A Quest for Urban Social Spaces

Dibbendu Saha

Social activities are contained in space, which shape the human behaviour and other social variables. People organize their daily activities according to the connotation of the space in their mind, which is very important. Thus city differs largely because of different construction of its spatial environment which also entails some images to everyone lives in it. Settlement spaces which define the spatial organization of society are associated with the cultural, political, social and economic features of the correlated mode of societal organization.
Researches indicate that the urbanization process in Dhaka is not a disjointed phenomenon; rather it is a matter of political dissection with close connection with the global capitalist system. The historical segregation of Old Dhaka and New Dhaka is nourished for centuries through the urbanization process running in favour of the capitalist mode of development. The popular belief depicts old Dhaka as a ‘crisis’ with extremely high population density, poor housing, insufficient infrastructure, unplanned construction, increasing environmental pollution and of course collapse in governance. Hence there is urgent need of revitalization. However, some other studies indicate that in spite of the existing problems the spatial organization and consumption pattern is highly structured.
This research is intended to explore the generation of urban social spaces in the Old Dhaka and eastern fringe area and analyze the quality of the generated spaces with respect to the political economy of the society and urban ecological environment. It is also endeavoured to explore the hidden dynamics of the urbanisms to establish the urban spatial code for revitalization.