Post-development evaluation of user's satisfaction on lakefront in Dhanmondi neighbourhood

Abstract

In an increasingly globalized world ,emphasis on attracting investment, talent and tourists has resulted in similar iconic urban landscapes inthe cities. Notion of place making in the form of place marketing in scales ranging from local to global and professional interventions in the label of international style in architecture, urban design and planning domain in one hand and demographic shifts, neo-liberal market economy, changes in the world view, lifestyle and perception among users on the other hand have transformed the urban landscape and the public realm across cities irrespective of the territoriality and regional character.This has increased concerns on the reduction or complete loss of local identity across end-users. A precious resource and public asset, the urban waterfronts in different scale and typology are crucial to shaping the city image. Urban neighbourhood lakes and associated public place are valuable assets for the neighbourhood residents. Professional interventions in terms of development in these waterfronts often produce superficially pleasant environment, without considering the need of its users. An in-depth investigation reveals the reasons behind this gap between the designer’s objective in transforming the waterfront environment and end-user’s place perceptionand behavioural response towards it. This research aims to evaluate the professional interventions on lakefront in Dhanmondiresidential neighbourhood in Dhaka through neighbourhood resident’s satisfaction in terms of behavioural response towards it. This also explores the notion of place making at varied scale, theories of place attachment, local identity, place identity and identity process in interdisciplinary fields to conceptualize a holistic understanding of urban neighbourhood lakefront redevelopment. It investigates the impact of transforming the lakefront environment on environment-behaviour relationship of the neighbourhood residents attached to that particular environment. It defines local identity as one type of place identity and explores the key aspects that foster local identity in waterfront development. Case study method has been applied for the study and Environment-Behaviour Study(EBS) approach has been adopted for data collection from the specific case conjointly using environment behaviour observation ,physical traces, focused interviews and standardized questionnaires. A case study is conducted by analysing the key design aspects in Dhanmondilakefront developmentwhich has such specific qualities, context and maturity for evaluation. Finding of the study reveals that the residents’ satisfaction level towards the post-development environmental condition is significantly lower compared to their pre-development satisfaction level. The redevelopment has disrupted the sense of place and sense of local identity of the neighbourhood residents. However, the changed environment seems to have elevated the sense of pride and prestige of the residents, though its relationship with the development could not be fully ascertained.