VISION 2030 FOR CHAWKBAZAR

North South University, Department of Architecture, Dhaka

Project idea

Because of rapid urbanization, Dhaka city is becoming unhabitable day by day. Chawkbazar developed through many socio-economic and structural changes over the years. Unplanned development over the years creates various problems. Old Dhaka is developing day by day, Old Dhaka gradually lost its heritage buildings and old legacy. Centralization and unplanned development gradually destroyed Old Dhaka's history and urban fabric. The tradition of Old Dhaka is slowly being destroyed by unplanned development. Chawkbazar standing at the beginning of the next phase of development. This is high time to think anew about Chawkbazar. Chawkbazar is nowadays one of the major wholesale business areas of Dhaka city. Chawkbazar wholesale market serves a large wholesale supplier of jewelry and undergarments products. Local businessmen store products from small industries or large wholesalers then they sell them to local retailers and other towns wholesalers(fig12). There are 400-500 shops here according to the president of ''Chawkbazar Dokan Malik Shomity''. There are 395 plots in 1.48acres of land it becomes a congested place and complex ownership pattern. Local owners are currently thinking, that they could use their land as a residential mixed-use development. They are now interested in building a residential mixed-use building with 4-5 owner sharing their land.
An interview between an owner (reluctant to name) and author.
Owners are thinking about their future developments which are taking place towards another unplanned development in near future Chawkbazar is directly influenced by shop owners and local powerful corrupt.
The planned development is necessary for local people and neighborhoods to create such an interactive development for this historical marketplace.

Project description

VISION 2030 FOR CHAWKBAZAR
Chawkbazar is historically the heart of Dhaka city. Chawkbazar was established along with Dhaka from birth when Man Singh established a Mughal fort in the place of the present central jail in 1602. The Chawkbazar was first developed as an open marketplace beside the fort gradually its importance increased when Islam Khan Chisti transferred the capital of “Subah Bangla” to Dhaka in 1610. During the Mughal reign. In 1702 Nawab Murshid Kuli Khan modernized the Chawk and turned it into a luxurious marketplace and named it "Badshahi Bazar". Initially, Chawkbazar was transformed into the CBD of Mughal Dhaka, Chawkbazar has changed its form a lot over time. The changes in structural conditions and socio-economic aspects have gone through a gradual change in the Built form of Chawk Bazaar. Old Dhaka is developing day by day, Old Dhaka gradually lost its heritage buildings and old legacy. Centralization and unplanned development gradually destroyed Old Dhaka's history and urban fabric. The tradition of Old Dhaka is slowly being destroyed by unplanned development. Nowadays Chawkbazar is an overcrowded wholesale market. At present Chawkbazar is plagued with various problems such as overpopulation, traffic congestion, environmental hazard, risky buildings and Illegal land possessions. Chawkbazar standing at the beginning of the next phase of development. This is high time to think anew about
Chawkbazar. In this Project, the Idea is to create a safe and habitable marketplace for its users and neighborhood. The primary goal of this project is to preserve the historical legacy, and socio-economic activity and built it as a habitable wholesale market with proper accommodations. There are 395 individual plots located in this area. The first building of Chawk was built-in 1947, locally known as the ‘Jahaji building’ (now demolished) located on the southern side of this site. Chawkbazar could be a wholesale commercial complex that can be built in phase-wise development which gives guidance in creating a public gathering-friendly marketplace. The strategy that has been taken on this project, focuses on minimum demolition and resettlement issues. In this process, the sites have been determined based on the high density of one and two-story buildings. 19% of the building will be demolished for road widening purposes and resettled with newly developed 30% buildings and the existing 51% of the building will be preserved. Minimum resettlement and self-developing strategy make this process more acceptable for its owners and users. For this complex running market, this strategy will work as a base plan for future development. Chawkbazar is a running marketplace, millions of takas worth of business are done here every day. A large-scale development can be detrimental to the market so phase-wise development could be a possibility for this running marketplace. The "Jahaji baris" site will be used as an opportunity here. Temporary resettlement and rebuilt systems will provide traders with accommodation and will make arrangements to compensate for the loss. Owners, sellers and customers are the main priority of this project and also create an urban gathering platform for old Dhaka residents. The project has been taken forward keeping in view the socio-economic culture and economic prosperity of the future.

Technical information

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