Open AccessTRANSFORMATION PROPENSITY IN LOW INCOME HOUSING: THE CONTINUING STORY OF THE VASTUHARA IN DHAKA
Author(s) -
K. Taufiq Elahi,
Md. Shahidul Ameen
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of research in architecture and planning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2519-5050
pISSN - 1728-7715
DOI - 10.53700/jrap1322012_3
Subject(s) - government (linguistics) , real estate , transformative learning , phenomenon , stock (firearms) , business , private sector , estate , economic growth , economics , sociology , engineering , finance , pedagogy , philosophy , linguistics , physics , quantum mechanics , mechanical engineering
Dhaka, the nation’s capital, has a diverse range of extremities in its general socio‐economic composition. For the last few decades, the imprints of such a distinctive but composite juxtaposition have become evident through the physical and cultural bearings of its housing industry. In a broader spectrum, the overall housing divide can be identified under two opposing categories – the formal and the informal sectors. With the government agencies out of the scene as the key provider in the housing stock, the formal sector is primarily dependent on numerous real‐estate organizations and private entrepreneurs. The informal sector, on the other hand, is left to survive on its own – in conditions beyond human justification, but growing steadily to meet the demands of its urban machinery and economic whirlpool. This paper reveals the tale of the Vastuhara resettlement scheme for the urban poor that stand out as a bright and optimistic example in transformative propensity where some catalectic efforts by the government and its associated donor agencies have turned out to be a spontaneous phenomenon of social and economical advancement. Various sections of this text will portray a timescape of almost 40 years or so, assessing and addressing to various architectural details, which acted as the contributing factors in its overall process of development. Keywords: Transformation, Low income housing, Urban poor, Vastuhara resettlement scheme, User‐behavior phenomena