THE GRUDGING URBANIST
Is human civilisation at an inflection point?
Our brains are being reprogrammed to look for the easiest solutions to our most vexing social and political questions.
Is there an architecture for marginal communities?
Our experience of designing Brac regional offices across rural Bangladesh.
How we should design the next generation of parks
Do we need the 24/7 hustle and bustle of Dhaka – the cacophonous dramas of this sleepless city – reproduced in its parks too?
Heatwaves, global warming, and the ethics of our cities
We must rethink how cities are planned, designed, and administered to combat the adverse effects of both the heat island problem and climate change.
A dangerous time for history
Governments are trying to control what could or could not be taught about their past.
Can the Metro Rail be a Great Equalizer?
A “new” type of urban mobility comes to fruition in the month of the country’s emancipation
Footpaths of Bangladesh: Our complicated relationship with walking
Walking, sadly, is not part of our shared value system, and there are many reasons behind this.
Researching Rural Transformation 2.0 in Bangladesh
We need new research methodologies to understand the complex nature of the rural change in Bangladesh in the last two decades.
Mid-sized cities are our new urban frontier
A resilient and adjustable urban development policy for mid-sized cities is necessary to decentralise Dhaka.
Rural Bangladesh needs next-generation village roads
The streets of rural Bangladesh should value the safety and wellbeing of its users.
Understanding Rural Transformation 2.0 in Bangladesh
The traditional mental image of rural Bangladesh that we have is no longer a reality.
There is just one way to save Dhaka
The notoriety of Dhaka’s traffic is now daily news. Civil society members have been venting frustration about this maddening crisis.
Padma Bridge is a metaphorical countermovement
Recently, on a wintry afternoon, I went to see the Padma Bridge.
A time travel to Dhaka University’s 2034 convocation
It was Titian Matin’s first return to his native Bangladesh after he won the Nobel Prize in economics for his study of the reciprocal relationship between urban density and economic geography.
Understanding a freedom fighter’s prison letters
Imprisoned in various torture chambers by the Pakistan Army during Bangladesh’s Liberation War in 1971, Mohiuddin Ahmed, MP, wrote numerous letters to his wife, describing the systemic cruelties of his oppressors.
Is smart density the way forward for Bangladesh?
Going around in Dhaka could be overwhelming. The city seems overburdened with the impossible weight of people, buildings, vehicles, rickshaws, noise, carbon emission, and nonstop activities.
Tribute to a true admirer of Bangladesh
Mary Frances Dunham (MFD) arrived in Dhaka on a wintry day in November of 1960. From the window of her room at Hotel Shahbagh, she found ample opportunities to observe the city.
