Assessing Walkability of Planned and Historical Streetscape of Urban Dhaka

Abstract

Urban mobility is one of the pressing challenges Dhaka City facing today. Existing car based mobility network has already proven ineffective and thus leads to congestion, inequity and unhealthy urban environment. Even though largest portion of city population travels by walk, pedestrian mobilityhas been severely compromised especially in newly planned residential areas. Streets here are planned considering automobile as a primary mode of transport; a comfortable setting of walkable streets is almost nonexistent. However, the historic core of the city is an exception where streets are seen dominated by the pedestrian. The paper presents a comparative study of the walkability between planned (Bashundhara R/A) and historic (Shakhari bazar) urban area while taking into account the importance of active mobility for a healthy urban development. The study starts with reviewing theoretical constructs of ‘pedestrian-friendly community development’ while looking into case studies and urban standards in order to synthesize ‘walkability’ matrices. Multiple tools are used to measure walkability of the street. Maps are studied to analyze the physical context of selected urban area, scientific tools are used to collect site specific microclimatic data, observation and questionnaire surveys are conducted to understand user’s response. The aim is to formulate a checklist of walkable streetscape in the context of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The study identifies the physical (height width ratio, vegetation, water features, orientation) and functional attributes (location of amenities, infrastructure, safety) of street fabric has strongimpact on improving walkability.