High-rise residential development in Dhaka city: evolution of the new form

Abstract

The h~h-rise residential development in Dhakacity ls a phenomenon that has been changing the skyline of the city for over a decade and a haif. Dhak.ahils a kmg tradition of urbanization _and urban dwellings. The new form has been an outtome of a long graduai process where the oontext and its ch~nging forces played an importont role in its course of making. The study probes into these contextual backgrounds of this evolving fot1Tlto identify the gradual process of transfot1Tlation of this development. Therefore the continuity between the developments of the past and the present has been thoroughly investigated and links between oontextual forces and the formal deveiopment has been established. The study shows that the high-rise residential development in Dhaka City is very much ~n outtome of the need of our oontext and time; further analysis of the built fot1Tlreveais that the very organizational aspects of the bUilt fot1Tlhas evolved from the past developments of the urban residential fot1Tlsof Dhaka city. Though it is rooted to the past forms and organiUltion, the sheer VOlumeof this new form also has other dimensions unp~rallei to any old forms. It is simultaneously a bUlit form and a neighbourhood. This new dimenSion of the fot1Tlhas also been focused on this study. The form again, from its very initiation till date, has been subjected to various forces; and changed had occurred even within its decade old existence. The Inner organization of the fot1Tlof high-rise residential development has, therefore, been subject of investigation, which led to a classification of this development. The study can also be considered as a documentation of some urban reSidential forms in Dhaka's context. The gUidelines established in the process may help future studies In this field. The inner vitality of the high-rise residential built fot1Tlhas made It phenomenal in our context, which if dealt wIth oomprehension, can be a new solution to our need for dwellings in Dhakacity.