Keywords

1 Introduction

1.1 Background

A city is a place where people get fascinated by its availability of resources and different opportunities for earning a livelihood. The healthy development of physical, intellectual, emotional, and social aspects depends on the hierarchy of open space contributing to the quality of life (Mowla 2005, Farida 2010). For a densified city like Dhaka, where every year more than 300,000 additional inhabitants have to be accommodated, it is hard-hitting to meet demand. (Hackenbroch 2013). The living condition in Dhaka is getting compromised making no sense of space, which is resulting in a lack of social interaction, environmental dereliction, and the cities into a concrete jungle (Hackenbroch 2013). In the path of involuntary life, public spaces play a central role in the creation of inclusive communities with enriched cultural diversity (Low et al. 2005). Unfortunately, for developing countries, with the name of security and maintenance, access to public space has been personalized ignoring issues of equity and justice (Fitzgibbons and Mitchell 2019).

By the year 2050, metropolises will be accommodating more than 66% of the world population (UN 2014), considering such circumstances, city governance for mega cities like Dhaka will be more challenging. Without emphasizing social conditions harmonizing the city’s living standard, productivity will decline in the multilevel gated community (Islam 2015). Lack of interaction makes people impassive, and scarcity of land is overtaking the open spaces; thus, through reviewing primary and secondary sources, the paper analyzes several scholarly arguments on the term social inclusion and interaction and the impact of public space; articulates several interventions on policy planning implementation utilizing existing resources.

1.2 Aim and Objectives

This paper focuses on the urban-built environment and the importance of socially just civic space and interaction between its user groups. It aims to create a framework for the efficient use of underutilized space to be included at the policy level stating the significance of social inclusion on the socio-economic development of the city. This will also reflect how public–private partnerships can work on bringing out more accessible spaces for diverse community through small interventions and tactical urbanism with an incremental impact.

1.3 Methodology

The paper reviews scholarly secondary data to establish the relationship between informal urbanism, interactive space-making, and their impact on micro- to macro-scale. With primary data from a questionnaire survey, site study, several mapping with operationalizing Jane Jacobs’s urban analysis method, and interviews with expert stakeholders, the research was conducted in Gulshan, a residential area turned into commercial business district of capital Dhaka to identify potential roles of interactive spaces within the built fabric to mitigate social segregation.

2 Literature Review

2.1 Tactical Urbanism and Inclusive City

Tactical urbanism is defined by quick, often low-cost, and creative community-driven initiatives by activists, planners, and policymakers seeking to drive toward sustainable cities as a powerful tool for urban transformation (Lydon and Garcia 2015). The notion of tactical urbanism as a bottom-up process starts with the involvement of multilevel stakeholders and public participants, overpowering the bureaucratic top-down process. (Alisdairi 2014). With rapid urbanization, this has become an effective tool for all inhabitants to participate in the use and shaping of all urban space creating a sense of ownership among them. (Purcell 2008).

Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, is currently in the 11th position and will reach 6th by 2030 (UN 2014) in terms of the gradual increase of city population having 44,100 people per square kilometer. In attempts to make cities more livable, it is important to empower citizens as change agents to trigger solution-driven, collective action (Hou 2010). Through the planning-by-doing approach, citizen interaction, attention to perceived shortcomings, widen citizen engagement, and develop a deeper understanding of people’s priorities can be achieved. Such interventions are typically low-cost and can contribute to civic pride, belongingness, and stewardship (Elrahman 2016).

With the rapid growth of the economy and perception of social status through the social hierarchy, the system of exclusion and gap between citizens is increasing as a product of modern capitalist society (Low and Smith 2006). In this divided city, minorities and unempowered groups have no place in participating or upholding human and citizen rights and liberties. The impact of social isolation on the tangible and the intangible aspects aggravates inequalities and discrimination and paves the way for the stratification of the population. (UN-HABITAT 2008). Through tactical urbanism of citizen participation, the right to the city can be established for deeper restructuring of social relations and missing interaction. (Harvey 2012; Hintjens and Kurian 2019). The urban theorist Henri Lefebvre conceptualized the right to the city as the right to access, use, and enjoy the city and fully participate in the production of urban space (Levebvre 1996, 2003). In response to diversity and the importance of accepting and respecting it, the concept of “inclusion” has been developed. (El-Din and El-Zafarany 2018).

According to the UN-HABITAT in their report on the state of the world’s cities 2012/2013, equity and social inclusion integrated with quality of life enhance environmental sustainability, productivity, and infrastructure toward city prosperity (UN-HABITAT 2012). The Open Working Group’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals 8, 10, 11, and 16 all refer to inclusion in the creation of a sustainable inclusive urban future (UN 2014).

2.2 Social Interaction over Isolation

With the rapid increase in global urban population, cities have been increasing in size and density and more than half the world’s population is living in urban environments (UN-HABITAT 2012). Within the rigid structures of a consumerist society, due to its scale and excess of the city, the significance of personal interactions between the inhabitants is becoming more elusive. (El-Din and El-Zafarany 2018). Socially excluded individuals are more susceptible to various types of mental health problems and depression is at the top (Vichealth Mental Health and Wellbeing Unit 2005). A sense of belongingness and inclusive and diversified supportive relationships are important factors of well-being and healthy behavior patterns (Wilkinson 2003).

Though until the 1970s Marxist and critical approaches to social inequities had mostly ignored the role of space, social interactions and pursuits have been established as an integral part of the community’s well-being (El-Din and El-Zafarany 2018). The spatial aspect of the public realm offers opportunities for a wide range of interactions with nature as well as others, limiting social segregation and creating opportunities for self and community identity expression (Region 2010) where the society reinvents itself. Such open spaces create a scope of interaction within the city as they have a great influence on both physical and psychological health, social development, and community ownership to make a stronger bond with the city and people leading to better living conditions (Shaftoe 2008).

2.3 Diversity and Homogeneity of Public Realm

The diversity of users of the public space determines its contribution to society which is considered along many aspects such as gender and sexuality, ethnicity, culture and faith, socio-economic class, age groups, capability, and political expression. In 2011, UN-HABITAT and Project for Public Spaces (PPS) signed a cooperative agreement to harness the ability of public space for transforming cities for common good. A healthy public realm promotes democracy and diverse community cohesiveness creating opportunities where people meet and the city takes shape (El-Din and El-Zafarany 2018). Public places, as participatory landscapes, are considered to be one of the most effective means to perform particular social interactions (Barbui ca 2012; Sennette 1974). The aspects chosen by Anholt fall within the spectrum of the public realm and are considered both the reflection and the driver of happiness, inclusion, diversity, and well-being in cities. (The 10 Happiest Cities in The World 2013). Communal diversity is directly related to the interaction between different types of people (Stutter 2017).

The spontaneous development of spatial strategies in the current status of society compelled to ensure that people meet only the desired group members of their same class, domain, or background. In the composition of interrelated heterogeneous networks, this homogeneity is hindering cities’ inclusive growth and specifically in the public realm. (Grimaldi and Sulis 2009). The presence of security, both active and passive, is an overt feature of public spaces dominated by the user group, and it has been reported repeatedly that one of the major reasons for crime in Dhaka city is the lack of proper and adequate recreational facilities (Siddique 1991: 315) where social inclusion, as a promotional element, is considered to be essential to reduce poverty and improve well-being (Oxoby 2009).

2.4 Transformation of Public Places of Dhaka: Past to Present

Urban civic space plays the primary role of “urban collector” in the current process of re-imagining urbanity in the global arena (Ravazzoli and Torricelli 2017). Dhaka city has gone through different sociocultural changes which can be traced through its settlement pattern over time. Along with this physical and morphological conversion of Dhaka City through different ages, characteristics and patterns of public places also have undergone major changes (Nilufar 1997). Under three different periods of time indigenous, colonial and post-colonial times, most of the changes were significant (Figs. 12.1 and 12.2).

Fig. 12.1
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(Source Habib, “The post-Colonial Public spaces and Cultural Diversity”)

Change of social interactive spaces throughout the time 2005

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Fig. 12.2
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(Source Detailed Area Planning, DAP)

Built area coverage

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Indigenous Public Place

Old Dhaka from the pre-Mughal period had been developed through an intuitive approach where people of Dhaka inherited the habit of socialization at outdoor places from the very beginning. This led to the formation of traditional places such as—gali (streets), morh (node), mahalla (neighborhood), and chowk (market square) (Mowla 2003). According to Mawla, the important characteristic of the indigenous pattern of urban fabric was winding the irregular and intricate street networks directed toward the market square. Streets were not mere sidewalks or just a place to pass through, but a space for interaction and accommodating the extension of family activities. To some extent, their significance was more than as a civic space rather than as a path. This indigenous urban typology, as an interactive thoroughfare, brought a massive change in social, political, religious, and cultural demands and became the regional identity and matter of pride for the users. (Mashrur Rahman Mishu 2014).

Colonial Public Place

Since 1757, British rule forced a great impact on the settlement pattern, whereas the previous traditional urban spaces had a strong sense of enclosure, roads, and plots divided the land during the new colonial layouts (Siddiqua 2011). New houses were being built within the plots in a bungalow pattern with individual private spaces as administrative wards for the authority only. The indigenous pattern was covered with more functions, and users, on the other hand, colonial typology features a formal street pattern, segregation of functional areas, and the repetition of similar features (Mowla 2003).

Present public space

In the last few decades, the social groups on the higher power spectrum are creating protected enclaves, in housing and work, as well as leisure spaces due to the susceptible feeling of fear (El-din and El-Zafarany 2018). People at present are more home-bound and, thereby, has changed into a more individuated, self-centered, and mechanical society in turn (Nilufar 1997). Higher demand for land, overpopulation, and managing the increase of vehicular traffic with failed policies has changed the city formation to satisfy the needs of a motorized population and capitalist group. Ignoring the significance of public places and their essence toward interaction, diversity, and exchange, streets have become “spaces for cars” and urban spaces “spaces for parking” (Davis 1990; Newman and Kenworthy 1999; Mitchell 1995; Sennett 1992).

In the old part of the city toward the south, there is only 5% open space while in new development toward the north Dhaka has 12% of open green. The total amount of open spaces in greater Dhaka is about 17–18%, and the total stock of public open spaces is hardly over 5000 acres (Mowla 2011).

Plot-based urban development and government’s focus on the infrastructure development only overseeing the current demand of civic quality of life is creating a sharp difference between social livability and the built environment. Restaurants are being only source of social civic offering, and a large group of community is missing out the quality-of-life lacking publicness of space (Fig. 12.3).

Fig. 12.3
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Major existing open spaces of Dhaka city (Source (Habib 2010))

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3 Study on The Turning CBD, Gulshan

3.1 Survey- Documentation Method and Approach

Space and place are intrinsic parts of our being in the world having healing capacity and the creation of memory (Athill 2010). These open interactive public spaces around the world have four key qualities: accessible; people are engaged in activities there; the space is comfortable and has a good image; and finally, it is a sociable place: where people meet each other and take people when they come to visit (Roushan 2013). As a study, the Gulshan area was selected having multiple user groups for mixed-use purposes, which converted into an important commercial business district along with the fusion of residential units. The primary focus of the study was to identify potential spaces for tactical urban space-making and creating interactive space. The study indicated that this district consists of 50% residential, 20% commercial, and 12% diplomatic area coverage. The rest 18% consists of open spaces like parks, lakes, and slums which have limited accessibility.

The conventional and unconventional survey helps to understand the city fabrics, accessibility, co-dependent districts, building use, and urban voids. A questionnaire survey brought out the user group of the area with income range, age, thoughts, and expectations of the user group. Counting onsite hard mobility (motorized vehicle) and soft mobility (pedestrian and bicycle) helps to determine the user flow pattern, access, and hierarchy of publicness of different spaces (Figs. 12.4 and 12.5).

Fig. 12.4
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(Source Author)

Study map, Gulshan

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Fig. 12.5
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(Source Author)

Three districts, Banani, Gulshan, Badda and Established Public spaces at Gulshan

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Three districts share a symbiotic relationship where culinary culture is strongly established as a means to the social gathering. Parks are mostly used by a specific user of the adjacent homogenous residents of the neighborhood. Gulshan is rapidly turning into CBD due to its geographic location on the new Dhaka, social and economic status, and the increasing demand for commercial space, where entertainment is perceived on occasional visits to numerous restaurants, cafe, and hotels, facilitating one class of people (Figs. 12.6 and 12.7).

Fig. 12.6
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(Source Author)

Three reasons behind CBD formation

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Fig. 12.7
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(Source Author)

Survey data on neighborhood quality and opportunities

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Despite having multiple entertainment facilities like park, shopping center, and rich culinary, a certain class of people access these facilities. The parks have time-based public accessibility but have restrictions and specific dress code. Moreover, the formal approach of design to these facilities creates agitation to middle and lower income group of people questing their belongingness and identity to the certain built environment.

3.2 Focus of the Study

Social interaction depends (Mawla 2008) on accessibility where a good range of mobility foster the creation of more sustainable public spaces (Gehl et al. 2006; PPS 2014b). The primary data were collected along the movement of the user group to identify how the social interaction works within the context of established public space, pedestrians, parks, in-between spaces of buildings, government property, and streets (Fig. 12.8).

Fig. 12.8
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(Source Author)

Opportunities and constrains within the potential social space

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3.3 Primary Finding

Working on some key points of physical and virtual space can bring back the identity of the interactive spaces. The “shared space” is a concept that was devised to attempt to include the different groups of pedestrians in the vehicular flow (Joyce 2012; Hamilton-Baillie 2008). Different districts of the city have a connection through Gulshan, where most of the districts serve Gulshan being the commercial business district. Although the study initially focused on the connecting path between two important landmarks and nodes, Gulshan 1 and 2, the study indicated a more promising and strong existing connection between the secondary nodes/edges of the three districts (Fig. 12.9).

Fig. 12.9
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(Source Author)

User enforced alternative pedestrian connection between districts

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The pedestrian flow through this secondary connection are four times higher than the established connection between primary landmarks (Fig. 12.11). Diverse people use this walkway as an interchange between districts and interestingly, followed by an adjacent walkway of four open spaces with civic character (Fig. 12.13). The study directed the project into the negotiation and policymaking on the success of this transitional path by rejuvenating the urban civics spaces, the engaging connectors between its inhabitants creating scope for an interactive and shared society.

The pedestrian linkage between the three interdependent districts has been ignored due to the informal urban social character of the connecting nodes. The human flow follows these public or semipublic spaces which offers a larger scope of interaction.

Policies need to be revisited to accommodate the need of user group and to incorporate these underutilized spaces into tactical urban innovations to offer more public spaces (Fig. 12.10).

Fig. 12.10
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(Source Author)

Simplified diagram of connections and accessibility

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Fig. 12.11
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(Source Author)

Accessibility between interdependent districts

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The connecting path adjacent to the open spaces are social resources that can be use in urban transformation. People tend to follow open space rather than walk side by a wall, and this established pathway can be used as assets to fill in the urban void to interactive spaces through tactical urbanism (Fig. 12.12).

Fig. 12.12
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(Source Author)

Simplified sectional diagram of connections and accessibility

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Fig. 12.13
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(Source Author)

Opportunities with five underutilized/self-indulge urban resources

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The districts are connected through vehicular roads separated by two lakes and lack proper pedestrian connections where the movement of people is four times higher through this secondary connection than the primary road. Pedestrian connection should be established to enrich socio-economical values and to create ownership with improved neighborhood quality, social amenities, and activity space.

Five urban-built elements (Fig. 12.13) were discovered in the transition having potential civic quality and to work as an anchor to enhance community identity and social interactive space (Figs. 12.14, 12.15 and 12.16).

Fig. 12.14
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(Source Author)

Use map of the existing fabric

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Fig. 12.15
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(Source Author)

Activity map

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Fig. 12.16
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(Source Author)

Pedestrian route

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3.4 Constellation of Urban Pockets and Their Accessibility

The extensive study and gathered data on user activity patterns, communication routes, and social behavior and widen citizen engagement have directed the project to the realization of a deeper understanding of people’s priorities with a much-needed connection between three major interdependent urban districts, Banani, Gulshan, and Badda. With a priority of none vehicular movement and commute pattern of mass people, five underutilized yet high-potential spaces as the urban connector was identified to initiate the negotiation on the inter- and intra-relation of the elements of the civic, urban-, and landscape-built environment.

Banani 11 no bridge

Banani 11 no bridge is the secondary connection linking Gulshan and Banani itself. One side of the bridge is covered with trees on the government land, which leads to the most active culinary street of the capital being the primary social hub, and another side is the residence and mixed-use building backing the lake with negative spaces in the setback. The bridge offers civic quality space for the adjacent neighborhood having different vending and entertainment (Fig. 12.17).

Fig. 12.17
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(Source Author)

Layers at the node, Banani 11 no bridge

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Gulshan Central Mosque

The mosque is maintained under Gulshan society having a large setback from the adjacent vehicular road. With a grilled boundary barrier, the setback offers a lot of green for the passerby. People mostly use the mosque premises during five times payer, and the front field is used for sports by the students in the evenings.

Rajuk Park and Youth Club

Rajuk park previously designed as an amusement park and recently converted into a society park offers a space for multilevel users. Kids from adjacent low-income community play different sports, while the children from upper and upper middle class use the club for recreation and sports.

Badda Jhilpar Bridge

Badda Jhilpar is most used secondary entrance with pedestrian linkage between North Badda and Gulshan. Illegal informal urban vendors occupy the bridge congesting it, as well as serve on a large-scale vegetable and food supply satisfying daily need of the adjacent neighborhood (Fig. 12.18).

Fig. 12.18
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(Source Author)

Layers of the node at Badda Jhilpar

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4 Idea Development and Conceptualization

4.1 Urban Voids and the Negotiation of Threshold

The integration of underutilized urban voids and public spaces, social programmers and economic activities can increase the use of the new public spaces, making the programmers and activities inclusive and accessible. In this sense, public spaces are intended to accommodate a wide range of social functions. Interconnected road networks are also considered important to integrate informal urban elements with their surrounding areas (Yanliu 2016). Civic facilities are public parks and plazas; sidewalks and main streets; community centers and public buildings; commercial establishments such as coffee shops, pubs, and diners; private establishments with public functions such as airports and malls; cyber-civic space; households, temples, and schools; and insurgent spaces—spaces of protest such as government buildings, corporate headquarters, and public squares (Douglass 2002: 353). Negotiating the threshold of urban voids and including them in policy and governance can create a scope for tactical urban intervention where citizens can actively participate in the development process for a developing country like Dhaka, where space is considered a luxury (Figs. 12.19 and 12.20).

Fig. 12.19
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(Source Author)

Identify and increase social activities incorporating urban resources

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Fig. 12.20
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(Source Author)

Impact on the wider linkage through activity and inclusion

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4.2 Right to Access and Informality

The paper analyzes urban informality as an “organizing logic” results in a specific mode of the production of space and thus in continuously changing spatiality of power. Based on the analysis of negotiations of access arrangements to public space at one specific locality, informality can be conceptualized as part of a triad of interwoven “spaces,” where filters like time, use and access can be a tool of assessment (Kaikobad 2017). This analytical framework is intended to contribute to an understanding of how accessibility and use rights of public space are established in the megacity of Dhaka (Fig. 12.21).

Fig. 12.21
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(Source Author)

Connectivity and access to resources

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4.3 Social Activators of Tactical Urbanism

Pathway

Streets and pathways are considered the backbone and main reservoir of public interactive space and social exchange. (Lydon and Garcia 2015). Tactical urbanism includes various approaches, which point out interim activation initiatives of different property types, developed and undeveloped spaces with micro-scale approaches with retail, arts, and recreation (Elrahman 2016).

Diverse Social Performance

Creating the scope of festivals is one of the established ways of creating relations between users from different domains, classes, cultures, and ethnicities (Pineda 2022). Public spaces play a central role in the creation of inclusive communities and more specifically, in the formation of public culture and in enriching cultural diversity (Ravazzoli and Torricelli 2017). An important aspect of creating an inclusive city that accommodates and respects diversity is the public policies focused on that aspect and the official bodies responsible for upholding those policies, especially in the public realm (El-Din and El-Zafarany 2018).

Urban Pop Space

Cities are exposed to natural processes and anthropogenic perturbations where the ever-changing notions often contain vacant, derelict, and negative spaces. This is considered an inevitable byproduct of urban development processes in the context of political, economic, and industrial circumstances. (Kim and Kim 2012; Németh and Langhorst 2014). Such spaces are most likely to occur adjacent to transitional areas between different morphological patterns of urban districts. This integral part of the contemporary city has the potential short- and long-term contribution to tactical urban innovation (Narandžić and Ljubojević 2022).

Access and Mobility

Urban mobility has the potential to create livable cities and better public space (Ravazzoli and Torricelli 2017). According to a report published by the EU, “a sustainable city must have attractive open public spaces and promote sustainable, inclusive and healthy mobility [..]” (European Union Regional Policy 2011). Rebalancing the relationship between public spaces, streets, and urban mobility through the integrated use of spaces and multiple means of movement, the reestablishment of social civil quality can be achieved (Ravazzoli, and Torricelli 2017).

Context and Champions

The description of Sigrid Reiter (2004) on three dimensions of public spaces such as coherence, co-existence, and contextuality refers to the idea of a collaborative bottom-up approach of urban space-making. Coherence refers to the degree to which public spaces become places enriched with a collective identification. Co-existence denotes the ability of public places to favor the gathering of differences; and contextuality refers to the integration of public spaces into the local context.

Potential champions and allies’ initiatives including academia, professional organizations, and government agencies need to be established in the policy, design, and implementation. Assessment of transformative activities through a collaborative process will identify features through prompt community initiative and temporary installations to establish social interaction and identify problems. These tactical citizen-driven interventions can also test-drive ideas for developing localized spaces/activities through short-term action but with implications in the long term.

5 Conclusion

At the livability of Dhaka city, it has become imperative to develop an adequate amount of quality public places, especially at the time when public realm is under challenge. Social interaction is the foundation of social networks, and all kinds of social relationships and community engagements are essential to achieve social sustainability (Bramley 2009). Interactive and inclusive civic spaces trigger a sense of responsibility among citizens with higher social capital. Addressing informal urbanism and increased accessibility of shared resources in policy and planning creates an opportunity to enhance communal and social bonding in the emerging built environment (Kaikobad 2018). The quality open spaces in the city are the crucial driving force for culture and creativity with a sustainable social connection. Through tactical and context-specific urban intervention, minor changes and minimal design with inclusive programming can stimulate momentum for constant and persistent development of space-making and spatial justice.

Heterogeneity is the main theme of a healthy society, addressing diversity in the public realm is a right to all members of the society without discrimination and is a must for a shared society (Ravazzoli and Torricelli 2017). Policy must be revisited to address the multilayered use of potential urban spaces with an incentive-based public and private relationship to ensure inclusivity of space-making. The user-oriented decision-making process must include marginalized groups of society. Planners of the cities need to execute extensive research across the vast spectrum of diversity in society before laying plans and designs. While design is a nonlinear process to address contextual contemporary needs, the top-down conventional urban planning is influencing social segregation. This research will further investigate the symbiotic relationship of contextual urban-built environment with the adjacent community, and its influence on the behavioral pattern of its users for urban rejuvenation through contextual approach.