Asia. Outing the past decades, due to a range of complex, inter-related forces of urbanization and major demographic changes with economic, social and technological modernization, the city have experienced a rapid and drllIllatic transtonnation in its basic organization of urban form. This structural change in its original form may be attributed to the spatial shift of centra! city functions, intensive restructuring of land use and land value. The planned residential areas are prominently affected by this process. Originally conceived and designed for the high income and middle income group of the society, the serene environment of these residential areas are gradually disrupted by the inva~ion of commercial functions, more intensely observed along some of the major connecting routes of the city. This process of transfonnation further continued to affect the physical attributes of the urban fonn by bringing incremental changes in plot configuration and built-fonns with an increa~ed density, Gulshan residential area faces such a transfonnation specially along Golshan Avenue. Land usc restructuring and intensilication along this road manifest a complex dynamic system of continuous change. This study is focused on the functional and physical analysis of the process of morphological transfonnation that is reflected by the changing spatial patterns of activity locations, land use intensity and land values along Oulshan Avenue. The findings will show that along Gulshan AvClloo the fundamental physical elements of urban morphology are continuously affected by this process of transformation. And this phenomenon reflects that the location of this urban area within the city and its subsequent evolution pattern have contributed to the organization of distinctive functional activities along this road. The concentration ohuch activities enhanced the importance of this area and transfonned the economic base of this area. Thus the unique pattern of morphological transformation observed along Gulshan Avenue is witnessed through the emergence of a commercial sub-centre in this area.