Understanding informal functional mix: morphogenic mapping of Old Dhaka

ABSTRACT

Functional mix has long been a key urban design and planning principle geared towards walkability and urban vitality. Yet in many informalized cities of the global South, an intensified mix is seen as a problem. This study of Old Dhaka maps and analyses functional mix as it has changed over the past 30 years in relation to morphologies of access networks, entry interfaces, and densities. We analyse the evolution of urbanism, where a complex mix emerges both horizontally and vertically, where retail functions extend many storeys above the street and the concept of singular land use is largely irrelevant. We show how increases in functional mix are meshed with increases in density, mediated by plot size, street networks, and a loose governance framework. This is an extreme case that reveals how functional mix intensifies under informal conditions and in concert with a broader morphogenesis.

KEYWORDS:

• Functional mix
• informality
• urban morphology
• morphogenesis
• Dhaka

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fatema Meher Khan

Fatema Meher Khan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). Her research interest lies in urban design and planning, morphological aspects, and informal urbanism. Some of her research papers are on mixed-use function, urban morphological transformation, and social equity.

Elek Pafka

Elek Pafka is Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning and Urban Design at the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on the relationship between material density, urban form and the intensity of urban life, as well as methods of mapping the “pulse” of the city. He has participated in research on transit orientated development, functional mix and walkability. He has co-edited the book Mapping Urbanities: Morphologies, Flows, Possibilities.

Kim Dovey

Kim Dovey is Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Melbourne, where he is also Director of InfUr- the Informal Urbanism Research Hub. He has published and broadcast widely on social issues in architecture, urban design and planning. Books include “Framing Places,” “Fluid City,” “Becoming Places,” “Urban Design Thinking” and “Mapping Urbanities.”