BANGLADESH (2008-09): URBAN SPACE

URBAN SPACE 

One of the striking things about Dhaka was the proximity of urban and rural space, where new concrete block buildings encroached on open fields. Constant, rapid change was evident by apartments springing up and shop fronts being renovated, amid a puzzling maze of alley ways and boulevards. My neighborhood, Kala Chadpur, was an enclave for the privileged, surrounded by a wall. However, the effect of the whole was a giant patchwork quilt of villages tacked one upon the other. Each was controlled by a complex web of neighborhood political bosses. Central planning for transportation is nonexistent, so large roads between the sectors did not exist, resulting in hellish traffic jams.