Thursday, March 27, 2008

LANDSCAPE city scale (work in progress)


Only the topography has to be added and the ponds will have to be updated when everybody finished his tracing job and send it to me.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

landscape layer city scale (work in progress)


STRATEGIC PROJECTS




having discussion with the other groups few potential sites were identified and more details about them would start to get integrated.
the first image shows the different sites with images but wasnt clear to convey the idea and so the second image differentiating between the various categories like the productive, non-productive or green pockets which i thought would show few connections or relations between them and essential distance from the centre to the peripheral parts of the city.

INFRASTRUCTURE


URBANISATION


1915

more than 200 years ago...

Friday, March 14, 2008

productive entities (first example)

The above posted scheme is the start of a flow chart of activities related to the shrimp business. We (Devangi and Sahdia) have related the direct and supporting activities as they occur in Khulna and simultaneously we have looked at the flow on the national level (e.g. transport).

This chart will be completed by adding a drawing of the regional and local flow of goods as well as the persons involved in the process (men, woman and children, settlements).

The aim is to develop similar charts for jute, brick, wholesale/ retail… related activities.

Comments/suggestions are welcome.

hydrology ...

First week post


The first image is the startup of the regional scale analysis and intervention proposal with for now the mapping of infrastructure (train, highway, airports and harbours) and basic urbanization. This is one part of a collaboration with Sabina who has created the basic hydrology, land/water map (along with other information). The layers still need to be merged, but this will be done when the layers we each work on are completed. The colours used here are a proposal of what the colours could be, cmyk used here is: land: 64,49,83,43, water: 98, 75, 48, 48. Please respond to these colours and send Sabina or me proposals for testing other coulour combinations, we can test them on the files and show them. These coulours are in my favourite because of the capability of using both black and white on the basic land layer, even a third colour (i was testing redish) could be used maybe for urbanization, for now urbanization is a white transparant layer that makes grey-ish result, which is quite nice i think... So please give feedback on the colours, thank you.

The second image is the part of urbanization that i'm working on, on scale put on the map, but here put next to one another. It is a mere informational gathering of city urbanization thoughout Bangladesh, but nice to see the sizes of the cities in comparison, also to Kolkota.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Khulna Railroad redevelopment plan





Here are our photographs of the RailRoad Company redevelopment plan for the railyards in Khulna North of Barabazar.

In white you see wterbodies, green commercial functions, red new housing for employees and black existing construction.

You can copy higher resolutions images from my hard drive on Monday.

Khulna Studio Midterm review: provisional schedule and tasks

Included the list we discussed yesterday, please make changes according to the evolution of the work.

9.00-9.15 introduction to jurors 

9.15-9.30 fieldwork synthesis by students 

9.30-10.15 reading the city (3 scales -- greater Khulna, city, potential strategic sites)

discussion 
+ break 

11.30-12.15 urban visions (and scenarios) 
+ identification of potential strategic projects 

discussion 
+ lunch 

16.00 water debate

for tasks to be done (in small groups?) 

1.fieldwork synthesis -- best of presented & re-working of land logics & river logics 

2.regional mapping / projections 
(incl. airports, sea port...)
3.khulna mapping -- river (erosion/sediment, etc.) / infrastructure (including rr) / settlement/ KDA masterplan analysis / regional masterplanning
4.productive entities and relation to settlement types -- mapping/diagramming 

a. rice farms / rice mills
b. jute mills 

c. shrimp farms
d. brick factories
e. warehousing / whole-saling 


5.'traditional / indigenous' spatial structures
a. ghat
b. maidan
c. masjid 

d. bul
e. otla 


6.vision making at regional / city scale 

7.strategic project identification at regional / city scale 

8.stakeholder analysis ... new coalitions

Monday, March 10, 2008

Juteplant



The jute plant grows six to ten feet in height. It has no branches. The stem of the jute plant is covered with thick bark and it contains the fibre. Jute is harvested in the rainy season in Bangladesh and grows best in a warm and humid climate, the plants grow up and then they are cut, tied up in bundles and kept under water for fermentation for several days. Thus the stems rot and the fibres from the bark become loose. Then the cultivators pull of the fibres from the bark and wash the fibres very carefully, dry them in the sun and put them in bundles for sale. Jute grows well in moist and swampy lands. Bangladesh has plenty of low lands that go under water during rainy season. Eighty percent of the world's high quality jute grows in Bangladesh.

Living with Water: Bangladesh since Ancient Times

Ahmed Kamal

Numerous rivers and canals, including the major river systems of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and the Meghna and 230 smaller rivers totalling 55,000 kilometers in length meander over the vast alluvial plain of Bangladesh. In addition, tiny mountain streams, winding seasonal creeks, lakes and ponds, swamps and marshes complete the water bodies of Bangladesh.

General slope of country – south-south-east – avg. two feet per mile.
Sediments – 1.6 to 2.2 billion metric tons annually – delta area of 60,000 km2.
Average annual rainfall – 150 to 500 cm.
Agriculture and irrigation dependent almost entirely on annual rainfall.

ANCIENT PERIOD (4th cent BC – 12th cent AD)
Construction of canals – for irrigation
Maintenance of canals, tanks – community responsibility
System of overflow irrigation of the Ganges used by early Bengal kings:

CANALS
- Canals were broad and shallow, carrying overflow water of river floods, rich in fine clay and free of coarse sand.
- Canals were long and continuous, fairly parallel to each other, and spaced out to allow irrigation.
- Irrigation performed by cuts in the banks of the canals, which were closed when the floods were over.
- Red silt from upland canals were distributed by overflow over wide areas to create fertile land for traditional rice monoculture.


SULTANATE PERIOD + MUGHAL PERIOD (13th – 16th cent AD)
Respect for ancient method of canals.
Rulers built series of embankments and bridges to protect their cities and capital from flooding and becoming waterlogged.
Grand Trunk Road – 150 miles long, built with multiple purposes of flood control, irrigation, communication and military manoeuvres
Large parts of southern Bengal came under cultivation due to flood control dafter (law). Husbandry developed to a great extent due to these initiatives.
Great importance given to regular maintenance of bridges, roads, embankments and other water works
Onus on zamindars (landowners) to ensure regular maintenance of water works. Organisational structure for building and repairing water works was of a hierarchical nature.

TANKS
Special interest towards building of tanks
Tanks believed to be the most suitable method for managing flood and irrigation. Tanks contained water during the rainy season and supplied water for irrigation during the dry season.
Banks of tanks used for village settlement above flood level.
Land used for digging tanks was rent-free.
Excavation of tanks was recognised as a deed of piety and was often associated with religious ceremonies.

MUGHAL PERIOD
Mughal technology of flood and irrigation management concentrated more on the distribution of waters through arteries of planned canals and embankments between the great rivers, than the digging of deep tanks.
Water was controlled and made available to husbandmen through a maze of channels.
River dredging introduced.
Mughal provincial government maintained independent pulbandi dafter (public works department). Varieties of taxes levied to for various public works.
Eg. Tolls on users of rivers; inter-district trading boats, tolls used for improvement and maintenance of hats and bazaars and river system.

SYNTHESIS
Pre-colonial regimes singled out agriculture as the basis of their power. Therefore high priority was given to water management and all possible measures taken to improve husbandry and protect crops from preventable natural calamities. Roads, embankments, bridges and canals were constructed with a view to achieving proper preservation and distribution of water in a region of floods and droughts.

COLONIAL PERIOD (1757 – 1947)
Ignorance of traditional relation and dependence of water systems
New land ownership systems fixed land revenue in perpetuity and aimed at developing private ownership of land – dissociated ownership from actual use of land. Gap created between zamindars and cultivators
Zamindars were mostly absentees – had no interest in development of land – hence investment lacking in water management sector.
Revenue charged on making of tanks. Burdened the primary land cultivator, Tank building activity completely stopped
No respect or perpetuation of traditional water management systems. Constant annual flooding begins.
Introduction of railways further aggravated flooding.


POST-COLONIAL PERIOD (1947 on)
Long neglect of river systems – waterlogging, drainage, salinity, silting up of river beds and canals, sudden change in course of rivers prevalent condition in Bengal
Taking stock of conditions of rivers, rivulets, canals, marshes, ditches and drains – several canals silted up, rivers dead
Local floods leading to loss of annual crop loss – aggravating food shortage in country
Salinity .in coastal Khulna rivers – needed urgent embankment measures.
Neglect over time of water management caused several problems – embankments, reservoirs and tanks declined. Rivers were allowed to become silted. Chars (small islands) were never removed. Works left to the mercy of nature. Cumulative result was frequent flooding.

GOVERNMENT MEASURES
Heavy dependence on international aid
Large scale infrastructure projects such as road building carried out over measures to correct irrigation infrastructure.
Dredging fleets from Holland ordered and operated at huge costs.
Large-scale irrigation projects initiated but with little respite at local level.
Public agitation towards government actions- largely squashed by heavy-arm tactics of the government and military

CONCLUSION
It seems important to understand and re-instate/ re-work traditional methods of land-water management.
Re-establish the connection between people and their land by modifying the present situation of state governed elitist, centralised, technology-dependent development.
Re-establish community-driven water management systems.





Thursday, March 6, 2008

Monday 10/3 PRESENTATION

Monday's presentation is the last session compulsory for students enrolled in relevant practice+ studio trip. Grades will be given on the quality of this presentation. For students enrolled in studio, the presentation is part of the overall studio work and grades.

The structure of the day:
9 am A. back to back presentation of photo assignment (4min each) + discussion
11 am B. fieldwork presentation reworked (7min each) + discussion
2 pm C. group discussion on research topics and readings (using the blog)

A. each student is to present a series of selected photo's from the studytrip photo-lens assignment. This short powerpoint illustrates specific observations made on site and explores recurring tendencies of daily life and the use of space in Khulna/Dhaka.

B. the presentation given in Khulna University is to be reworked and clarified with the necessary drawings/scans/images. We repeat the importance of being less descriptive, and more precise in the onservation or argument made about the operational character of the sites studied. The presentation is still 7min maximum.

C. the reading assignments and research work done before the studytrip are to be revisited, based on the new information gathered during the study trip and comments given on the blog.

Please bring all materials collected in Bangladesh with you on Monday and make sure you use the time to organize all photo's.

see you all on Monday.
Ward