Sustainable Urban Form and Dynamics of Rivers in the Context of Faridpur City, Bangladesh

Abstract

Faridpur, a south-central district in Bangladesh with an ancient yet colorful history, is always mentioned as a significant urban area in Bangladesh. As Bangladesh is going through a rapid urbanization process, Faridpur is reforming and developing to keep pace with this vibrant urban development of other cities in the country. Once known as a riverine city, Faridpur is now shifting its development trend from river-based transportation to alternative road connections. With the aim to look into a rudimental relation between spatial configuration and river network of Faridpur, this paper examines the location of the rivers, as central axis or peripheral edge. The study attempts to identify the role of river network in the formation of the city’s spatial structure and to predict the future development of Faridpur city. This paper demonstrates the spatial character of the functional core of this spontaneous city corresponding to its past and present. Simulation of the city’s road network is conducted by space syntax to identify the spatial and functional core, road integrations, determination of choice of people through configuration analysis. The dynamics of the river were then correlated with the spatial configuration for foreseeing the role of the river to predict the further extension of Faridpur city. This paper concluded with a general recommendation on future expansion of the road network of Faridpur for sustainable development.