Reminiscing the Roots

Due to rapid urbanization, the relationship between humans and nature is getting detached each passing day. The needs are rising, the resources are shrinking, and problems are increasing; but the solutions are getting limited to materialistic approaches. The city of Chattogram was once a vibrant hub of history, heritage, culture, and trade and was also close to nature. Over the recent years, the city has faced massive degradation due to unplanned development, it is losing its identity as well as its heritage, culture, and integration with nature. The topographical location and the oldest histories of Chattogram mark the  Karnaphuli river as a significant water edge for the city. The ancient canal routes and their majestic interconnecting network emphasize the oldest relation between water and the people. Over the years, the city's demand for open spaces has increased, but the scope has decreased alarmingly. On the other hand, the existing unplanned practices are getting more and more threatening to human life and nature. This thesis highlights to introduce sustainable and innovative ideas from a site-specific perspective, where a forgotten riverfront has a high potential to serve as a recreational and commercial hub for not just the neighborhood, but also the city. Introducing a water-sensitive urban design as a nature-based solution to uncontrolled growth and pollution creating a scope to revive the blue infrastructure of the city and connecting it to the people were the primary concerns here. Creating an illusion of the past by building the image of the city to bring a sense of identity among the people and achieve a responsive essence is another major objective of the thesis. Improving and preserving the resources, making the best use of them, and using public participation to conserve nature was a leap toward a healthy, resilient, and water-friendly city. 

The major research issues were, 

• How to make the best use of the unused, misused and underused spaces in the waterfront. 
• How to introduce sustainable and water-sensitive approaches to architecture and urban design. 
• How to improve the quality of the green-blue infrastructure and reconnect that with the people. 

This design introduces the concepts of ‘responsiveness’ in a contextual manner in a historically significant place. The images of the city are picked from the existing morphology of architecture to make the design more appropriate and identifiable, as a flashback of the past. 

On the other hand, water management and sustainable urban planning ensure a long-term improvement of the hydro-ecological significance of the area. The architectural measures show scopes of positive coexistence with the waterfront, and public participation to preserve nature. The measures to improve water quality, such as rhyzofiltration, using oxygenating plant species in the water channels, bio-swales, uninterrupted water flow, and regulations to maintain a minimum width of the canals as 40’ and a minimum depth of 10’ ensure sustainable water management of the blue network. This can also contribute to solving the water logging issue due to urban flood in Chattogram. The improvement of water quality can be measured by the return of Hilsa and Ganges River dolphins in the Karnaphuli river as indicators. 

The calculations show a possibility of 14,81,600 sqft area of plantation whereas the present condition has only 3,04,777 sqft planted area. Designing a protected ecological park with controlled human access adds to the hydro-ecological value of the site area. 

A constructed ecology is proposed on the site as a biophilic approach, where there is no existing vegetation or significant ecosystem. A set of targeted fauna is also considered according to the proposed flora. This will add to the visual richness of the area through different colors and fragrances in different seasons. This will also help with water quality control and provide abundant habitats for different species. 

Accessibility is a major barrier to the site area in the present condition. Designing walkable connectivity through various modes and levels of mobility makes the design more permeable and accessible to the users. Reintroducing water transport for recreational and transportation in business sectors was a major decision. This enhances accessibility and keeps the canal network active and maintained. 

The degradable wastes produced in the site area are proposed to be included in a circular waste management system to support the organic farming along the riverbank. 

Moreover, the robustness of the space can encourage the users to engage in various healthy activities, enhancing their physical and mental health. 

This thesis constantly focuses on the comprehensive development of the area, not only in a sustainable way but also in preserving its cultural and historical significance. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) along with highlighting a contextual hierarchy of architectural attributes has been the major challenge during the process. Although the outcome of the thesis gives the hope of introducing a sensible water-sensitive approach to waterfront design in the context of Bangladesh.