Chittagong: space syntax

During our stay in Chittagong, we mapped the (slightly oversized) city in the space syntax software. It took us some time to make sure there were no bugs in the connections, and to do the right analyses following the courses of Akkie. Currently we are looking at ways to incorporate the different outcomes with other maps, to make some conclusions regarding the relation between connectivity and other (emergency) variables. For instance, we are trying to find out the exact locations of cyclone shelters to link them with the connectivity. You can see both the local and global integrations below. Click on the "Read more" link for some topics of interest.


The following information is done verbally. We will also make some graphs and diagrams to show what we mean later.

City center: we can see some subtle differences between the local and global integrations. One of these is the city center that is visible as a white cloud just northwest of the middle (right image). This correlates with the current situation in Chittagong. The main livelihood is focused around the CDA Avenue, the long street from northeast to the south (dock) that is visible on the left image (local integration).

Linear livelihoods: it is interesting to see the linear patterns in the local integration. One might expect little clouds that function as local centers of livelihood. In the image, however, one can clearly see the linear forms. Please zoom in on the left image to see how the spaces between these linear centers are filled with a maze of smaller streets. The connectivity is quickly reduced. This follows our experience in the city (and other cities in Bangladesh): most activity spreads out in a linear way. The smaller streets often feel as a maze. Most motorcycle rickshaw drivers will not know all these streets either, they will just know the name of the main streets and the region names.

Bridge: looking at the left image with the local integration, one can see a circular roadway going through the city. This is the main CDA Avenue and its extensions: towards the southwest it goes to the port area (also visible as white cloud in the global integration), while it leads to the main bridge towards the southeast. Since we have not added the areas on the other side of the river (not part of Chittagong city), this road becomes less visible towards this bridge on the global integration image. It is, however, very clearly visible on the local integration. And we have indeed experienced how lively this street is. 

Airport area gap: on the southwest peninsula there is an airport. Around this area there used to be a great slum. During the 1991 cyclone, 3000 people died in this area. There has been little informal redevelopment since. It is interesting to see that this area is not very well connected on the local or global level, even though the city is thinking of making a big ring road around the river and see banks along a raised embankment. This road seems odd. It might increase the connectivity of the peninsula, but these regions are very prone to flooding and cyclones. As a counter reaction, the city corporation is planting mangrove forests to protect the embankment and people living behind it.

Development: the city has grown mostly towards the north, around the hilly areas. It is interesting to see how the old port area (middle, south) is both connected locally as globally. It is the old heart of the city. The livelihoods have slowly moved towards the north (the current white cloud center). We can also see new projects towards the north, that appear to be well connected. Again, a linear livelihood is visible.

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Chittagong: post-presentation

After our first weeks in Dhaka and Chittagong, we decided to make a short presentation that shows what we've been doing. This includes our meetings, field researches and theoretical ideas. We have included three powerpoint slides to this post: the the first is an activity diagram, the second is a braingraph of interrelated ideas, and the last includes sections through the landscape. We aim to work on this section throughout our trip, so that we can show all the interrelated elements of the braingraph in the section. This will force us to have a spatial focus for our research. Please click the "Read More..." button to see our presentations.

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The rains have come...

Streets were already starting to fill with water. Everyone was carefully hiding under the street-side roofs while trying to get a CNG rickshaw. While a local musician was blowing his flute, one local was trying to be the first of twenty (including us) to get a CNG rickshaw, bolts of lightning were striking the heart of Chittagong, and we were getting a cold because temperatures suddenly dropped to 25 degrees, a very kind and soaked man with umbrella was throwing himself at the traffic to make a CNG rickshaw stop for us.



And off we went into the night in a rickshaw that was surprisingly dry, while streets were surprisingly wet. It is sheer impossible to get public transport when it's raining, unless you're willing to be soaked. Rain is not only good for the land, it is also good for the CNG rickshaw drivers. They take the risk of damaging their motors, while they can make twice the profit (no bargaining once you are safe and sound under the rickshaw's roof!).

Once at our guesthouse, we had to wade through the local sewer: our front gate appears to be the lowest land of the neighborhood. I think we mentioned something about sanitation issues in our latest blog. This time the fishes came for us, no need to go on field trips purposefully! Just on a side note, there is no sewer system in this city. People use sceptic tanks, if they can afford it. If not, then they either use latrine pits or the local gutter... which is the one that ends in our front gate...

...all our experiences here are intense. We live a hundred lives and there is something magical about this place that is hard to put in words. The feeling of relief that comes with the first rains is a real experience: even the rickshaw wallahs were laughing and having fun while getting soaked to the bone.

Inshallah!

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The emergency of emergences

It has become apparent that it is difficult to analyze the emergency of a natural disaster within the complex emergences (pre-existing trends and tendencies) of a less economically developed country like Bangladesh. There is only a little gap between the problematic consequences of the emergency and that of the emergences. A more economically developed country can deal with a disaster in a more isolated manner since it can, relatively, get a much higher priority. Note that we consider yearly floods, winds and monsoon rains part of the emergences more than emergencies. Until now, we have looked at the impacts of the 1991 disaster in Chittagong city and district. This made it possible to analyze the long-term effects of a disaster and get an insight in the emergences.


There have been numerous responses to the cyclone by the government and NGO's. Spatial redevelopment has been planned to some extent, related directly to disaster prevention, but formal plans are hard to realize or can have adverse effects. For instance, the government has pointed out locations where building is not permitted unless buildings leave open the first floor. This makes the areas less profitable for developers, so that informal settlements take over the land where formal settlements are restricted. The question we are facing, thus, is how to understand the complexity of the issue of post-natural disaster redevelopment, if it has such an informal character. One intriguing formal project by the government, on the other hand, is the planting of mangrove forests along the coastal zone (up to 300 meters in width). This will decrease the wind speeds of a cyclone.

We have had difficulties to accurately research the first phase of aid after the 1991 cyclone, because it is such a long time ago. One thing we did conclude, however, is the lack of proper infrastructure. There is one proper tarmac road that runs from Dhaka to Chittagong and Cox's Bazaar. But as soon as you take a turn away from the road, the small embankment roads will not let you drive faster than walking speed, if at all. A lot of roads are made of bricks... and the lack of them. It makes us wonder how the first phase post-disaster aid can be executed properly. Those living in remote areas will be extremely vulnerable, after losing everything (including tube wells) and being cut off from the aid. Aid may be possible by boat. Still it is interesting that relatively little is done about these roads. Could NGO's be more involved also with the upgrading of roads, as it will enhance the first phase of post-disaster aid? With flooding, roads tend to get damaged, so that repair works seem to be a yearly process. The damage of cyclones and floods on the infrastructure, as well as the modality of aid transport, is something we can further investigate in the Sidr effected regions.


This leads us to the following question as well: where is the boundary between the task of the government and that of the NGO's in a country where there is relatively little governmental funding? NGO's obviously prefer to deal with people directly: sad faces attract money, happy faces justify the spent money. However, the pre-disaster problem of infrastructure also becomes a problem in the post-disaster setting. Does proper infrastructure not give the people opportunities, as well as a quicker aid during disaster response? Note that we do not blame NGO's for their work! Rather, we are interested to look at the role that the NGO's can have within the Bangladesh government.

Cyclone shelters can save the lives of many people. Awareness programs make sure people move to these shelters. Raised lands (killas) can save the people's livestock. But when the people return, the first urgent issues seem to be the lack of proper sanitation and drinking water. After that, the people will be concerned with their livelihood: did the cattle survive, where is the boat, how are the crops, is the garment factory closed, what to do as a rickshaw puller? And after that, spatial redevelopment is often informal.

This is why our research has, until now, very much focused on the first two issues as described above. We will narrow down our research more towards the short-term effects when we get to the Sidr (2007 cyclone) effected region. Due to the research in the emergences and long-term effects of the cyclones, we aim on understanding the short-term emergencies based on this.

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Chittagong Chow (urban): Cooking up a storm on independence day

Trying out a situationist approach on the 38th birthday of Bangladesh, we decided to start the day with a walk! It seems, though, that wherever we go we create quite a crowd of gawking young men, all asking us “your country?”, education, marital status, favorite color, mother's middle name, personal idol, astrological convictions, and of course general opinions about Bangladesh. Everyone wants to indulge us in the Bengali hospitality and sometimes it can almost be a little intimidating. Today was rather exceptional, as we actually had someone admit to us that he had been following us from a student protest rally to a little cha shop - for our own safety.


This year’s independence day was met with mixed feelings around the country; due to recent political unrest all large gatherings were prohibited in the capital, obviously obstructing any big celebrations. In Chittagong however, the feast went on, or so we were told. Exploring this on a local level, we found very little different from everyday life. A lot of shops were closed, but there were no real signs of anything else being different. Deciding to photograph some of the street scenery instead, we got interrogated by a local man who felt insulted that we should be taking photographs of alleys and closed shops, instead of the richness of people living behind these facades. He convinced us to go into one of the houses and photograph a woman with her goats.


After meeting the whole neighborhood, we decided to move on to the center and see if there was anything going on. We were met by a student road blockade, carrying big signs and shouting slogans. Having set out in search of a good party and only finding protest rallies, we decided to take a break from braving the pressing humidity and stop for some tea. There we met the aforementioned student who told us that for our own security he had accompanied us there. This felt a little awkward as we had never had any cause to feel unsafe in Bangladesh.


We decided to leave the tea shop (unfollowed) and go to the national stadium. Outside of the stadium there were many cars with official looking men giving speeches and rallying. Chittagong played a very important role in the independence of Bangladesh as it was here where independence from West Pakistan was first proclaimed in 1971 over a Chittagong radio station. This was followed by a nine-month war, where between 200,000 and 3 million Bangladeshis were killed (depending on whether Pakistani or Bangladeshi sources are being used). This was the final separation of the country after being dominated for centuries respectively by Mauryan, Mughal, and British Empires, and finally 24 years of West Pakistan governance.

The 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent in many ways created more problems than it solved. The division in which and West and East Pakistan (Bangladesh) were united as one country (because of shared religion) was mainly due to political circumstance. It caused one of the largest cultural migrations in history. The division of these countries has implications for all aspects of modern Bangladesh. Being almost landlocked by India, water management of the three main rivers that flow through Bangladesh has proved very difficult without mutual cooperation.


Pondering these thoughts as we finally headed into the stadium, we found the action had already taken place. A little confused, we headed back home, were the pressing weather exploded in a thunderstorm of black rain, seeming strangely appropriate.

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Chittagong Chow (rural): Follow the fish, shrimps, salt and rice

Thanks to Caritas, we were able to make a second field trip into the very remote areas between Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar that were most affected by the 1991 cyclone and are most vulnerable for future cyclones. All still recovering from stomach upsets, we set off (by local bus) to cross the great Karnaphuli river once again en route to the highway cum embankment to Cox’s Bazar. The bridge, originally donated by the Dutch in the 70’s, was destroyed by a flying crane (!) in the 1991 cyclone. It was repaired, but will soon be replaced by a fancy new concrete bridge donated by Kuwait. The construction is under a lot of pressure, as the ends of the bridge must meet before the cyclone season starts (in April) to avoid history repeating itself…


We carried out our fieldwork in the disaster stricken areas of the Pekua and Moheshkali upazilas (subdivisions of the Cox’s Bazar district). The focus of the fieldwork was to gain insight into the vulnerabilities of different livelihoods in the area, seeing as economic migration is one of the main spatial tendencies in Bangladesh.

We stayed in Chaukaria town, a typical linear city so characteristic for Bangladesh. From here we went on life-threatening bus trips, off-road CNG drives, jaw-rattling rickshaw rides and cross-river rafting adventures to some of the most remote areas of the country. Everywhere we traveled we were met by smiles, apologies for not being able to provide more hospitality, and emotive stories of friends and family members lost in the Gorky cyclone of 1991.


Interestingly enough, many of the villagers that were interviewed had migrated to the area from other disaster areas (river erosion and embankment failure). The ‘leftover’ land that they had chosen to settle on was extremely vulnerable to cyclones, a fact they all experienced in 1991. Despite the great tragedy this disaster brought about, most people returned to the government-owned squatted land after the disaster due to strong family ties. Hardly any of the villagers actually owned their own land. Besides this, most also appeared to have multiple livelihoods; usually consisting of a main livelihood and renting out services as a day laborer to make some extra money.

There also appeared to be a strong hierarchy in livelihoods; for instance the shrimp farmers seemed to be much better off than the pure day laborers. We found this was closely linked to the disaster vulnerability of the different livelihoods. Salt farming seemed to be the most resilient as salt can be stored underground during a cyclone and the harvest isn't dependant on the yearly seasons. Shrimp cultivation tended to take more than 2 years to regenerate; despite this it was a profitable business (shrimps are seen as a luxury product and are for a larg part exported). Fishermen could store their nets and boats in the channel between the mainland and the off shore islands to save them from destruction. However cyclones tend to affect the fish population quite drastically. Rice farmers came out most vulnerable after a cyclone; the saline water completely destroyed the land for several years after a disaster. In extreme cases making the land so barren that the land owners didn't bother to try to cultivate the land again but switched to mining salt (which in turn made the land even more saline).


The different livelihoods directly found their ways onto our plates as well in the local restaurants: the menu seemed to be one of rice, fish, shrimps and vegetables. Local fruits widely available were bananas and coconuts. For some reason on the bazaars everywhere in Bangladesh you only find fancy imported fruits like grapes, apples and oranges. We wound up our trip with a visit to Cox’s bazaar: the world’s longest beach and being voted on as we speak to become one of the new 7 world wonders!

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City slums: Urban Rurality

After meeting with the Chittagong Development Authority and learning of their plans to heighten the embankment and plant mangrove forests, we wanted to visit some of the affected communities living in slum areas around the embankment that protects the city. We got pointed in the direction of the Chittagong City Corporation, where we met architects and urban planners Reza and Shahidul, involved in the department “Healthy City”. They busy themselves with issues surrounding slum development. They immediately invited us on an all day slum excursion, where we visited the most disaster prone and economically poor areas of Chittagong.


We set off in our CNG, in which we thought only three people could fit. However, our super guide Shahidul squeezed himself next to (on top of) our driver and folded his arm around him. The first part of the ride took us through the outskirts of the port area which can be seen as the economic heart of the slums. This is where the broken ship parts (from the shipbreaking industry) are processed and resold to be used in the building industry. Everything is recycled! Due to the port proximity, it is also where most of the garment factories are located, one of Bangladesh’s largest economic export products.

Our first stop was at a Hindu Fishing community, an informal settlement that was under development by the Chittagong City Corporation. People were proudly laying bricks for a narrow path (three bricks wide) through the small structures. We had not quite expected to be walking on such a good looking pathway in our first slum. We could see that these people were fishermen, due to the fishing nets that were used as fencing. There was one toilet for the whole community, which was apparently not sufficient. Most houses were in the traditional Kanchi style, made of bamboo. They preferred this over the tin sheeting due to interior climate, although parts of the bamboo houses needed to be rebuilt. The spaces were small, housing ten people on twelve square meters. Despite their struggles, these people were very friendly and the children were extremely playful. Just outside of the community, a canal was dug out again for water flow. Things were clearly under development.


We then moved on to a local farm next to the embankment. First of all, it was surprising to see farm land inside such a huge city. Secondly, it was even more surprising to see Frisian cows invading the countryside! They were famous, because they came from "Australia". The ground was clearly very fertile. Rice paddies were green as green can be. The main problem the farmer faces, is the lack of killas (raised land) to protect the cattle in case of cyclones and flooding.

The next stop was at the embankment itself, where we met with some fishermen and had a cup of tea. There were two embankments. One was newer and used as a highway. It was not possible to access this road from these villages, making them less connected. The other embankment had an old dirt road, which was nothing our CNG driver couldn't handle. The fisherman on the good side of the embankments have lived in the area for a long time. They have suffered greatly from the 1991 cyclone, and they surely do not feel comfortable with their current situation if a new cyclone would hit the area.


On the other side of the embankment, a vital group of women lived on government owned land. They came from the Barisal region, where they had lost their husbands during the Sidr disaster of 2007. They migrated towards the city to earn a living. In Chittagong, they now collect and sort garbage until they get removed from their land. The people were full of life and exclaimed: "Where there is work, there we will go".

After visiting two other cyclone shelters, where we witnessed a Rabindranath concert by candlelight, we moved on to the meet all the "family" of our guide. Everyone was very hospitable, and apparently we now are part of his extended family!


The next day the NGO Codec took us to another fishermen village, where they worked with a participatory approach to develop their living standards and awareness regarding cyclones. Some of their main concerns included: the still weak embankments, broken sluice, lack of cyclone shelters, and weakness of own houses. Towards the shore we could see a new mangrove forest that was planted to protect the area from cyclones. People said they spent 200-300 euro for a bamboo house structure, which they could build in one week. Codec also did research in the possibilities of micro-insurance systems in case of disaster.

For our latest field trip, YPSA (a local NGO) took us to visit a garment factory and their communities. Quite understandably, most of the workers were not at home in their homes. We did visit a local bakery and went to two schools. The children dreamt of becoming doctors, teachers, or famous cricket players. We spoke with an old man who had lost his eyes during construction work. He and his wife now relied on the help of family and friends for food. The man told us that the water came up to his chin during the 1991 cyclone, and that people took shelter on top of the roofs. Most people migrated from more rural areas like Comilla due to land loss from river erosion. The men often work in the ship-breaking industry, while the younger women work at the garment industry. 600 people worked at the local garment factory, most of which were women. The factory appeared to be well organized, although we only got to see two of the working floors. Most of the valuable machineries were stored on the higher floors to prevent from flooding. One of the officials informed us that there is currently a trend around the country to move garment factories out of the city. In Chittagong, however, the factories still rely on the proximity of the port. Another 1000 of these factories exist in Chittagong itself. It is a huge industry.


Yesterday, we were supposed to finish our research week with a trip to the ship-breaking communities, guided by YPSA. YPSA has been fighting for better working conditions within these ship-breaking industries, and to stop child labour that supposedly makes up 25% of the working force at these yards. At the moment of departure, however, we were informed that we would not be able to go due to security issues. Today we read in the local news paper, that workers made a human chain of 10 km to protest against a court case that forces several ship yards to close. Apparently, they chanted slogans against NGO's, and YPSA in particular. They blamed the NGO's for potentially losing 30.000 jobs in the industry.

We are great with timing.

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