A Workshop in Nilphamari: Exploring Strategies for Future Physical Development

Niklaus Graber and Saif Ul Haque led a hands-on workshop in Nilphamari on urban transformation.

In a rapidly transforming scene of development, Bangladesh is experiencing fast growth in the urban areas with large migration from the rural areas. This scenario is exerting tremendous pressure on the existing urban facilities and causing great hardship to many people, mostly in the low-income demography. The transformation is mainly driven by the economic growth but also social facilities like education and health are also attracting large scale migration into the urban areas.

In a scenario like this, the gap between the supply and demand of quality urban environment is growing. While the efforts of reducing the gap are ongoing, it is still a considerable time away from being accomplished. It is time to look into alternatives to bring in a balance between the supply and demand. The small and medium sized towns can offer such alternatives. While much depends on national, regional policies and planning, the process of exploring the alternatives can also be looked into by other agencies. The studio/workshop was an attempt to explore that possibility. Through a week-long intensive exercise some future scenarios were sketched out and shared with the townspeople.

Goals, Approaches, Process:
Read More in the Course Description

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