Graduate Thesis

harnessing vulnerabilities resource management strategies for enduring livability Dhaka, Bangladesh

Tamanna Tiku August 2018

This Advanced Report of Tamanna Tiku titled ‘Harnessing Vulnerabilities: Resource Management strategies for Enduring Livability’ is approved by:

JOHN ELLIS

Lecturer - City and Regional Planning

GHIGO DI TOMMASO

Lecturer - Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning

CHRISTOPHER CALOTT

Chair - Real Estate Development, Architecture and Urbanism; Associate Professor - Architecture

Thesis Chair

Advisor

Advisor

The student graduated with the Masters of Urban design from the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley in the year 2018.

BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION

In 2010, 33% of the world’s urban population was living in slums.

By 2030, a quarter of the entire world’s population will be leading the life of urban squatters.

According to these statistics from a UN Habitat report* from 2014, our cities are growing at unprecedented rates. Employment opportunities are growingly getting concentrated in urban centers. Given the pressures of galloping population, climate change, widespread farm-distress, and rising aspirations, more people from the rural outbacks of the world are migrating to urban locations to escape endemic poverty and in search of better prospects.

It is no surprise then, that the current spate of urbanization that the world is witnessing is chaotic and unsustainable. Most new cities and urban centers, having grown way beyond their carrying capacity, are plagued by spectacular infrastructural deficiencies and unavailability of basic amenities for a majority of the new migrants who live on the margins of the society. These disempowered populations – often significant contributors to the urban economy - are invariably condemned to live on litigious and encroached plots of land within the cities that are highly unfit for human settlement.

Dhaka, as one of the world’s largest and densest megacities, houses 18 million people within 118 square miles. Known as one the most climate resilient cities, it is also the capital of one of the most climate change vulnerable countries. Bangladesh occurs at the heart of the world’s most fertile and dynamic delta. Dhaka is located at the confluence of Bangladesh’s 3 largest rivers which add value to its neighboring agricultural lands. It is a city of water - surrounded by 6 rivers on the east and west and a khal on the north - it is criss-crossed by 35 canals which contribute to its unique urban morphology.

Bangladesh is so familiar with flooding that it has classified its floods into 6 types and has even learned how to celebrate and cope with some of them. In its short history, despite being so prone to natural disasters, it has become the world’s 2nd largest producer of rice and the largest consumer of clean electricity in the form of solar panels. Bangladeshis have historically proven to be a nation of actors by adapting to cyclones in the rural areas by building safe cyclone-shelters and developing flood-proof rice typologies to feed themselves. This thesis will investigate if these locally suitable solutions in the rural setting, can be adapted to respond to the challenges of flooding in the urban setting.

Korail is a core-slum in Dhaka, at the heart of the city and its socio-economic extremes. It is home to a 100,000 people living within 70 acres of very precious public land. Through social mobility and community organizing, the residents have built an intimate and dense urban fabric, that is easily traversable within a 5 minute walking radius and generates an anthropomorphic scale that encourages a strong sense of community. However, it faces the threats of destruction and decay that are caused not only through natural events like floods, but also through abundant resource-mismanagement in the forms of poor electricity connections, waterlogging, the lack of drainage and the lack of waste management.

The goal of this project is to update local and low-tech innovations to ensure a resilient city fabric that isn’t unduly prone to inundation, generates employment for the urban poor and garners a sense of pride within the residents.

33% of Dhaka’s population currently lives in informal settlements.

Megacities like Dhaka have to acknowledge that the bottom of the pyramid is only growing. To ensure sustainable growth, the cities have to pay attention to socio-economic stability, instead of dislocating the urban poor in the pursuit of multinational cyber-parks.

Frameworks must be set in place for the security and livability of the vulnerable.

* A Practical Guide to Designing, Planning, and Executing Citywide Slum Upgrading Programmes, UN Habitat, 2014

CONTENTS 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

where who why what when how

History, morphology and relevant urban conditions of Dhaka

05-15

Residents, stakeholders and streetlife of Korail

16-23

Identified landscape and infrastructural challenges

24-33

Scope, strategies and scales of intervention for Korail

34-41

Phasing schemes for implementable designs

42-45

Design suggestions to convert Korail into a sponge for Dhaka

46-67

1.

where

context + morphology

Source: BRAC

5

WHY DHAKA?

33%

of Dhaka’s population lives in informal settlements.

Source: The Financial Express Source: www.medium.com

CAPITAL

of one of the world’s most climate-change vulnerable countries 6

THRIVING METROPOLIS

Dhaka is a mega-city of 18 million people. It is the second densest city in the world and is full of academic and political institutions, owing to its national capital status.

Source: www.observerbd.com

Source: www.education.microsoft.com

Source: www.dhakatribune.com

7

INDIA BANGLADESH DHAKA

INDIA

INDIA

BAY OF BENGAL 0 mi

300 mi

8

KORAIL

DHAKA

0 mi

5 mi

9

CLIMATE For context, rainfall as well as temperatures in Dhaka are about double as those in San Francisco.

AVERAGE RAINFALL + AVERAGE RAINY DAYS

MEAN SUNSHINE HOURS

AVERAGE TEMPERATURES

Dhaka

84.5 inches 105 days

2400 hours

30.6 deg C 21.5 deg C

San Francisco

23.7 inches 73 days

3000 hours

17.7 deg C 10.4 deg C 10

HISTORIC GROWTH Dhaka Metropolitan Area

Dhaka was one of the most of the densest cities in the world, even 400 years ago. It was born on the edges of the Buriganga river and grew over time through the Mughal era, the British era, the Pakistan era, and finally the post 1971 era.

1947-1971

Pakistan Era

BANGLADESH

GREATER DHAKA DISTRICT

17th Century

Mughal Era

1757-1947

British Era

Pre-17th Century BURIGANGA RIVER 11

CITY OF WATER

Dhaka is naturally blessed with fertile floodplains crisscrossed by 35 canals, many lakes and ample greens that contribute to a unique urban morphology.

BANGLADESH

GREATER DHAKA DISTRICT

12

WETLAND COVER

1978

The declining wetland-cover of Dhaka has reduced the city’s ability to absorb its increasing rainfall leading to increasingly dangerous flooding events.

1988

1998

13

WETLAND COVER

2008 The declining wetland-cover of Dhaka has reduced the city’s ability to absorb its increasing rainfall leading to increasingly dangerous flooding events.

BANGLADESH

GREATER DHAKA DISTRICT

14

Most of the city’s fresh water sources are either dead or unusable from residential as well as industrial waste. Thus, the basin is completely dependent on ground water sources.

GROUND WATER DEPENDENCE

87% drinking water from ground water.

627 tube wells.

17% from 3 major surface treatment plant

Lake

River

River

Top Soil Production Wells Aquifer 1 Aquitard 2

Aquifer 2

Aquitard 3

Over-Exploited ground water sources.

Aquifer 3 and 4

2.5m per year drop in recent years!

15

2.

who

residents + stakeholders

ADJACENCIES GULSHAN

70 acres 100,000 people

5 min

utes

LAKE BANANI

KORAIL Source: VOA News Source: Jonas Bendiksen

Source: BRAC Blog

17

PERPETUAL CYCLE OF LOSS

INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS

DHAKA

Source: The Guardian

CLIMATE CHANGE

HIGH RENTS

Source: www.floodlist.com

Source: www.dhakatribune.com

Source: University of Waterloo

TIDAL VILLAGES

DISEASES + DECAY

VULNERABLE URBAN AREAS

18

ACTIVE ECONOMY

The streetscapes of Korail are bustling with commercial and social activities as well as ongoing construction.

The products on display range from food to hardware - all necessary commodities for a self-sufficient and functional city.

19

STREET + RETAIL + WOMEN

Women play a central part in Korail’s social as well as commercial landscape - just as they do in Bangladesh’s social mobility movements.

20

PUBLIC FACILITIES

Albeit carrying the label of an informal settlement, Korail functions through a variety of semi-formal and formal institutions that are led by community activists and non-profit organizations. These range from schools and day-cares to banks and community-lenders. Based on their funding, their spatial form ranges from tin rooms to brick and mortar buildings.

21

Having access to various services, including utility, health and education, does not seem to be issue for the people in Korail. Overall about 99 percent of the respondents have access to water, gas, and electricity, about 88 percent have access to medical services, and about 84 percent have access to educational facilities.

INFRASTRUCTURE

ELECTRICITY

WATER

GAS

22

“About 14 percent of the respondent answered that they were well involved with political parties. About 3 percent did not want to comment on this. While 82 percent said they did not have any involvement with political parties.�

CURRENT STAKEHOLDER STRUCTURE

GAS

CITY

WATER

POLITICAL SUPPORT

ELECTRICITY

GAS

Source: 1.1

WATER

ELECTRICITY

RENT

INTERMEDIARIES

RESIDENTS

Korail occurs at the heart of the city - it is a piece of very precious public land that is currently inhabited by residents who are obliged to pay their rents to intermediaries who have established illegitimate control over the land. The intermediaries have political clout within the city because of which both the city and the residents are held hostage by their land control.

Often, they buy water, electricity and gas from the city and sell it to the residents at high profit margins - making these resources unattainable for the residents and the land valueless for the city.

This has encouraged the city to conceive cyber-hubs and MNC parks at the site - a strategy that would displace the 100,000 residents all at once.

23

3.

why challenges

“About 31 % of all respondents said that they were severely ill during the last two years. Among the victims, 52 percent said that they were severely ill and about 9 percent said that some from their family was severely ill in the last two years.�

Source: 1.1

Source: Google Earth

2001

25

Source: Google Earth

2003

26

Source: Google Earth

2006

27

Source: Google Earth

2011

28

Source: Google Earth

2018

29

Korail is extremely prone to fires caused due to electrical short-circuits or gas leakages. Fires are known to occur even 5-6 times a year. In the large image, we see the spread of an exceedingly green character of the settlement. This occurs because the tin structures burnt during fires are replaced by green tin structures.

FIRE

Source: The Daily Star

Source: The Daily Star

Source: The Daily Star

30

WATER LOGGING

While flooding affects the settlement once every 4-6 years, water-logging is a health and safety hazard that is common for over a hundred days every year in Korail due to the lack of a drainage infrastructure. 70% of this water is roof run-off.

31

LIGHT + AIR

The impervious tin structures - often equipped with windows made of tin as well - along with the dense urban fabric, limit the residents’ access to air and light within their living units. Visiting homes within Korail, I noticed children feeling choked in their homes merely by the steam of their own rice.

32

WASTE (MIS)MANAGEMENT

Solid waste is at once the largest health hazard and one of the most valuable resources for Korail. While most open areas within Korail - large or small - become dump-yards for household waste, it has also historically been used by the residents as landfill to extend the territory of their settlement over the Banani Lake.

33

4.

what

strategies + scope + scales

Water and waste are in enough abundance within Korail as well as the city of Dhaka in order to enable functional and profitable economies that utilize their potential.

INFRASTRUCTURAL SOLUTIONS WATER

LIGHT

The issues caused by fire and lack of air and light can be addressed through block-scale interventions.

FIRE

AIR

EARTH

BLOCK SCALE INTERVENTIONS ECONOMIES 35

DEVELOPING ECONOMIES

IRRIGATION

REPLENISHING LAKE

WATER ECONOMY

REGION SCALE The ever-depleting ground water levels of Dhaka and the pollution of the neighboring Banani Lake can be addressed by utilizing rainwater at a regional scale. At a block scale, rain water can be used for irrigation and processing drinking water in certain key locations in the settlement.

GROUND WATER

BLOCK SCALE

DRINKING WATER

WASTE ECONOMY 4000 tonnes of household waste is generated in Dhaka every day. Some waste collection activities take place within Korail already. By streamlining these collection facilities and sorting the waste at the block scale, a process of recycling the waste into profitable entities can be facilitated. The recycled form of waste would be either in the form of landscape infrastructure or new products like previous pavers that will transform all of Korail into a sponge.

NEW PRODUCTS

COLLECTING

SORTING

RECYCLING

LANDSCAPE INFRASTRUCTURE

BLOCK SCALE

REGION SCALE

36

APPROACH 3 Scales

REGION

SETTLEMENT

BLOCK

37

PROPOSED STAKEHOLDER STRUCTURE INTERMEDIARIES

BUSINESS MODELS

To incentivize the preservation of Korail, the public land would have to be made profitable for the city. This will involve the restructuring of the stakeholder relationship.

GAS

WATER

EMPLOYMENT

ELECTRICITY

This thesis proposes the streamlining of the transactions of rent and amenities (gas, water and electricity) so that they occur directly between the government and the residents. This will require an initial phase of surveys and legal paperwork, but will ensure temporary land-security for the tenants who currently face the fears of evictions and rent-hikes at the whims of the intermediaries.

But, the intermediaries are a central part of Korail’s economy and generate enough political clout that they cannot be entirely removed from the equation. Within this project, they will be provided valuable plots of land within the urban fabric, where they will be permitted to conduct business models - predominantly based on the waste economy - where higher density housing will also be built. Here, more Korail residents will be housed - paying rents directly to the intermediaries and contributing to the construction process themselves.

CITY

RESIDENTS

RENT

This will be an incentive for the intermediaries to legitimize their businesses, while relinquishing control of Korail’s land.

The residents, then, will become the front-runners in the establishment of a new water as well as waste economy within Korail. This framework can be adopted throughout other informal settlements and slums in Dhaka as well.

WATER ECONOMY

WASTE ECONOMY 38

REGIONAL APPROACH

The most affluent neighborhood of Dhaka - Gulshan - occurs in the same administrative ward of the city as Korail. This project proposes the dredging of lake Banani and Lake Gulshan so as to facilitate the flow of the water southward, at the event of a flood. There might even be some underground drainage facilitated between the two wetland parks of Gulshan, to direct overflowing waters into the lakes.

This dredge, along with solid waste collected within the settlement will be used for the construction of a productive and natural levee for Korail, and in the future for the entire region.

KORAIL

LAKE BANANI

GULSHAN

WETLAND PARK

LAKE GULSHAN

39

SETTLEMENT SCALE 1. Existing Condition

2. Units identified for removal for the re-opening of the channel

3. Construction of a resilient and productive edge

4. Identified nodes for new businesses and higher density housing - led and owned by the local intermediaries

5. Developing each intersection as a sponge and a lung for Korail - replenishing ground water and providing public open space

6. Developing the key streets connecting the nodes - so as to facilitate drainage to the Banani Lake

7. Identifying a street loop for better pedestrian and emergency access providing a street at the edge so as to connect neighboring key streets

8. Building ground floor production and retail spaces at the nodes 40

HIGHER DENSITY RESIDENCES

9. Upstairs, higher density housing is proposed. The units respond to the existing anthropomorphic scale of the urban fabric and face the newly proposed open public spaces.

The nodes are developed over time so as to not dislocate many households all at once, but accommodate the dislocated households from their surrounding nodes.

41

5.

when

phasing + relocation

Existing settlement scale

Existing land-use pattern and identified active nodes

Identified nodes of intervention

Proposed interventions

43

SEQUENCE TRAINING + RETAIL

RECYCLE WORKSHOPS

NEW GATEWAY

RECYCLE WORKSHOPS

EDUCATION + COMMUNITY

NEW GATEWAY

RECYCLE WORKSHOPS

TRAINING + RETAIL

Phase 1: Gateways and Recycle Workshops

Phase 2: Interior nodes for Training, Retail and Community Institutions

Identified units to be removed

Phase 3: Reopened channel and Community Institutions

TRAINING + RETAIL

RECYCLE WORKSHOPS

EDUCATION + COMMUNITY

SORTING + COMMUNITY

CRAFTS + RETAIL

TRAINING + RETAIL

44

MASTERPLAN

45

6.

how

design + tools

EDGE TREATMENT

Existing edge condition: Units approaching Lake Banani, which is full of solid waste all the way down to the base of the lake.

Proposed edge condition: The new edge is built with raw material from the dredging and the solid waste. A new street and a promenade - for higher pedestrian and vehicular access, and the opportunity for pond dyke farming as well as a natural edge leading to the base of the lake.

Retaining Wall Promenade Rainwater Processing

New Street (Backfill from Solid Waste)

Levee (Built from Solid Waste)

Pond Dyke Farming Water Processing System

Vegetation

47

EXISTING SCENARIO

48

SCENARIO 1 Levee

49

SCENARIO 2 Levee + Core + Pond Dyke Farming + Lake Access

Source: www.bluegoldbd.org

50

SCENARIO 3 Levee + Core + Pond Dyke Farming

Source: Krishi Jagran

51

EMERGENCY + PEDESTRIAN ACCESS TO EDGE

52

EXISTING EDGE

53

DEVELOPING NODES Existing intersection-types identified as nodes

Newly introduced lungs and sponges

Newly introduced built-form 54

SPONGES + LUNGS

55

EXISTING BLOCK

56

PROPOSED NODE

57

BUILDING TYPES 1. The buildings are constructed with brick - a material that can be carried into the city on rikshaws.

2. The units are equipped with bamboo sheets.

Bamboo is a cheap material to craft and is amply available in Bangladesh (23 types available) and is often used in rural areas.

3. Bangladesh is also the world’s largest consumer of solar panels. This can be utilized to equip Korail with a cleaner source of electricity.

4. The memory of the tin units can be acknowledged with tin roofs in the new developments.

5. There are various vernacular water-retention units and techniques that can be used as permanent placeholders.

58

COMMUNITY: MAKING + CLEANING

The current place-lessness is modified into a space of pride

59

OTHER INTERIOR IMPROVEMENTS

Besides the modified nodes, this project proposes minor alterations throughout the fabric that can make the residents more selfsufficient and urban fabric more livable.

60

SELECTIVE DE-CLUTTERING FOR AIR AND LIGHT Some units that are smaller than 15 m sq. in plan are selectively removed for better ventilation within the fabric.

This makes newer ground - made of various pervious materials - which makes room for new amenities.

61

NEW AMENITIES

Lungs Water Containers Solid Waste Containers 62

STREET SCALE

63

KEY STREETS

OLD STREETSCAPES After the major developments, to keep the waste-economy going, Korail could adopt inter-locking pavers as a means of modifying Korail’s streetscapes into sponges. This will not only keep the waste economy in motion, but also replenish the ground water economy.

This will also aid the redoing of the drainage and sewer systems in some of the key streets and the renovations can be scaled according to the feasibility of the key public places, active streets and narrow alleys.

KEY PUBLIC PLACE

WASTE ECONOMY

NEW PRODUCTS

COLLECTING

SORTING

RECYCLING

LANDSCAPE INFRASTRUCTURE

BLOCK SCALE

REGION SCALE

ALLEY

64

KEY STREETS

NEW STREETSCAPES

KEY PUBLIC PLACE

ALLEY

65

Source: Jonas Bendiksen

66

Thus, through resilient infrastructural developments at the edge and within the fabric, Korail’s relationship with water can be transformed from that of decay and disease, to that of mobility, productivity and economic empowerment.

67

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project would not have been possible without the generous contribution of various Dhaka residents - intellectuals, experts and locals - who aided a graduate student’s understanding of their city unconditionally during the holy month of Ramadan.

First and foremost, Mohammad Najmul Rony, who is a resident of Korail, an employee at BRAC and a 14 year old school goer, who took us through the fabric of Korail for hours - knocked on doors to let us in and helped us conduct interviews on the street. The women and children of Korail that he introduced us to, welcomed us into their homes and helped us gauge gender-roles and community structures within the settlement.

Profesor Shayer Ghafur at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) helped me understand the politics of resources in Korail, the structure of political power and the residents’ capacity for community organization. He said, “Their upward mobility has not been debilitated by their residential conditions.”

Lalbagh Fort, May 2018 National Assembly of Bangladesh, May 2018

Dr. Apurba Podder at BUET spoke about the temporal nature of a settlement of the scale of Korail and the drastic effects of top-down efforts that are often conducted at sites of this scope.

Mr Gawher Nayeem Wahra from the Foundation for Disaster Forum spoke to me at length about Korail’s struggle with not only flooding events but also the constant threats of fire and the lack of access to air and light. He put into perspective vernacular interventions for cleaner electricity and rain water harvesting and the potential for the socialization of water.

Ms Abonee Ishita Alam, a community architect at the World Bank, spoke of of the inherent organizational capacity of Bangladeshis - despite challenges in the form of governance and climate change. She provoked me to explore housing finance mechanisms that have not been explored yet.

Mr Aminul Kawser Dipu, a Field Coordination Specialist at one of the world’s largest refugee settlements in Cox’s Bazaar, facilitated my meetings with many of the above mentioned experts and welcomed us into his home, as his family prayed and broke their fast for the day.

Thank you all for your kindness towards a stranger, despite the constraints of time, rain and traffic.

68

SOURCES

Lalbagh Fort, May 2018

BUET Campus, May 2018 Monipuriara, May 2018

References: • Parenti, Christian. Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence. New York: Nation Books, 2012.

• Roy, Manoj, Joseph Hanlon, and David Hulme. Bangladesh Confronts Climate Change: Keeping Our Heads above Water. London: Anthem Press, an Imprint of Wimbledon Publishing, 2016.

• UN Habitat. A Practical Guide to Designing, Planning, and Executing Citywide Slum Upgrading Programmes: United Nations Human Settlements Programme 2014.

• Jui Nigudkar. Sustainable slum rehabilitation in Mumbai, India: Introducting Mumbai to energy efficient and sustainable slum rehabilitation: University of Auckland, 2016.

• Liza Weinstein. The durable slum : Dharavi and the right to stay put in globalizing Mumbai: University of Minnesota Press, 2014.

Maps, building footprints, public place distribution: • Open Street Maps • www.bbbike.com

Photographs:

Page 7:

• BRAC

• www.observerbd.com www.education.microsoft. com • www.dhakatribune.com

Page 6:

Page 17:

Page 5:

• The Financial Times • www.medium.com

• VOA News • Jonas Bendiksen • BRAC Blog

Page 18:

• The Guardian • www.floodlist.com www.dhakatribune.com • University of Waterloo

Pages 25-29: • Google Earth

Page30:

Historic Maps: • Google Earth

Page 50:

• www.bluegoldbd.org

Page 51:

• Krishi Jagran

Page 66:

• Jonas Bendiksen

• The Daily Star 69

VISIT

Koyla Ghat, May 2018

I visited Dhaka with my father in the rainy month of May and the holy month of Ramadan in 2018. We walked through settlements, drove through various neighborhoods and visited public places. Every morning we would wake up to drenched but bustling streets and every day at dusk, the streets would get quiet for a couple of hours while people observed their Ramadan prayers. Through affluent villas, middle class apartments and tin houses, we found common threads of dignity and aspiration. Dhaka is growing.

70

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Masters of Urban Design, College of Environmental Design, UC Berkeley

Class of 2018

72