A comparative analysis of assessing the quality of the urban pedestrian environment in Dhaka using syntactic and statistical methods

Abstract

Urban pedestrian environments rank among the most frequent public spaces, playing a vital role in enhancing urban liveability. In Dhaka, the rapid growth seen over recent decades has resulted in the city’s streetscape increasingly losing its lively, mixed-use essence, shifting mainly towards being just traffic routes. This research underscores the pressing need to evaluate the quality of Dhaka’s pedestrian environment and streetscape to protect its distinctive character before further decline occurs. A mixed method approach is adopted here, such as syntactic analysis, questionnaire surveys, and physical observations, especially focusing on two selected roads in Dhaka. Techniques like Space Syntax and SPSS statistical analysis are employed to quantify spatial data and evaluate user perceptions accordingly regarding current streetscape features with a direct observation for validating the results. Through this integrated approach, the relationship between spatial configuration and spatial quality is closely examined. The findings reveal that combining these methodologies offers a novel and effective avenue for obtaining thorough and trustworthy results when measuring the quality of urban public spaces. Moreover, it shows that interactions between the physical environment and user perceptions significantly influence urban streetscape quality, presenting crucial insights for reimagining Dhaka as a more pedestrian-friendly city.