Socio-Spatial Aspects of Organic and Planned Dhaka: The Sense of Community and Communal Resilience are Embedded in the Indigenous Settlement Pattern

Abstract

The culture and lifestyle of the people of any city are critically developed over time to meet basic human needs such as shelter, security, social bonding, and well-being. In that regard, from the observation of morphological growth and the living history of rapidly growing cities, a shift in urban texture can be highlighted. This change in city fabric has a domino effect, resulting in (1) an image crisis of the city, (2) a loss of cultural lifestyle and community coherence, and (3) psychological disorder (intensive criminal tendency, paranoia, heavy stress, anger, impatience). This paper discusses the morphological transformation and its impact on the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka, which has witnessed the submerged imprints of different socio-cultural, geo-climatic, political, and economic influences. This paper focuses on the interplay of social life and spatial elements in the residential setting of Dhaka city, which paved the way for social bonding and communal resilience. Understanding the socio-spatial aspects (i.e., space flow, functional distribution, unit of the community, etc.) of the settlement of the indigenous core of Dhaka, which can guide the current and future pattern of city planning, is the expected outcome of this paper.