URBANPUBLICSPACE:ACASEFROMDEVELOPINGCOUNTRY

SHAMIMAAKTARSession:2016-2017

BlekingeInstituteofTechnology

DepartmentofSpatialPlanning

BlekingeInstituteofTechnologyMaster’sThesis

UrbanPublicSpace:ACasefromDevelopingCountry

ShamimaAktar

2017ShamimaAktar

Master'sThesisinSpatialPlanningwithanEmphasisonSustainableUrbanPlanning

MasterProgrammeinSustainableUrbanPlanning

DepartmentofSpatialPlanning

BlekingeInstituteofTechnology

37179Karlskrona,Sweden

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Abstract

Cities in developing world are inadequately equipped with public spaces. The increasing

urbanizations trend is attractingmore people to come to the cities without having proper

sustainable plan for public spaces. However, this social public place holds the important

function forurbanwell-beingandcollective recognition.This is theplacewherehumancan

participateas fully fledgedsocial subjects in complexcivic life.Unfortunately, inmost cases

the provision of public space in these cities is always neglected or poorly integrated in

planning legislations. So, in many cases community people make their own ways of social

interaction that gives public space a new definition. Khulna, one of the divisional cities of

Bangladesh,isgoingthroughthesimilardevelopingcountrysituation.Lackoffundandspace

restricts development agencies to make new public spaces in this city. On the other hand

management and coordination challenges between multilevel planning authorities also

making existing public spaces malfunctioned. Sustainably planned, created and managed

public spaces are hence urged for the cities of developingworld to get livable and healthy

urbanenvironment.

KeyWords:Publicspace,DevelopingCountries,Sustainability

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Acknowledgement

I am lucky enough to have a nice family who gave me the courage to pursue my

dream.Ammu,Abbu,Vaia,MaaandBaba,youarethepeoplewhowerealwayswith

mealongtheway.

Ashik,thanksfortoleratingmewhenIambeingdifficulttobewith.Youwerealways

been there inmy ups and downs. Thanks for being a part of this long journey and

makingthisthesispossible.

Iexpressmysinceregratitudetomysupervisor,SabrinaFredin,PhDforhersupport

throughoutmy thesis.Thanks forherpatience tocontinuously readmyrubbishand

guidemethroughstrongguideline.Thisthesiswouldhardlybepossiblewithouther

encouragement.

MyspecialgratitudealsogoestomythesisexaminerLinaBerglund-Snodgrassforher

thoughtful comments.Her insightandexpertisehelpedme to thinkandanalyzemy

findingsinamoreconstructiveway.

IamalsogratefultoSwedishInstituteStudyScholarshipprogramforprovidingmethe

fundtocompletemydegreehereinSweden.

IamespeciallygratefultoFrida,SaddamandAunikforthewonderfultimeweshared.

And finally, last but by no means least, I am grateful to all course teachers of my

degreeprogramme.Ienjoyedalotstudyinginthisdepartment.

Thankyouforallofyoursupportandencouragement!

ShamimaAktar

07June2017,Karlskrona,Sweden

TableofContents

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ContentsAbstract……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….iAcknowledgement…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..ii

ChapterOne:Introduction..……………………………….…………………………………………………………….1-71.1BackgroundoftheStudy...................................................................................................11.2ResearchProblem............................................................................................................21.3ResearchGap...................................................................................................................21.4JustificationoftheStudy..................................................................................................31.5ResearchQuestions..........................................................................................................31.6DescriptionofStudyArea.................................................................................................41.7DevelopmentControlinKhulnaCityCorporationArea......................................................7ChapterTwo:LiteratureReview……………………….…………………………………………………………….8-152.1PublicSpaceandCivicLife................................................................................................82.2PublicSpaceinDevelopingCountries................................................................................9

2.2.1Formal-InformalPublicSpace.......................................................................................10

2.2.2PublicSpacePlanningandManagement......................................................................11

2.3PublicSpaceSituationinBangladesh..............................................................................122.3.1PublicSpaceinPlanningLegislations............................................................................12

2.3.2OwnershipandCoordinationforPublicSpaceManagement.......................................13

2.3.3InformalFormsofPublicSpace.....................................................................................14

2.3.4Socio-CulturalPerspectiveofPublicSpace...................................................................15

2.4Conclusion.....................................................................................................................15ChapterThree:Methodology…………………………….………………………………………………………….17-203.1Methods........................................................................................................................17

3.1.1CaseStudyMethod.......................................................................................................17

3.2DataCollection...............................................................................................................183.3IndicatorSelection.........................................................................................................193.4OverallMethodology......................................................................................................20ChapterFour:CreationandManagementofPublicSpace…………………………………………….21-264.1PublicSpaceinMasterPlan............................................................................................214.2DevelopmentofPublicSpace..........................................................................................224.3MaintenanceofPublicSpaces.........................................................................................234.4FundManagement.........................................................................................................244.5Non-FunctionalCommittee.............................................................................................254.6LackofControloverInformalSettlements......................................................................254.7Conclusion.....................................................................................................................26ChapterFive:ClassificationofPublicSpace…………………………………………………………………..27-405.1FunctionsofPlace..........................................................................................................27

5.1.1StreetsandtheAdjacentAreas.....................................................................................28

5.1.2OpenSpace....................................................................................................................31

5.1.3MarketPlace.................................................................................................................34

5.1.4PublicLibrary.................................................................................................................34

5.1.5SummaryfortheFunctions...........................................................................................35

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5.2OwnershipCategory.......................................................................................................375.2.1FormalPublicSpaces.....................................................................................................37

5.2.2InformalUseofPublicSpaces.......................................................................................38

5.3GenderRoleandPublicSpace.........................................................................................385.3.1PublicSpaceforWomen...............................................................................................38

5.3.2PublicSpaceforMen.....................................................................................................39

5.4Conclusion.....................................................................................................................40ChapterSix:TowardsaSustainablePublicSpace………………………………………………………….42-506.1ExistingSituationAnalysis...............................................................................................426.2ProposalforSustainableManagementofPublicSpacesinKhulnaCity.............................46

6.2.1SociallyInclusive............................................................................................................46

6.2.2EconomicallyViable.......................................................................................................47

6.2.3EnvironmentFriendlyCleanPublicSpace.....................................................................48

6.2.4ManagementandCoordination....................................................................................49

6.3Conclusion.....................................................................................................................50ChapterSeven:Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………..51References……………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………..52-55Appendix………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………..56-60

ListofFigures

Fig1.1:DivisionalMapofBangladesh …………………………………………………4

Fig1.2:AdministrativesetupofBangladesh …………………………………………………5

Fig1.3:LandUseMapofKhulnaCityCorporation ………………………………………………..6

Fig5.1:Listofplacespeoplemeetforsocialgathering ……………………………………………….27

Fig5.2:Publicspaceclassificationbasedonfunctions ……………………………………………….35

Fig5.3:ActivitiesobservedinPublicSpaces ……………………………………………….36

Fig.5.4:Averagedistancetravelledbymenandwomen ……………………………………………….39

Fig.5.5:Frequencyofvisitbymenandwomen ……………………………………………….39

ListofTables

Table1.1:LandUseofKhulnaCity …………………………………………………5

Table3.1:IndicatorsforResearchQuestions ……………………………………………….19

Table5.1:UrbanPublicSpacesinKhulnaCity ……………………………………………….40

Table6.1:SituationAnalysis ……………………………………………….43

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ChapterOne:Introduction

1.1 BackgroundoftheStudy

Research has revealed that public spaces are important for cities to grow sustainably but

developingcountriesfacingtheongoingstrugglesofurbanizationalwaysfindthisdifficultto

create this functional social space for its residents (Daniel, 2016; Cohen, 2006). Here, the

quantity, quality and distributions of public spaces are challenged by proper planning

initiativesinfast-growingandresourcepoorurbansituations.So,theaimofpublicspacesto

be consideredas symbolof collectivewell-being thatnurtures the growthof public lifehas

become questionable in developing world (Amin, 2008). Cities are in need of open social

gathering space for its residents regardlessof social class, race,ethnicity,gender.So,public

spacesholdanimportantpositionforthemulticulturalhighlydensecitieswithinthedomain

ofplanningforurbansustainability.

Citiesallovertheworldareexperiencingafasterurbanizationgrowth.Now,about400cities

havemorethanamillionpeopleormorewherealmostseventypercentofthemarelocated

in the developingworld.More surprisingly, it is estimated that by this year the developing

world is going to becomemoreurban in character than rural (Cowly, 2015). The increasing

rate of urbanization is good for economy; however, it poses challenges to ensure more

sustainableuseofspace(Torres,2008).Itbringstherisktothecitieswhilehavingtheaimof

making these cities sustainablewhere the social, economic andpolitical foundation is quite

weak.

While this space-human ratio poses challenges to offer required public spaces people

frequently finds their own ways of making balance. Although the role of public space is

universal, the functions and characteristicsmay vary according to the particularities of the

territoryanddweller(UN-Habitat,2016).In“informalhypergrowthcities”largeproportionsof

urbanpopulationbuild their citieswithoutproper referencing fromplanningapparatus and

control (Cowley, 2015, p. 6). They characterize their surroundings based on their demands

whichmaygivepublicspaceanewdefinition.Aspacemaygetanewrolebasedontheusage

oftheuserswhichfrequentlydiffersfromtheactualroledefinedinplanningdocuments.At

thesametimeitmakestheplanningtaskdifficulttocreateandmanageauseful,attractive,

sociallyequitable,economicallyfeasibleandenvironmentallysustainablepublicspace.

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Bangladesh,asmallSouth-Asiancountry,isalsoexperiencingthegeneralchallengesfacedby

other developing countries. It has followed a faster urbanization rate in current days. The

recentstatisticalreportstatesthatabout23.30%oftotalcountrypopulationisnowliving in

denseurbanareas(BangladeshBureauofStatistics,2014).Thealarmingfactisthatalmosta

quarter of these people fall under poverty line where about 62% lives in slums (Ellis and

Roberts,2016).Inthebroadcontextofthisurbanizationanditscircumstances,thecontinuous

declineofpublicspaceandalsolackofattentiononthistopicbyurbanplannersisparticularly

alarming. The shortage of public space and social implications are the matter of serious

concerninthisgrowingurbansprawlcontext(Nowshin,2017).

1.2ResearchProblem

Publicspaceisoneofthefundamentalcomponentsinsustainableurbansociety.Peopleliving

inurbanareasfindthisplaceastheirmainpointofsocialinteraction.So,inurbanplanningit

is expected to have sufficient provision to offer and maintain public spaces for the city

dwellers. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen in developing countries. Increasing

urbanizationtrendrisksthespacehumanratiowherepublicspaceusageoflandgetstheless

priority.Thesituationbecomesdifficultwhenthecreationandmanagementofpublicspaces

are challenged by complex urban planning structure. Lack of coordination and cooperation

betweenplanningagenciesleadstononfunctionalandpoorlymaintainedpublicspaces.Asa

result, in most cases people make their own arrangement of social meeting point. So,

uncontrolled spontaneous growth of informal settlements prevails. This is an important

problem in sustainable urban planning when planning agencies fails to provide proper

directiontoensurefunctionalpublicspaces for itscitizens.Thisresults inpoorlymaintained

publicspaceswhereinformalsocialactivitiestakeoverplannedfunctionsofanyspace.

1.3ResearchGap

Though urban public spaces have always been an important component in city planning it

never gets the research focus in Bangladesh as how it is actually functioned andmanaged

practically.Thepracticalmanagementchallengesthusinmostcasesturnthepublicspaceinto

an unserviceable situation. Definitions of public spaces are also very vague in the planning

documentsthatresultsinanambiguouscharacterizationofthissocialspace.Inthiswork,an

indepthanalysisof theurbanpublicspaceswillbeperformedtoclassifythesepublicspace

basedonthepracticalfunctions.Attemptswerealsotakentoexploretheinterplaybetween

different actors who are involved in creating and managing this service. This is crucially

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important to make this space sustainable in terms of social, economic and environmental

perspective.

1.4JustificationoftheStudy

For the developing countries where government always struggles to balance between high

concentration of urban population and scarcity of land, offering public space is truly a

challenge.Bangladeshwithallofthiseconomicandurbanizationchallengesfollowsthesame

tragedies of providing livable space to its citizens. Cities of Bangladesh are growing at a

tremendous rate where high population flow toward dense cities making city life

unsustainable in true sense. Planners areworkinghard to ensurebasic civic serviceswhere

publicspaceinmostcasesremainshiddenthoughitisconsideredasoneofthecoreelements

of urban planning. The social breathing place becomes shattered without proper planning

guidelines.Authoritiesresponsibleforcreatingandmanagingthisspaceconsiderthisas lost

spacethatresultinunauthorizedinvasion.So,Bangladeshisinalongwaybehindtothinkon

this crucial element which is important for sustainable city life. This study hence aims to

analyzethenature,contextandcharacteristicsofpublicspaceashowitfunctionsinreallife.

The interplay of different actors is also important in this case to critically oversee the

managementfunctionstounderstandexistingchallengesandmoveforfutureplanning.Here,

sustainableplanningandmanagementofpublicspacemayrangefromsocial,economicand

environmentalbasedonthecharacteristicsfoundfromtheanalysis.Timeandfundlimitation

makesthisstudytoconfineonlyinonecityinBangladesh.Asmostofthecitiesfollowsimilar

planning andmanagement structures this study can act as a guideline for planning bodies

whiledealingwithurbanpublicspaceissues.

1.5ResearchQuestions

It is assumed from the introductory discussion that the public space domain requires

extensive analysis as it holds the breathing place for society. At the same time, the

development challenges of developing countries are questioning on the sustainable

managementofthisimportantplace.So,theresearchquestions(RQ)aredefinedas:

RQ1.Howthepublicspacesarecreatedandmanaged?

Therearedifferentactorswhoareinvolvedinthecreationandmanagementofpublicspaces

inKhulnacity.Thisresearchquestionwillanalyzethathowtheinterplaybetweentheseactors

affectsinpublicspacemanagement.

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RQ2.Howdo theusers indeveloping countrydefineand characterizeurbanpublic

space?

Peopleneedsspacetotakebreatheandhavesocialchattingwhereaccessisnotcontrolled.In

the case city there is an assumption that city people may have taken the opportunity of

makingtheirownspaceirrespectiveofplanningprovision.So,thisresearchquestionwilltry

tofindanswerthathowversatilethepublicspacescanbebasedontheactualuseofthecity

people. Based on the functions the research will also try make some category for further

investigation.

1.6DescriptionofStudyArea

Similar tomanyother citiesofBangladeshKhulnaalso fallunder thishypergrowthcriterion

whereunplannedurbanizationgrowthisprevalent.Therearetwodifferentauthoritiesnamed

Khulna City Corporation (KCC) and Khulna Development Authority (KDA) who are legally

responsible to ensure the planned development and maintenance of this city. They are

designated to develop and execution ofmaster plan to ensure a livable city. However, the

extent of success is amatter of question. This is undeniable that sustainable use of space

largelydependsonthebalancebetweenplanningcontrolandcommunityacceptance.So,this

study will also keep a critical eye on the interplay between different actors aspect of the

existingpublicspacestoproposesustainablemanagementofthisimportantcivicamenity.

Khulna is one of the divisional cities of Bangladesh

located in the South-West part of the country. From

British period this region was well known for it rich

agricultural hinterland and good accessibility to

surrounding big cities. The city has received municipal

statusin1884.Since1950’sand60’sKhulnahasbecome

afocalpointforJutebasedtradingandindustries.From

early90’stheeconomyofthiscityhasbeenboomedby

shrimp farming and processing activities. The

establishment of Khulna University in 1991 also

introduced Khulna as an important city to the country.

WorldfamousmangroveforestSundarbanisalsolocated

inthisdivision(KhulnaDevelopmentAuthority,2002and

KhulnaCityCorporation,2017a).

Fig1.1:DivisionalMapof

Bangladesh(Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bangla

desh_divisions_english.svg)

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There are eightdivisions inBangladesh. Khulnadivision is comprisedof tendistricts named

Khulna, Bagerhat, Chuadanga, Jessore, Jhenaidah, Kushtia, Magura, Meherpur, Narail and

Sthkhira (Bangladesh Bureau of

Statistics,2013).KhulnaCityCorporation

falls under Khulna district. It has been

promoted to Municipal Corporation in

1984 and later declared as City

Corporation in 1990 (Khulna City

Corporation, 2017b). The previous city

corporationareawas45.65sqkmwhich

has been extended to 64.78 sq km in

2011. Total population of KCC area is

about751.23thousands(BangladeshBureauofStatistics,2013;p.18).

The city has grown following a liner pattern along two natural rivers named Rupsha and

Bhairab. So, the land use pattern of the city ismainly influenced by the flow of these two

levees.Thecityisonlyabove8ft.abovethemeansealevelthatmakesthelandflatandpoorly

drained. There is no recent land use data has been found. The only available information

foundinKDAmasterplanthatcangiveanideaofthelandusepatternofthecity.

Table1.1:LandUseofKhulnaCity

LandUse Percentage LandUse Percentage

Residential 51.74 MunicipalandCommunity

Facility

0.21

Mixed 5.28 TransportandTerminal 1.34

Commercial(includingTown

Centre)

3.69 Defence/Security 0.71

Industry 7.22 Graveyard/Cemetery/Crema

tionGround

0.99

OpenSpace(Park,stadium,

UrbanGreen,etc,)

1.13 BrickField 0.58

Warehouse/Storage/Depot 0.43 FishFarm 0.27

Administrative 2.66 Waterbody 2.75

EducationandRelatedUse 3.99 Agriculture 16.30

HealthcareFacilities 0.70

Source:KhulnaDevelopmentAuthority,2002

CentralGovernment

Division

District

Upazilla CityCorporation

Fig1.2:AdministrativesetupinBangladesh

(Source:Author,2017)

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Fig1.3:LandUseMapofKhulnaCityCorporation

(Source:GISDataCollectedfromKCC,2016andMapcreatedbyauthor,2017)

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1.7DevelopmentControlinKhulnaCityCorporationArea

There are twomajor authoritieswho are responsible for city planning and development in

Khulnacity.KhulnaCityCorporationisthelocalgovernmentbodyundertheMinistryofLocal

Government,RuralDevelopmentandCo-operatives.Citymayorandwardcommissionersare

thememberof this localgovernmentbody.Thereare1mayorand31wardcommissioners

who are elected by public voting. The key responsibilities of this authority include town

planning and improvement; health, family planning and sanitation; drainage; education;

managementoftrees,parksandopenspaces;wastemanagementetc.(Ahmed,2000;Khulna

CityCorporation,2017c).AnotherdevelopmentbodynamedKhulnaDevelopmentAuthority

has been established in 1961 under Khulna Development Authority Ordinance, 1961.

Currently it isworkingunderMinistryofHousingandPublicworksof theGovernment. The

jurisdiction area of KDA ismuch larger than KCC. It overlapswith KCC boundary. KDA is a

public autonomous body financed by both revenue and development budget from

government(Ahmed,2000;KhulnaDevelopmentAuthority,2002).Themainobjectivebehind

the formulation of KDAwas to ensure a controlled and planned development for the KDA

jurisdiction area by developing master plan, detailed area plan and structure plan.

Unfortunately,thesetwoorganizationworksunderthesupervisionoftwodifferentministries

andnoneof themareaccountable toeachotherwhile implementinganycitydevelopment

activities. There is even no monitoring authority or regulatory control to ensure effective

coordinationbetweenthesetwoimportantactors.Therefore,acommunicationgapisalways

prevalent.Asbothauthoritiesnotonlysharesamejurisdictionboundary,alsoplayimportant

roles for the planned development of the city the interplay between these organizations

henceveryimportanttoanalyzeforthisstudy.

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ChapterTwo:LiteratureReview

Publicspacehasalwaysbeenconsideredasanimportantpartofciviclifefromancienttime.It

hasbeenthestageofpubliclifewheresocialpeopleinteracttoeachother.Inurbanplanning

publicspacethusholdsveryimportantpositionthosearereflectedinseveralliteratures.

2.1PublicSpaceandCivicLife

Carmona,MagalhãesandHammond(2008)haveprovidedabroaddefinitionofpublicspace

whereitrelatestoallthosepartsofthebuiltandnaturalenvironmentwhichhasfreeaccess

topublic.Thisalsocoverstheprivatespaceswherepublicaccessisunrestricted.Publicspace

belongs to all people in the society both literally and theoretically. It forms a sense of

ownershipinlocalresidents.

This istheplacethatdeliversarangeofbenefitsacrosseconomic,socialandenvironmental

spheres.LutherandGruehin(2001)arguedthatpresenceofpublicspaceincreaseslandvalue

andsometimeshelpstoboostregionaleconomicperformance.Inthecompacturbansociety

whenpeoplefindthisdifficulttotakeafreshbreathpublicspacemightbethebestoption.It

provides a space for formal and informal sports, games and exercise that can influence a

longerlifebyreducingphysicalandmentalstress(WoolleyandJohns2001).Thecitiescome

alivebyitscultureandsociallifethroughthisinteractiveplace.Publicspaceisthevenuefor

socialinterchangethatnurturessocialandcognitiveskillandpromotesneighborliness(Mean

and Tims, 2005). It delivers learning benefits to children through creative play and reduces

anti-socialbehavior(Fjortoft,2001).Theenvironmentalfunctionsofpublicspaceshouldalso

notbeoverlooked.Thisactsasanimportantcontributortothelivabilityofcitylife.Thegreen

urbanspacescertainlyimproveairqualityandreduceheatislandeffects.Perviousgrasslands

filter rainwater to replenish forgroundwater (Littlefairetal.,2000).Sometimes,parksand

zoosaspublicspacecreateopportunitiesforurbanwildlifetoflourish(Shoard,2003).

Citiesaretheconcentrationofdifferentethnic,culturalandprofessionalgroups inthesame

space favors theconfrontationofdifferentcultural traditions (Bourdieu1977).Thisdiversity

anddensityofpeoplegivesurbansocial lifeadistinctivecharacter.This isaboutencounters

and interactions among diverse group of people who are different. The interactions thus

discoverandrealizethediverseneedsandthisisthepublicspacethatmanyofthesecontacts

occur(Stevens,2007).

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However,thefunctionsofpublicspacearenotonlylimitedtoactasaninteractiveandsocial

space. There are fewother sites of public gathering justifying their connectionwith politics

throughinculcationsofcommunity,civicresponsibilityandpoliticaljudgmentorparticipation

sparkedbymeetingandminglinginpublicspace(Amin,2008).Therecentprotestmovements

fromtheArabworldtothewesterncapitalshavereopenedtheroleofpublicspaceintothe

realm of democracy. This is the site for staging and practicing democracy through the

everydaypracticesofordinarycitizens(Göle,2013).

2.2PublicSpaceinDevelopingCountries

Developingcountriesareusuallycharacterizedbypooreconomicconditionwith lowhuman

development index where poverty is visible almost every aspect of life. The small size of

economiestranslatesintoverylowlevelsofpercapitaincome,savingsandinvestment.With

thisvery lowdomesticfinancialsituationitbecomesdifficultforthedevelopingcountriesto

keeppacewith increasing population growth. In this circumstances they fall trapped in the

viciouscircleofunderdevelopmentwheredomesticresourcesfallshorttomeetdevelopment

needs (SESRTCIC, 2006). The situation is jeopardized by corruption, nepotism and bribery

whichhardlyallowtheeffectiveutilizationofresources(WorldBank,2013).Nearlyhalfofthe

world’s population is now living in cities which will be increasing in upcoming days. It is

estimatedthatoverthenextthirtyyearsmostofthetwo-billion-pluspersonincreaseinglobal

population will occur in urban areas in the developing world (Cohen, 2006). The speedy

growthofurbantransformationhasappearedasanewchallengetothedevelopingcountries.

It outstrips the capacity of the cities to provide the basic services to the residents (Cohen,

2006). So, it becomes a vital question to theworld leaders that how to ensure sustainable

development.

In January 2016world leaders frommore than150 countries adopted the 2030 agenda for

SustainableDevelopmentGoals(SDGs)inUNsummittofightagainstpoverty, inequalityand

climate change.One of the targets of these SDGs is tomake cities and human settlements

inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Beside many other important components public

space is consideredas a key character in achieving safe, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable

cities. Public space has been identified as a specific target under SDG 11.1 as “By 2030,

provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in

particularforwomenandchildren,olderpersonsandpersonswithdisabilities”(Daniel,2016).

Resource poor developing countries consider this target exclusively important to make an

inclusivesociety.

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As urbanization is leadingus to denser cities and also creating higher demand for available

land,thereisanincreasingpressureonmakingandmaintainingpublicspaces.This istrulya

challenge for the resource poor developing world where a high percentages of their

population living in slums and in underprivileged circumstances (UN-Habitat, 2016). The

constantfacingsocialclassesarerepresentedhereinanaggressivewaythatactivatesachain

of reactionswhichwould bemostly demonstratedwithin the public space (Huta andMico,

2012). Aside by the social setting there are many intermediary factors such as lack of

investment, propermanagement, designing and implementing an appropriate planning and

publicpolicy,andpoliticalinstability,economicinstabilitymakethepublicspacedesignahard

job(Haq,2011).

2.2.1Formal-InformalPublicSpace

In formaldefinitionpublicspace indevelopingcountries takesmanyspatial forms, including

parks, sidewalks, streets and footpaths that connect, playgrounds of recreation and

marketplaces (UN-Habitat, 2015, p.2).Most importantly, it doesn’tmean that public space

needs to be an open space (Carmona, 2010). It varies in nature based on the functions it

performs. Public space forms the setting for the exhibition of ceremonial festivities of the

multi-cultural city, provision for infrastructure, setting for community life, trade of the

commercialcity(UN-Habitat,2015).However,inpracticethetypologyofpublicspacecanbe

sometimes different in developing countries. They are inmost casesmultidimensional and

informal in contrast toclearlydefined landuse zoning (Cantada,2015).Because, inmostof

the developing countries the master-plans that have little prospect for being enacted or

enforcedbecomeoutdatedbeforetheywereeverimplemented(Martine,2008).Peoplehere

organize their space without the assistance from any professional body i.e. planners,

architects, engineers and government planning bodies. It is very frequent that citizen of

developing metropolis becomes the true builders and managers of their own place by

neglecting existing planning documents (WCED, 1985). That’s how the character of public

spacerangesfrompathwaysforpublictransport,edgespacebetweenbuildingsorroadsides,

venues for informal trade and commerce such as hawking and street vending, recreational,

centers of religious and cultural exchange and even places for various household chores as

washing,cookingetc.(UN-Habitat,2012).Substantialplanningandinvestmenteffortarethus

veryimportanttoimproveinfrastructureandmakingservicesandopportunitiesavailablefor

inclusivepublicspaces.

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2.2.2PublicSpacePlanningandManagement

Citiesindevelopingcountriesaretheillustrationofcomplexitiesintermsofservicedelivery,

public investment, development policies, political representation and accountability (Borja,

2001). Inadequate planning framework and legislation is consideredhere as oneof the key

hindrance to goodurbanplanning (UN-Habitat, 2012).Weakplanning framework, legislation

andenforcementhaveresultedingrabbingofpubliclandbyillegalusersandusage.Therole

of regulation and planning guideline that recognizes the capacity to enforce laws and

regulations is the key instrument to secure theprovision, vitality andutility of public space

(UN-Habitat-2015).Unfortunately,theneedofspecificrolesandresponsibilitiesforthestate

of these public spaces as who should be building and managing are usually neglected

(CarmonaandMagalhaes,2006).Ideally,thesustainableurbanplanningsystemsshouldhave

the provision of adequate public space as part of local and municipal plans. Nevertheless,

many of countries legal documents also fails to provide any specific guideline about the

creationandmanagementfunctionsofpublicspace(BlancoandKobayashi,2009).Thereare

somebasic constraints that imperil success in the creation,management andenjoymentof

publicspaceinitiativesinthemetropolisofdevelopingcountries(UN-Habitat-2015,p.31):

- Complexencounterbydifferentlocalauthoritiesinexercisingtheirrole

- Frequentlackofcommunicationbetweenvariousplanningdepartments

- Encroachmentofpublicspacesbyinformalactivities

- Toughtoextractpublicspacefromprivatelandownerswhenlegalframeworks

andtheenforcementofplansareweak

- Increasing urban growth with vast pockets of informal settlements and the

strainonscarcefinancialresources

- Competitionforspacebydifferentusesandusers,resultingintheprivatization

ofpublicspace

- Weak regulatory and legislative frameworks for public-space creation and

preservation

Generally, local governments like municipalities are responsible to take care of the public

spaces.Inmanycitiesthereareevendifferentkindsofstakeholderswhoaredirectlylinkedto

public spacemanagement i.e. other governmentbodies, private sectors etc. Problemsarise

when their roles and responsibilities are not clearly defined in creating, managing and

maintainingpublic spaces.Sharingofmanagement fund isalsoverycrucialaseveryonehas

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their designated development fund and no one elsewould like to take the burden (Prédal,

2014).Therefore,itisextremelyimportanttoclarifyeverystakeholder’sresponsibilitiesforan

effective long term coordinated public spacemanagement system through a clear decision

makingprocess.

It’s the commonpractice in urban planning project to considermanagement aspect as less

importantandsimplyaddedattheend.Thisalwayscreatenon-functionalurbanpublicspaces

those are difficult in manage due to technical difficulties or lack of practical management

issues (Prédal, 2014). After care do matter for proper management of public spaces. Just

placingpublicspacebyoverlookingthesignofdecaysthroughaftermanagementmightbring

a rapidspiralofdecline.Poormanagementcan turnanypublic space toanabandonedand

deteriorated lost space (Carmona andMagalhaes, 2006). The current stateof public spaces

hasbecomeamatterofconcernbecauseofitsmalfunctions.Everydaypublicspacesaretoo

often littered, polluted, unsafe, taken by homeless people, poorly maintained services,

covered by informal businesses, places for street beggars thosemakes this space far away

fromitsprimaryaimofprovidingsocialbreathingspacetothecitypeople.Themanagement

of this public space is always considered as someone else’s problem to clean up while

numerousorganizationsareinthestagetocreateandmanagethisplace(Tibbalds,2001).

2.3PublicSpaceSituationinBangladesh

The situation doesn’t really vary in Bangladesh to other developing countries. With poor

economicbackgroundandspacescarcity,offeringsustainablepublicspaceshasappearedasa

greatchallengetotheplanningorganizations.

2.3.1PublicSpaceinPlanningLegislations

Thedefinitionof“publicspace”inplanningdocumentsofBangladeshisquiteambiguous.Itis

mostly defined as recreational areas, parks and open land which are accessible by public

(Mishuetal.,2014).Unfortunately,thereisnospecificguidelinethatdealswithpublicspace.

The lowest tier of urban structure in Bangladesh ismunicipalitywhere landuse planning is

controlledbyLocalGovernment(Paurshava)Act,2009.Thisactdefines“PublicPlaces”areany

building, space or place where common people have access (Government of Bangladesh,

2009,p.6693).Thesamedefinition isalso found intheLocalGovernment (CityCorporation)

Act, 2009. This act imposes development control in the city corporations of Bangladesh.

Exceptthisdefinitionthereisnootherdirectionfoundforthefunctionsandmanagementof

publicspacesinthesetwoimportantplanninglegislations.

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Therearefourdevelopmentauthoritieswhoareresponsibleforplanninganddevelopmentof

four divisional cities of Bangladesh. These are: Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakha (RAJUK),

ChittagongDevelopmentAuthority(CDA),RajshahiDevelopmentAuthority(RDA)andKhulna

Development Authority (KDA). All of them are controlled by their respective ordinances.

“PublicSpace”alsocameintheirlanduseplanintermsofopenspace,parksandrecreation.

Forexample,theCDAdetailedareaplanpublishedin2009saysthatthecityhasashortageof

requiredpublicspaces.Itdidn’tworkinpracticeasplannedin1961masterplan.So,inrecent

developmentplantheyhavegiventheprovisionofmakingmorepublicspacesinthecityina

kindofpark,openspaceandrecreationalsite(ChittagongDevelopmentAuthority,2009).The

publicspacehasalsoappearedasopenspace,parkandplayfieldinKhulnadevelopmentplan.

In the 2001master plan the proposalmade as to preserve two acres of land as open and

greenspacefor1000population(KhulnaDevelopmentAuthority,2002).

Mega city, Divisional Town and District Town’s municipal areas including country’s all the

municipalareas’playground,openspace,parkandnaturalwaterreservoirConservationAct,

2000 also dealswith some specific parts of public space asmentioned in the title. This act

enforces themaximumpublicity and use ofmaster plan to implement it in field to control

unplanned development of the city that can save the public spaces not be encroached by

otherpurposes(GovernmentofBangladesh,2000).

So,theplanningframeworksofBangladeshdon’thaveanyspecificguidelinesforpublicspace

thatresultsindenseurbanareaswithouthavingpropersocialbreathingspaceforitscitizen.

2.3.2OwnershipandCoordinationforPublicSpaceManagement

Therearedifferentlevelsofauthoritiesinvolvedinurbanplanningandmanagementservices.

Their roles and responsibilities are designated in their respective legislation. Conflicts arise

when several authorities share same jurisdictionwith overlapping responsibilities (Rahman,

2015). City Corporations and Municipalities get the responsibility to develop master plan,

structureplananddetailedareaplan tocontrolurbandevelopment.TheLocalGovernment

(CityCorporation)Act,2009definestherolesandresponsibilitiesofcitycorporations.Section

50ofthisactstatesthaturbanplanninganddevelopmentofcitycorporationareasshouldbe

done by this authority. According to this act city corporation can alsomakemarkets, park,

openspace,streetandpublicspacetoensureasustainablecitylife.Theyarealsoresponsible

for the better management of these places by plantation, up gradation and regular

maintenance (Government of Bangladesh, 2009). Beside city corporations there are 320

municipalitiesinBangladeshwhoarecontrolledbyLocalGovernment(Paurshava)Act,2009.

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Thisactalsogivesthemtheresponsibilityofdoingmasterplanforthemunicipalities.Under

this act they are entitled to take development initiatives, decide land use, protect

environmentandothercityplanningactivities(GovernmentofBangladesh,2009).Thereare

alsofourdifferentplanningauthorities inBangladeshwhoare inpracticetodevelopmaster

plans and land use zoning at different levels. These planning authorities fix standard for

differentlanduseswithintheirownjurisdictions(Nazem,2016).

So,ithasbeenobservedthatseveralorganizationsaredoingthesamework.Sometimes,they

work in the same jurisdiction areas.Development authorities havemanymunicipalities and

city corporation that own same geographic boundary. Organizational cooperation and

coordination hence is one of the pressing issues of Bangladesh. Sharing responsibility

particularlyoverlappingfunctionsandownershipofworkboundarymakestheplanningtask

difficult. Even, these organizations work under separate ministry which certainly affects

development plans having the absence of role casting principle (Rahman, 2015, p.331).

Rahman(2016)inhisresearchstatedthatapartfromfinancialandpoliticalbureaucracythere

is a lack of coordination among the different development bodies that makes the plan

obscure. So, similar to other civic services public space creation and management have

challengedbythispoorcoordinationpracticesofplanningagencies.

2.3.3InformalFormsofPublicSpace

Theuseofanyspacereflectsthewaypeoplehaveusedit(Madanipour,2010)whichcanadda

different definition to public space situation in Bangladesh. Place is a product of practice,

relationsandconnectionsthatallowsforamultiplicityofparallelfunctions.Theuseofspace

ineveryday lifehenceoutlines thedynamic functionswhicharemanycasesspontaneous in

character(Hackenbroch,2013).ThecitiesofBangladesharein lackofpublicspace.Planning

authorities have also failed to provide required spaces where public gathering can happen

(Mishu et al. 2014). So, an informal growth of public space is observed in the dense urban

areas.Theaccessibilityanduseofthesespontaneousformsarebecomingsubjectstoinformal

activities like street vendors and shops that go beyond the actual use of any space

(Hackenbroch, et al., 2009). The socialization process also influences people to accept or

trespass spatial boundaries in any place. Specific social perception, style or routine of

interactioninspacedefinethenatureofthatplace.Thisistheuserswhoactuallyusepublic

spacecharacterizethatspacebasedontheirinterestsandfreedomofactions(Etzold,2011).

Informal community public spaces can be an example of this that evolves from this

socializationprocesswhichareverycommoninBangladesh.Themanagementandoperating

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rulesalsovaryaccordingtotheownershipstructureandfunctionsofthesepublicspaces.For

the formal public spaces municipalities or other city authorities legally define the

managementfunctions.Incontrary,besidestheformalrulestheinformalunwrittenpractices

govern the maintenance of the spontaneously evolved public spaces (Frey, 2004). This

complex formal and informal function of public space receives much importance in

sustainablemanagementofthiscivicplace.

2.3.4Socio-CulturalPerspectiveofPublicSpace

Socialpracticescanalsodefinepublicspacesaccordingtoitsfunctions,logicandvalue(Frey,

2004).Theaccessanduseofurbanpublicspacescanbecomeamatterofcontestationasper

divergent interest and group of actors. This is not always the city authorities or statewho

posesaccesscontrol(Etzold,2011).Socialnorms,valuesandinterestsometimesimplicatethe

exclusion or displacement of certain activities, uses and users (Hackenbroch, et al., 2009).

Societies may have different social groups with divergent views, values and beliefs. These

differenceswithinsocietymaygiverisetovarioustensionsovertheuseofspaceforindividual

orsocialpurposes(Sharpetal.2000).InBangladeshwomenhaveshowedmuchprogression

in their economic and social position that altered the nature of urban public space by the

visible presence of women. However, these changes don’t affect all women equally. The

accesstourbanpublicspacesisstilldominantbyman.So,agenderedspatialsegregationof

urban public space is observed in Bangladesh (Redclift, 2013). Access to public spaces by

gender roles are inmany cases restricted by social practices in Bangladesh. There is a high

levelofsexualviolenceandharassmentsarereportedinurbanpublicspaces.Thisisbecause

women’ssocialstatushasnotimprovedmuchalongsidetheireconomicindependencewhich

isdeeplyrootedinpatriarchalsociety(ActionAid,2014).Islam,MahmudandIslam(2015)also

argued that most of the existing open spaces face safety and security, environmental,

managerialandinstitutional,qualityoffacilityduetolackofpropermanagementsystem.So,

womendon’tfeelsafetoaccesstotheseurbanpublicspaces.

2.4Conclusion

Urbanpublic spaces indevelopingcountriesare challengedby complexplanning structures.

Lack of coordination and cooperation between planning authorities always results in non-

functional and poorlymaintained public spaces. Ambiguous or even non-existence of clear

direction to create andmanage public spaces has alsomade the situationworst. Improper

practices of land use planning also create informal activities over planned functions of any

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space. Beside these common challenges the urban public spaces in Bangladesh is also

confronted by its socio-cultural structures. Access to these public areas are sometimes

controlledornotconsideredsafeforwomen.So,gendernormsalsodefinetheuseandaccess

topublicspaces.

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ChapterThree:Methodology

3.1 Methods

Theoutcomeofany researchmostlydependsonwhich researchmethodhasbeenselected

andthatwasexecutedinfield.Forthisworkamethodshouldbechosenthancanperforman

empiricalenquiryof thepublicspaceproblemsforadevelopingcountriesmetropoliswhere

case studymethod foundbest suitable.Using thismethod the investigationwasperformed

foracontemporaryreallifesituationfrommultiplesourcesofevidences.

3.1.1CaseStudyMethod

Beyondthecriticismofbeingan introductoryexplanatoryprocess“CaseStudy”methodhas

established itself as a strong researchmethod. Robert K. Yin (1984, p. 23) defines the case

studyresearchmethodas:

“..anempirical inquiry that investigatesa contemporaryphenomenon

within itsreal-lifecontext;whentheboundariesbetweenphenomenon

and context are not clearly evident; and in whichmultiple sources of

evidenceareused.”

Case studies as a research method explore the real life phenomenon through detailed

contextualanalysiswithinagivenboundary,timeandrelationships(Flyvbjerg,2006).Insome

casestudiesanin-depthexaminationofsingleeventisusedoveracertainperiodoftime.The

processallowsaresearchertoinvestigateacaseinfarmoredetailthandealingwitha large

numberofinterestgroupstodrawconclusionbasedaveraging(Zainal,2007).

Cities are the complex networks of social, economic and political activity. Hence, urban

planning research has relied heavily on case studies over the last fifty years. Case study

approachesallowplannerstoprovidetheevidence,depth,anddetailaboutanyurbancontext

that othermethodsmay not capture (Birch, 2012). The phenomenon that separates urban

planningfromotherdisciplineisitsrelationtospace.Challengesarisewhenplannershaveto

deal with the complex relation of space with other variables as environment, social class,

politicsandevenhumanpsychology.Casestudymethodisafarmoreflexiblemethodthatcan

tolerate this complex and dynamic elements of urbanism. It can represent the varied and

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conflicting voices of the citymore flexibly than a traditional statistical summary (Campbell,

2003).

This research aims to dealwith the public space situation of a developing country context.

Here, case study found the best option to be chosen as the researchmethod. Under this

study an in depth analysis of public space has been performed for a city in Bangladesh.

ConsideringthetimelimitationthecaseanalysisforKhulnamightbethebestoptionbecause

ithasuncoveredtherealsituationofBangladeshbyrepresentingonetypicalurbansituation.

KhulnaisoneofthebigcitiesofBangladeshwheredifferentlevelsofplanningorganizations

areinpractice.So,thediversityinplanningrulesandregulationsandthecoordinationeffort

intermsofpublicspacemanagementcanalsobefoundbyanalyzingthecity.

Oneof the limitationsof this studymightbe lookingatone city context thatmaynothave

external validity for other cases. It’s true that generalization can’t be done for different

developingcountriesmetropolis;however,thisstudyrestsonsomecertainassumptionsand

hasperformeddeeperontologicalanalysiswhichcandrawsimilarchallengesfortheothers.

3.2DataCollection

This research depends onboth secondary andprimary sources. Thedata collection process

canbeillustratedbelow:

a) Questionnaire Survey: A simple questionnaire was developed for the residents of

Khulnacity to identify thepublic spacesaccessedby them.Theywereaskedon the

type and functions of these areas. Besides, information on ownership and overall

maintenancequalitywasalsobeencollected fromthis survey.The targetaudiences

wereversatileinnaturebyage,sex,socialclassandeducationwhowereselectedon

randomsamplingbasis.Theideaisthattocapturethedifferencesintheuseofpublic

spacebydiversegroupwhichmaydefinepublicspaceindifferentways.Therewere

sixtyeightresponsesreceivedfromthesurvey.Amongthem37.31%arefemaleand

62.69%aremale.Therespondentswerealsoclassifiedunderfiveagecategoryfrom

18 to more than 70. People participated in this survey also represent different

occupation group which define their socio-economic situation and their respective

accesstopublicspaces.

b) Review Legal Documents: Master plan prepared by KDA is the key development

guidelinefollowedinKhulnatocontroldevelopmentgrowth.Thisdocumenthasbeen

thoroughly reviewed to identify that how the public spaces are defined here in the

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document. Khulna Development Authority Ordinance, 1961 and Local Government

(CityCorporation)Act,2009whichdescribetherolesandresponsibilitiesofKDAand

KCCwere also been reviewed. Thiswas important to understand specific roles and

responsibilitiesoftheseauthoritiestocreateandmanagethepublicspaces.

c) In-depthDiscussion:Itwasimportantforthestudytounderstandthepracticalpublic

spacemanagementsituationofKhulnacity.That’swhytwoin-depthinterviewswith

theurbanplannersofKDAandKCCwereconducted.

d) In-depthInformationCollectionforPublicSpaces:PublicspacesofKhulnaareversatile

infunctionsandownership.Tobetterexplorethesituationthreepublicspacesfrom

differentownershipandmanagementcontextweresurveyed.

3.3IndicatorSelection

Indicatorsareimportantforresearchtoguidecollectingempiricalevidences.Thesurveysand

interviewswereperformedindifferentstagesasdiscussedintheprevioussections.Indicators

sethere for individual researchquestionsensured thatall requireddata sourceshavebeen

contactedandinformationcollected.Later,theanalysisofthestudyfindingsalsofollowedthe

indicatorssetupheretoensurethatresearchgoalhasbeenachieved.Thetablegivenbelow

isthesummaryofthoseindicators:

Table3.1:IndicatorsforResearchQuestions

ResearchQuestion Indicators

How the public spaces are

createdandmanaged?

Complexitiesinownershipandmanagement

responsibility

Developmentandmaintenanceofpublicspace

Coordinationandcooperationbetweenauthorities

Managementofinformaluseandformsofpublicspace

How do the users in developing

country define and characterize

urbanpublicspace?

Functionsofplaceandit’sconnectiontopeople

Formalandinformalownership

Plannedandspontaneoususeofspace

Usercategory

Usersatisfactiontoaccesspublicspace

Frequencyandlevelofuse

Socialacceptability

Genderrole

Source:Author,2017

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3.4OverallMethodology

There were two in-depth discussions held with urban planners from the two development

authorities in Khulna. This discussion helped analyzing the actual practices to create and

managepublic spaces in this city.Themanagement, coordinationandownershipchallenges

betweenthesetwoauthoritieswerealsobeenreflected inthisdiscussion.Thesearguments

weresupplementedbyreviewingtheplanning legislationspracticedbytheseauthorities for

urbanpublicspacemanagementinKhulnacity.Interviewscriptsweredeveloped,codedand

summarized for analysis.Chapter fourbasically is the findings for this analysis that answers

theresearchquestionone.

Therewasalsooneonlinesurveyconductedtounderstandashowthepublicspacesareused

by the residents of Khulna city. Themain goal behind this surveywas to understandusers’

perceptiontodefinepublicspacesinKhulnacitythatanswersresearchquestiontwo.Allthe

collected data were organized in a database and analyzed for the findings. The survey

responsehelped finding the formaland spontaneouspublicuseof this civic space.Answers

fromdifferentsocialandgendergroupsalsohelpedto realize thesocio-culturalandgender

perspectives that might define public spaces differently. Overall situation analysis of three

publicspaceswasalsoperformedthatrepresentstheusualpublicspacequalityofKhulnacity.

Finally, based on the findings of research question one and two some sustainable

managementsolutionswereproposedthatmighthelpofferingsustainablepublicspacesfor

thecitizenofKhulna.

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ChapterFour:CreationandManagementofPublicSpace

KhulnaCityCorporationandKhulnaDevelopmentAuthorityarethetwolargeactorswhohold

themajorgroundtoensuresuccessfulcreationandmanagementofpublicspaces inKhulna

city.Theyareguidedbyseparateactsandordinanceswhichdefinestheirspecificroles.These

responsibilities sometimes become ambiguous because of overlapping accountabilities. So,

theinterrelationshipandcoordinationmechanismisveryimportanttounderstandthepublic

spacemanagementforKhulnacity.

4.1PublicSpaceinMasterPlan

KDAplaystheleadingroletoprovidethedevelopmentguidelineforKhulnacity.Accordingto

the KDA Ordinance 1961 KDA gets sole responsibility for the preparation and execution of

masterplan.

“The Authority shall, as soon as feasible, but not more than two years after the

provisions of this Ordinance comes into force, prepare and submit to the Provincial

Government for approval a Master Plan for the Municipality and the areas in its vicinity

indicatingthemannerinwhichitproposesthatlandshouldbeused(whetherbycarryingout

thereonofdevelopmentorotherwise)andthestagesbywhichanysuchdevelopmentshould

becarriedout”(GovernmentofBangladesh,1961,p.7).

All the development agencies and private owners are legally liable to follow this planning

guidelineforanykindofdevelopmentinitiatives.Theuseofanylandwithinthejurisdictionis

fixedaccordingthemasterplan.So,todedicateany landforpublicuse it is importanttobe

mentionedas“PublicSpace”intheseplanningdocuments.Unfortunately,thereisnoofficial

termusedforpublicspaceinKDAdocumentsexceptopenspace,streetsandmarkets.Thisis

somehowrestrictstheboundaryofpublicspacesthatresultsininformalcreationofthiscivic

space. The LocalGovernment (City Corporation) Act, 2009 however defines public space as

“publicplace”whichcouldbeanybuilding,yardorplacewheregeneralpeoplehaveaccess.

Nevertheless,thedefinitionisveryvagueanddoesn’tprovideanyspecificsetofrulesaswhat

doesitmeanbypublicaccessandatwhatlevels.

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KDAmaster plan provides somedevelopment proposals for streets,markets, town centers,

openspacesandparksasidebyotherkeysectors.Inthesesectionspublicuseoftheseareas

cametosomeextent.Forexample, it is said that theroadsofKhulnadon’tprovideenough

pedestrianfacilitiesalthoughfiftypercentofpeoplemaketheirtripstoworkplacebywalking

(KhulnaDevelopmentAuthority, 2002). Theproposal thusmade to provide enoughwalking

spaceforthecitydwellersspeciallyinthemarketplacesandshoppingwherelargescalemass

gathering is observed. Town centers should also be provided sufficient cultural and

recreational facilitiesto increasesocial interactions.Thesefacilities includevarietiesofretail

shops, eating places, cinemas, auditoriums, games and sport areas. Public open spaces are

also proposed in terms of metropolitan and community level park, zoo, botanical garden,

playfieldetc.So,itisagoodsignthattheplanningdocumentshavesomeguidelinestocreate

spacewhich is accessible for public use though it doesn’t provide detail functions of these

placesaspublicspace.

4.2DevelopmentofPublicSpace

AlthoughKDAprepares planning guidelines for Khulna thedevelopmentworks aredoneby

different public and private authorities including KDA. There are KCC, District commission,

KhulnaWaterSupplyandSewerageAuthority(KWASA),BangladeshRailwayetc.whoinitiate

differentdevelopmentprojectforKhulna.AccordingtoKDAordinanceeveryauthorityisliable

tofollowthemasterplanpreparedbyKDA.Hence,itisverymuchimportanttohaveagood

coordinationbetweentheseauthorities.AmongthesestakeholdersKCCtakesthemajorrole

toprovideandmaintaincivicservicesforcitydwellersthatincludescreationandmanagement

of streets, open spaces, markets and others. So, at least a good sharing of work update

betweenthetwo leadingdevelopmentactorsofKhulna ishighlyexpected.Unfortunately, it

happens very rarely that result in misunderstanding and distrust between these two

importantorganizations.So,plansmostlyremainsinpaperthanactualexecutioninplace.

The most common tension arises between these two authorities while implementing any

developmentproject.ItcanbewelldescribedfromthevoiceoftwopersonnelfromKDAand

KCC:

“KCCshouldobeythedevelopmentguidelinesasmentionedinmasterplanwhenever

theyaregoing to implementanydevelopmentwork.They should takepermission fromKDA

whilechangingtheactualplanformaintenanceorotherpurposes”

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“KDAnever considerusas the keyactor for thedevelopmentof Khulna. They rarely

consultuswhilegivingpermissionforanydevelopmentworkinKhulnacityalthoughthefinal

responsibilitycomestoustoprovidethecivicservices.”

So, these twoauthorities seemshave lack in trustand respectoneachother.Public spaces

within themaintenance responsibility of respective authorities have hardly been consulted

withother.Theyconsiderthisastheirownjurisdictionswherenoothersshouldhaveanything

toinfluence.

The lack of coordination between KDA and KCCwas also observed during themaster plan

development phase. According to these authorities no separatemeeting between KDA and

KCCwasheldduringthisstage.KCCwasmainlypresentatgeneralpublicsharing.So,similar

tootherdevelopmentworkbothauthoritieshavetheirdifferentperspectiveforpublicspace

aswell.

4.3 MaintenanceofPublicSpaces

ThemaintenanceresponsibilityofpublicspacesisabitcomplexforKhulnaCity.Therearelists

of organizations involved in overtaking this liability. For the sake of analysis two broad

sectionscouldbemadeinthiscaseasKDAdevelopedareasandKCCdevelopedareas.While

anydevelopmentprojectistakenbyKDAitcompletesallthecomponentsthatincluderoads,

drains, open space and facilities for otherutility services.According toKDAordinance after

thecompletionofproject theyare liable tohandover themaintenance responsibilityof the

utilityservices to respectiveauthorities.Forexample, roadsandpedestrianwaysgo toKCC,

electricityfacilitytoBangladeshpowerdevelopmentboard,drainandwatersupplytoKWASA.

Here,thecommoncomplainsraisedbyKCCareonroaddesignandquality.AccordingtoKCC

priortothehandovertothesepublicroadsKCChasneverbeeninvitedorconsultedonquality

ofproductsordesign.TheyjustreceivetheroadsfromKDAandsaidtomaintainafterwards.

KCCdoesn’tevengetanymaintenancecostfromKDAtotakecareoftheroads.So,negligence

on these handover roads is much prevalent. They find this more important to spend their

budget on KCC developed roads than KDA one. Therefore, as an end users the citizen of

Khulnaalwaysfindsfragileandbrokenroadsduetopoormaintenance.

KDAalsotakethemaintenanceresponsibilityforsomeoftheirproperty.KhulnaNewMarket,

the famousbigmarket inKhulna,hasbeencreatedandownedbyKDA.Here,KDAtake the

leading role tomanage and provide facilities to the shop owners and users. KDA has fixed

somemaintenance fees according to shop size. In return they providemaintenance service

that covers big repairing work, cleaning, toilet facilities and others. There is also amarket

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managementcommitteeformedwiththerepresentativefromshopowners.KDAmaintaina

goodrelationwiththiscommitteetoensureagoodenvironmentfortheusers.

KCC also own several public spaces in Khulna city which they have developed and are

responsibletotakecareoftheservices.Forexample,HadisPark,SonadangaSolarpark,KCC

markets etc. For themarkets KCC receivemaintenance fee from the shopowners. KCChas

their annual development budget for the reconstruction and maintenance work of these

areas.

Theinformaldevelopmentofpublicspaceboomedupeasily inmultiownedandmaintained

areas.Asdiscussedbeforelackofcoordinationandsharingmentalitybetweentheauthorities

keepsmanyspacesuncared.Localmusclemenorstreethawkerstookoverareasandcreate

informal public spaces. No formal maintenance is performed in these areas that creates

unhealthyenvironment.

4.4FundManagement

The creation andmaintenance of public spaces largely depends on the availability of fund.

EveryfiscalyearKCCpublishtheirbudgetthat indicatesthemajorsectorswherethemoney

willbespent.KCCmainlyhasthreesourcesoffundasrevenuefromtax,governmentdonation

for special project and donors’ contribution for specific development work. The regular

cleaningandmaintenanceofthepublicspacesaredonefromrevenuebudget.Unlessthereis

anyspecificdevelopmentworkmentionedintheannualbudgetthefatetocreatenewpublic

spacesdependsongovernmentordonorcontribution.So,KCCfindsthisisthemainchallenge

toarrangesufficientfundtooffernewpublicspacesforthecitydwellers.

As discussed before, in KDA developed areas the maintenance responsibility of roads and

pedestrianwaysgoestoKCC.KCCdon’ttaketheliabilitytotakecareofthecommunityparks

and open spaces. It’s the KDA who have to ensure the functionality of these services.

UnfortunatelyKDAdon’thaveanymaintenancebudgetforthesecommunityparksandopen

spacesunlessthereisanyspecialdevelopmentbudget.Theydeveloptheareaandprovidethe

maintenanceresponsibilitytothecommunityhouseownerscommittee.Theresidentslivingin

thecommunityprovidecertainamountofmonthlymaintenancefee.Thecommitteespends

moneyfromthebudgetifanymaintenanceworkisrequired.Unfortunately,theexamination

of thesepublic spaces foundsomeof those inverypoorquality.The involvementofKCC in

developingandmaintainingtheseimportantcommunityspacesmayimprovethesituation.

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4.5Non-FunctionalCommittee

Khulna Development Authority Ordinance, 1961 states that in the KDA management

committeethereshouldbetworepresentativesfromKhulnaCityCorporation(formerKhulna

Municipalitywhen the ordinancewas published) aside by other key stakeholder. This is for

better coordinationeffortwhile takinganydevelopmentdecisions. Similar toKDA theLocal

Government (City Corporation)Act, 2009 also states the presenceof KDA representative in

KCC. This act makes it mandatory to organize at least one monthly meeting with all

stakeholderstoshareworkupdatesandtakedecisionforfutureinitiatives.Inthismeetingcity

corporation can invite KDA chairman to get their concern. Unfortunately, none of these

initiativesobservedactivewithintheorganizationalbodyinnormalsituation.KDAsometimes

invites KCC representative only when big development projects are taken. The situation is

quite similar in KCC. If KCC consider the presence of KDA is important for any large scale

projectonlythenKDArepresentativesarecalledformeeting.Theissuesonpublicspacethus

always kept beyond the coordination effort of KDA and KCC unless it falls under the big

categorydevelopmentinitiatives.

4.6LackofControloverInformalSettlements

For the Khulna people the informal settlements function as very popular public space. The

popularplace isroadsidecafés,teastallsandfoodkioskswhich inmostcasesdevelopedin

government properties without proper permission. Private owners also use their land

violating land use rules. This is true that these places offer some social space for the city

dwellerslivinginthechaoticcity,however,theunplannedgrowthofthisshantyshopscreate

traffic congestion, encroachment of pedestrian ways, polluted surroundings etc. Controlled

planned development of these physical spacesmight enable these networks to evolve in a

moreattractiveway.

The legal documents give both authorities i.e. KDA and KCC the right to control the

unauthorizedencroachmentof land.According to LocalGovernment (CityCorporation)Act,

2009 KCC can provide notice to land owner or the person developing any land or make

changes of the land by violating master plan. If the person doesn’t take initiatives as per

notice KCC has the power to demolish the construction. Similarly, KDA can impose some

penaltiesiftheconstructiondoesn’tproperlyfollowmasterplanorbuildingapprovalreceived

fromKDA.Inpractice,KCCconsiderthisasKDA’sresponsibilitytocontrollanduseofKhulna

citybecausethemasterplansaredevelopedbythem.However,someillegalencroachmentof

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streethawkersisdonebyKCC.Ontheotherside,KDAconsiderthisisverydifficultforthem

alone toensure thesuccessful implementationofmasterplanwithvery limitedwork force.

Noneof theauthoritiesareboundtocommunicate toeachotherduring implementationof

their role for development controls. So, a communication gap is always prevalent in their

relationship. A better coordination between these two authorities could control the

unauthorizedencroachmentoflandandprovidesomesmartpublicspacesforthecitizens.

4.7Conclusion

In a nutshell, there are multifaceted challenges both in planning documents and practice

thosemakepublic space creation andmanagement a hard job.Unclear definition of public

space inmaster plan and city corporation legal documents limits the boundary of this civic

spacetosomefixedforms.Manyofthefunctionsofpublicspacehenceleftbehindtheformal

physical space.As a result bunchof themhas emerged informally by the city dwellers. The

coordinationandcooperationbetweenthekeystakeholdersofKhulnahasalso identifiedas

major management challenge. This mainly depends on the personal relationship exists

between these head of these authorities. Sometimes, politics play here the key role. If the

chairman or head and city mayor don’t belong the same political or ideological belief an

uncomfortable relation between organizations always prevails. This affects the inter-

organizational working environment. Nevertheless, legal bindings provide some good

coordinationeffort,however,non-practiceoftheseregulationsmakethemmostlyobsolete.

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ChapterFive:ClassificationofPublicSpace

Themanagement,coordinationandplanningchallengesleavetheformationofpublicspacein

thehandofcitypeople.Thisisthesocietyanduserswhomaketheirowndefinitionofpublic

space.Thepeople,cultureandpowerrelationsshapeurbanpublicspacesintocontestedand

fragmentedformsthatreorderedthiscivicspacetosomenewidentities. Inthischapterthe

public space of Khulna city will be analyzed based on some assumptions found from field

surveys.Urbanpublicspacecanbeclassifiedaccordingtotheuseassignedtothemlike,café,

playground, open square etc. Whereas, the access to public spaces sometimes define the

boundary to use this place. Public spaces can also be characterized by the gender norms,

ownershipandsocio-economicstatus.Here,theattempthasbeenmadetoanalyzetheurban

publicspacefromdifferentperspectivesoftheusers.

5.1FunctionsofPlace

Functionsofplacearedefinedasasetofactivitiesperformedtosatisfytheparticularneedsof

any society. These functions are generally assigned based on its natural and economic

potential(MintsandPreobrazhenskiy,1972).Cityauthoritiesdevelopmasterplanforthecity

where the functions of different spaces are scaled. The survey conducted in Khulna city to

identify the available public space for city dwellers results in a range of placeswith varied

functions.Belowgivenfigurecanprovideaglimpseoftheplacewherepeoplemeetforsocial

gathering:

Fig5.1Listofplacespeoplemeetforsocialgathering(Source:FieldSurvey,2017)

28|P a g e

Thestreetsare thepopularplace for social interaction.Despite themain functionsofbeing

travelnetwork itoffers several services like shopping, street foodshops,walkingetc.which

attracts people to spend time here with family and friends. The open spaces can also be

characterized as parks, community space and playground. Themain idea of planning open

space is toprovidepeoplesomeopenareaswherecitypeoplecanspendtheir leisuretime.

Among the citizenofKhulnamarketplacesand shoppingmalls arealso verypopularpublic

placewherepeoplecandoshoppingandmakefreetimeinthemarketareas.Publiclibraryis

quitedifferentthanotherpublicspaces.Thisoffersthepublicaccesstoreadingbooks,spend

timewithfriendsanddiscussontheirthoughts.Thesepublicplacesarecharacterizedbased

ontheactivitiesperformedbytheusers.Sometimes,usersimprovisetheplannedendeavors

tochasetheirdemandandthisiswhentheplacesgetnewdimensions.So,everypublicspace

classifiedaboveaccordingtotheirfunctionscanbeanalyzedbasedonplannedandunplanned

orspontaneousformsandactivities.

5.1.1StreetsandtheAdjacentAreas

The streets in the case city gobeyond themain functionof linking roadnetwork for travel.

This is theplacewhere lifeunfolds.Peopleroutinelycomeheretoencounterpeople,bump

intofriendsandcelebratefestivals.It’sameansofsocialengagementirrespectiveofage,sex

andsocialclass.

a) PlacesandTheirPlannedFunctions

Ingeneral,theroadsinKhulnadon’thavemuchplannedformstoactaspublicspaceexcept

pedestrianways, road side cafés and restaurants. The intensity and quality of the activities

performedinthestreetsalsovaryaccordingtoitslocationandtypes.

i. WalkingTrails:Theroadsherearecharacterizedbyheavytrafficmovementwith

poorfacilitiesbynon-motorizedvehicles.Hence,trafficcongestionisveryobvious

tobepresent in thebusystreets.So,walking in the roads is sometimes riskyas

there ishardlyany facility forpedestrians.Thesituation is jeopardizedby illegal

encroachment of street hawkers. Small shops and haphazard vehicle parking

make the walkable parts of roads much narrower. Despite, these practicalities

streets appeared as top position to be considered as social centers. The

neighborhood street where traffic is less still attracts many people for free

walking.Thisisanimportantjoggingplacetothehealthconsciouspeople.Lackof

open space has raised the demand of adding this function to streets. In the

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morningwhen there is less traffic and street shops are still closedwalking and

exercisingalongtheroadwaysisacommonscenario.

ii. RoadSideCaféandRestaurant:Thecitywherebikingorwalkingisdangerousand

parksoropenspacesareveryscarcelypresent,caféandrestaurantbecomesvery

popularamong thecitizen tospendsocial time.Herecomes the roadsidecafés

thosemighttookthetoppositiontobumpingintoneighbors,familyandfriends.

These cafés could be both formal and informal in character. This is a profitable

businessasmanypeoplehangouthereaftertheirbusyworkday.So,municipality

andalsoprivateownersdevelop these facilitieswhichare formal. InKhulnacity

anyonecanobserveplentyofsmallcafésandrestaurantsintheshoppingstreets,

main city roads and highways. They offer cheap foods with unlimited time of

sitting arrangement that easily attractsmany people to relax,meet people and

talk.Thequalityofthecafésandrestaurantsrangesfromverycheapandshanty

smallshopstohighqualityexpensivebigone.Usercategoriesalsovaryaccording

to the aesthetic andbusiness quality. These places are very popular among the

womenwhofeelsafeandcomfortablevisitingtheseplacesbythemselves.

b) SpontaneousUse

One of key reasons of considering streets as public space is its accessibility. It’s open for

twenty four hours a day in sevendays aweek. Afterwork on theirway back homepeople

consider it’s thebest place to relax, eat and socialize as it offers plentyof opportunities to

spend time.Usually, the road crossings, dead end and in front of shopping centers are the

mostpopularstreetspaceamongthecitypeople.Thedynamicactivitiesoftheseareasattract

peopletocomeandspendsocialtime.

i) Civic Functions: Streets are also the center of civic actions. Political parties in

democraticgovernmentsystemalwaysusethispaceastheirplatformtorepresent

theirthought.Observingpoliticalmeetings,humanrallyorprotestagainstinjustice

everythinghappenshere.

ii) Place to Celebrate Life and Culture: Observing cultural program by blocking the

roads are also found here in the city. During festivals it’s common practice to

organizefunctions likeculturalprograminsomepartsofthestreets.Even, inthe

localstreets insidetheneighborhoodsplayinggameslikecricketorbadmintonby

childrencanalsobefound.So,streetsappearwithallofitscolorofbeingasocial

spaceincitylife.

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iii) Informal Tea Stalls and Food Kiosk: This is quite similar to formal café and

restaurant but very informal in functions. This small shanty shopsmostly locates

over the pedestrian ways or vacant spaces beside road kept for future

development. These are controlled by local muscle men who receive donation

fromtheshopowners.Thisisagoodmeetingplacefordifferentclassesofpeople.

Students, professionals, rickshaw pullers etc. people from different social group

comeheretohaveteaand/orsnacksandspendsocialtimetoothers.

iv) Informal Parents Gathering in front of Children School: Surprisingly, children’s

school is a verypopular ground to thehousewivesor caretakerswhobring their

childrentotheschool.It’sacommonpracticeheretocarrykidstotheirschoolby

theirparentswhichismostlydonebythehousewiveswhostayathome.Theyfind

thisplaceasthekeymeetingpointwithotherparents.Whenthekidsareatschool

parents spend the time in the streets outside the school compound. Parents

consider thiswise to relax herewith others than travelling again to get children

back home. So, women having social talk with others parents, sharing cooking

recipes, discussing about children education, sewing cloths or having foods are

verycommontoseeinschoolstreets.Asanindirectimpactofthisregularhuman

crowdcreatebusinessopportunitytomanypeople.Anyonecanseebeautyparlor,

tailor shop, food stalls located near to these areas thatmake business from this

gathering.

v) Informal Place for Professional Meeting: Illegal encroachment of government

properties is very common in Bangladesh. It’s very normal to see political party

offices or small owner associations located in the road side vacant areas. In the

surveysomepeoplehavementionedtheirprofessionalassociationofficeasmain

socialgatheringspace.Thiswasspecifically saidbyday laborormasonswhohas

theirassociationinthestreetsides.Thisisthemainmeetingplaceforthemwhere

theycomeafterwork intheevening.Mostofthemareverytemporary innature

with fragile construction material. Day labors or masons of specific regions i.e.

wardboundarymakethisplaceastheirmeetingpoint.Although,thebasicideaof

making this space is to take care of their rights and discuss on their problems.

However, it has become the main recreational space to them where they do

chitchat,watchtelevisionanddiscussabouttheirworks.Although, itdidn’tcome

in the survey professional association could also be mentioned for well-known

profession like lawyers association, doctors group, teacher association etc. They

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are more formal in nature and have legal establishment setting. The access to

theseprofessionalassociationsmayberestrictedtosomespecificusergrouponly.

Nevertheless, it isnodoubtapublicspacetoits largeinterestgroupwhichoffers

thatopportunityofhavingsocialencounter.

vi) Drinking Water Collection Point: In Bangladesh drinking water usually does not

come in supplywater. People living inKhulnamostly collectdrinkingwater from

the public tubewells provided by KCCwhich are inmost cases located in street

corners. This work is mainly done by the house maid. So, while surveying with

someofthisgroupofpeoplethisplacehasappearedastheirsocialmeetingpoint.

This is a very smallplaceandnotaimedatmaking this apublic gathering space.

There is no formal service to have a sit or do other things. However, every day

watercollectorsvisittheplaceandtakethatopportunitytomeetotherswhocome

hereforsamepurposes.Thisplaceisconsideredastheirprimepointtoencounter

others,sharetheirproblemsorhappinessandtakenewsofothers.

5.1.2OpenSpace

The city lacksdesiredopen space for its people.According toKDA there is only 0.1 acreof

openspaceper1000personswhichisverylowcomparedtoanystandardcity.Thisindicates

thatthecity is inneedofmoreopenpublicspacestomake itmore livable.Therearesome

open spaces within and adjacent to the cities which are accessed by the city people for

differentpurposes.

a) PlacesandTheirPlannedFunctions

Despite fund and space limitations city authorities provide few open spaces in terms of

playgrounds,parksandmemorials.Sometimesit’sthegreenspaceandwaterfrontstotakea

freshbreathandinsomecasesthisistheplacetocelebrateculture.

i) MunicipalParksandmemorials:Havingparks inanunplannedurbanizedarea isa

realconcern.Here,developmenthardlyfollowsanyplanningguidelines.Haphazard

growthofbuildings leads to reductionofgreenspaces.Therearea fewmunicipal

parks within the city. Most of them are open in character and have free public

access. People come here with family and friends to roam around, enjoy free

environmentorjustseatunderthetrees.Oneoftheparkshasamemoriallocated

with the park. Thememorial is formartyrs who sacrificed their lives to establish

Bengaliasnationallanguagewhichisthepopularhangoutplaceamongthecitizens.

Basically, it’s a memorial with some greeneries, waterfronts and sitting

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arrangements.Thisplaceisdedicatedtoobserveinternationalmotherlanguageday

on21Februaryineachyear.

Bangladesh is a country of festivals. They have different occasions to observe

throughout the year. Theseplaces are themain gatheringpointwhen citypeople

altogether celebrate their national or local festivals. This is the home ground to

arrangebookfair,treefair,1styearcelebrationofBengaliyear, internationaltrade

fair,sciencefairandotherfestivals.

ii) CommunityPark:Besidethemunicipalparktherearealsocommunityopenspaces

located in some neighborhood. This is mainly for the residents who live on that

area.KDAhasmadesomeplannedresidentialareaswithinthecity. Intheseareas

theytooktheattempttoprovidesufficientgreenareatothepeoplelivinghere.So,

therearealsosomegreenparks intheseplannedzoneslikeSonadangaandNirala

residentialareaetc.Theseareasareverypopularnotonlyamongthecitizenswho

live in vicinity. People also come from the surrounding areas to enjoy the green

openspacesforrelax.

iii) Playground: Therearesomeopenplaygroundswithinthecitywherepeoplegoto

playgames.Dwellersdon’tneedtopayanyfeetoaccesstheservices.Circuithouse

playfield,widelyknownasBoroMath, is thebiggestopenspacewhich isopenfor

all. Youngkidsandyouthusuallyuse thisareaas theirpracticeground.Theyplay

football and cricket in their team. There are some schools near to area. So, kids

fromtheseschoolscomeheretoplaywiththeirclassmates.Thisplaceisalsovery

familiar among themiddle agedperson to comehere and spend social timewith

theirfriends.

iv) Political Ground: The open spaces has also played very important role in politics

over the history. The largest non-violence human gathering to raise voice against

injusticeandcriticizepoliticaldecisionshappenshere.Thisisthestageforpolitical

partiesandsocialactivistgrouptodisplaytheirideals.

a) SpontaneousUseofOpenSpaces

Duetolackofopenspacecitypeoplealwaystriestomakethebestuseoftheirsurroundings

for social encounter. This is how sometimes small communal open space or peripheral

universitycampusbecomesthemeetingplaceforthem.

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i) CommunityOpenSpace:Traditionally,people fromthiscountry lovetomeet their

neighborsintheirbackyard.Vacantlandkeptforfuturedevelopmentorsmallopen

space in front of the house is informal kind of open spaces observed in the

residentialareas. Itwasacommonfeature in15-20yearsbackwhenwomenand

girlsusedtospendtheirleisureperiodinthesecommunityspaces.Thesituationhas

changedabitnowadaywhile lifebecomesmoreprofessional.However, it is still

very popular to themiddle aged and elderly peoplewhomostly stay at home to

enjoythisneighborlyfeelingatthisplace.

ii) OpenLandinPeripheries:Whilethecorecitylacksinopenspacescitypeoplealways

getintouchwiththesurroundingperipheriesforgreennatureandfreshbreathing.

Therearetwopublicuniversitiesjustlocatedatthevicinityofcitycorporationarea.

These universities own big campus with plenty of open spaces. Basically, the

campuswasdesignedonlyforthestudentswhostudyhere.However,lotsofpeople

fromthecitycomehereeverydaytoexperiencethenature.Itbecomesoneofthe

important breathingplaces for the city people.Good communication systemwith

main city makes these areas easily accessible by locals. Families come here with

their children to let themplay in freeopenenvironmentwhich is very rare in the

core city. Jogging, cycling and walking are also observed at the morning and

afternoon.

Open spaces in waterfront areas in peripheries are also very popular community

spacealthoughthereisnoplannedfacilityprovidedbycityauthorities.Khulnacityis

located at the bank of Rupsha and Bhairab rivers. So, aside by shipping and port

activitieswaterfrontareasattractmanypeopletoroamaroundtheplaces,boating

in the river and enjoy the nature. Rupsha bridge although fall outside the KCC

boundaryisoneofthemainattractionpointtothepublics.Intheafternoonpeople

comeshere fromthecity towalkalong thewidthhighways.Theyconsider thisas

blessingstohavegreenandruralenvironmentneartothecity.Agoodnumberof

peoplevisithereeverydaywithfriendsandfamily.

Within the city there are also some waterfront sites which are very narrow and

congested compared to Rupsha bridge site. Markets and river based business

activitiesmakestheseareascongestedandlessattractiveassocialinteractionpoint

tothecitizens.However,labors,shopownersorbusinessmanwhoworkherecount

theseplacesastheirrestingplacewithcoworkers.

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5.1.3MarketPlace

Thisisthemostcommonpublicplacewherethousandsofpeoplewalkandmoveeveryday.

The market places in Khulna vary from vegetable markets, departmental store to large

shopping mall. Most of market places are solely used for shopping purposes except some

biggermarketslocatedincitycenters.

a) PlacesandTheirPlannedFunctions

Ingeneralpeoplegotothemarketsfordailyneedswheretheyhavethesocialencounters

withothers.Despitethat,therearealsosomemarketplaceswhichofferwalkinglaneand

freespacesformovement.Thesemarketplacesareplannedinawaywherepeoplecan

comewithfamilyandfriendsforsocialinteractionirrespectiveofshoppingpurposes.For

example,inKhulnaNewMarketorHadisParkMarkettherearetravelcorridorsdedicated

for pedestrians. No vehicles are allowed to get into the space. So, it has that appeal

especiallyamongthewomen,childrenorfamilypeopletovisittheseareas.

b) SpontaneousActivities

The market areas are famous as social meeting point since the development of these

areas. Inthe1960’sorevenbeforethatwhenKhulnawasvery littlecitypeopleusedto

come to these places for daily needs. Here, they got the opportunity to meet their

neighbors and friends. With the advancement of time many other places have been

developtospendsocialtime.However,themarketplaceshavestillthatcharmsespecially

toyoung.Groupsofyouthhavingfriendlychatinthemarketsareaverycommonfeature

in this city.Meeting friends here is themain purpose in spite of doing shopping. It has

become more crowded during festival season when lots of people visit the place for

enjoyingtheirsocialtime.

5.1.4PublicLibrary

Thisistheformalreadingplacewhichisopentoall.Thebookloversofallagesandclassescan

comeheretoreadbooks,articlesandnewspapers.Awidevarietyofbooksareavailableinthe

librarythatattractsmanypeople.Despitethemainpurposeofreadingliteraturesindividuals

alsogotthechancetohavesocialinteraction.Cityauthorityandbookpublishersalsoarrange

bookfairswhichisamassgatheringforbooklovers.

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5.1.5SummaryfortheFunctions

So, thepublicspacesclassifiedaccordingto their functionscanbesummarized in the figure

givenbelow:

Fig5.2:Publicspaceclassificationbasedonfunctions(Source:Author,2017)

A bunch of activities are observed in individual public spaces. Sometimes it overlaps with

other.Forexample,walkingpathcanbefoundinthestreet,openspacesandalsowithinthe

marketwherepeoplecanmovefreely.Culturalfestivalsarealsoobservedbothinparks,open

spacesandstreets.

These activities inmany cases gobeyond theplanned functions definedby city authorities.

The chart given below can describe as how these spaces are used by the citizens

StreetsandAdjacentAreas MarketPlace OpenSpace PublicLibrary

Planned

- Walking

path

- Cafésand

restaurants

tohave

food

Spontaneous

- Civic

function

- Celebrate

life

- Smalltea

shops

- Parents

gathering

- Professional

association

- Collection

pointof

drinking

water

Planned

- Free

walking

travel

corridors

- Freespace

toroam

around

Spontaneous

- Dailysocial

meeting

point

Planned

- Municipal

parksand

memorial

- Community

parks

- Placefor

politicians

andsocial

activists

- Open

playingfield

Spontaneous

- Community

openspace

- Openland

in

peripheries

i.e.

university

campus,

riverside

areas

Planned

- Public

reading

place

36|P a g e

\\\\\\

Fig5.3:ActivitiesobservedinPublicSpaces(Source:FieldSurvey,2017)

Theplannedareasgetnewactivities addedby theusers. Forexample,university campuses

supposed to use for academic purposes becomes a popular social meeting place to the

people. Streets aremore popular as social hang out point bymeans of tea stalls, informal

shops, professional association and other. The inabilities of planning authorities to provide

wellmaintainedpublicspacesinfluencepeopletomaketheirownspaceforsocialmeetings.

So,masterplansdon’tonlydefinetheroleofpublicspaces.Thisistheuserswhoareplaying

thepredominantactorstocharacterizeanyspace.

5.2OwnershipCategory

ThepublicspacesofKhulnacitycanalsobecategorizedbasedontheowners’characteristics.

Itcanbeprivatelyownedif locatedinanyprivateproperty.KCC,KDAordivisionalauthority

also ownmany public spaces. These can be termed as formal in terms of ownership.Most

importantly, illegal encroachment and use of any place is also widely observed in the city.

Theseareinformalinownership.

5.2.1FormalPublicSpaces

Theremight be questions about the quality and availability of public spaces in Khulna city.

However,cityauthoritiesaswellasgovernmentworktoprovidepublicspacesforitscitizen.

There are lists of spaces which are formally placed by these agencies. Streets, open space

parksandmarketsarethemajorspacesfallunderthiscategory.InKhulnathebigmarketsare

ownedbyeitherKDAorKCC.Theyhavemadethemarketsandfinallysoldorgaveleasetothe

shopowners.Therearemarketcommitteeswhoaremainlyresponsibleforthemaintenance

services. The authorities also take some responsibilities as agreed in the lease contracts.

Exceptthat,therearealsosomeprivateshopslocatedinthecommercialprivatelandwhichis

accessibletothepublic.

ForthestreetswithincitycorporationareaKCCtakesthemaincharge.Theyareresponsible

to make necessary roads and ensure the regular maintenance by respective department

withinKCC.SomedevelopmentprojectsarealsotakenbythedevelopmentbodynamedKDA.

Within their development sites the roads are first developed by KDA. Then, the further

maintenancetaskgoestoKCC.Thesamethinghappensforcommunityopenspaces.Ifthereis

anyparkoropenspacesintheprojectsiteitisdevelopedbyKDAbutlatermaintainedbyKCC.

KCCalsoprovidesomeopenspaces,memorialandplaygroundforthepublicwhereaccessis

freetoallpeople.However,toarrangepublicfunctionsorgatheringmayrequirepermission

fromKCC.

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The university campuses as arrived one of the important public spaces are owned by

universityauthority.Theyhavetheirowndevelopmentbudgetordirectgovernmentfundto

developandmaintaintheirspaces.

5.2.2InformalUseofPublicSpaces

Peoplemaketheirownspacewhenadequatefacilitiesarenotavailablethatmakesthiscitya

heavenofinformalpublicspace.Thisstudydefinesinformaluseofspacewhereownershipis

ambiguous or public access has taken over the actual use of space as stated in planning

guidelines. The road side informal small shops/kiosks are the best example of this kind of

space. Most of the shops are located in government or private land without formal

permission. People demand has created this business opportunity which is also a social

interactionpoint.Localmusclemanhereplaysthekeyroletotakecareoftheservices.They

havesomemutualunderstandingwithshopownersunderstanding to run thebusiness.The

private landowneralsofoundthisbusinessasprofitable.Theyrenttheirplacesouttoshop

ownerswhethertheplacehasthepermissiontorunthisbusinessornot.

The informal human gathering in front of the children school, community courtyard, road

crosssectionandeveninthestreetsmayalsofallinthiscategory.Socialinteractionsinterms

of relaxation, gossiping, eating, political meeting, festivals etc. with friends, relatives,

neighbors, colleagues andevenwithunknownhas addedanadditional dimension inuseof

theseplaces.

5.3GenderRoleandPublicSpace

Theclassificationofpublicspacecanalsobedonebasedonsex.Social,religiousandcultural

norms sometimesdefine theaccessibility toany space formenandwomendifferently. The

absenceofbasic facilities required forwomenalsoactasabarrier touseanyspace. In this

sectionthisissueswilldiscussesashowmenandwomenaccesstheavailablepublicspacesin

Khulnacity.

5.3.1PublicSpaceforWomen

There is no legal restriction for women to access any place in Bangladesh. Nevertheless,

becauseofsocialnorms,customsandvaluestheysometimesdon’tfeelcomfortabletogoto

someplaces.Forexample,accordingtothesurveymarketandcafé/restaurantsarethemain

publicplacewherewomenspendtheirsocialtime.Theyconsiderthisassafeandcomfortable

tohangoutwith friends.Better sitting arrangement, freemovement inmarket groundand

39|P a g e

accesstotoiletattractsthemmostlytocometothisplace.Manywomenalsogotothenearby

parks with their children, friends,

neighbors towalk, exercise or have

social chat. They hardly travel long

distance for social gathering unless

somethingspecialhappens.Thiscan

be seen from the given figure 5.4

where the average distance

travelled by women to use public

space is 3.43 km which is about

18.94kmformen.

Timespentintheseareasalsovaryaccordingtotheirsex.Girlsaregenerallyobservedduring

daytime and evening whereas boys are found till midnight. The number of women sitting

beside road side tea stalls orhaving social chatwithothers inpublic street is alsonot very

common although the situation has changed in recent days. Women are now going out

frequently for work and enjoying their freedom. So, movement of women has markedly

increasedinalloverthecities.

5.3.2PublicSpaceforMen

There is hardly any space where men don’t have access. From local public street to city

peripheries,marketstoprofessionalassociationmenmovewithalloftheirfreedom.Political

meeting,socialfunctions,culturalprograms,friendlygossiping,sharingnationalinternational

newetc.menhavetheirdominantfeeteverywhere.Womenaccompanymenbutnotwiththe

similar frequency as they do.

The given fig 5.5 shows that

everyday goingmen aremore

inpercentage to accesspublic

space than women. Most of

the women said they visit

publicspacesonce inamonth

whichisinsignificantformen.

Fig.5.5:Frequencyofvisitbymenandwomen

(Source:FieldSurvey,2017)

Fig.5.4:Averagedistancetravelledbymenandwomen(Source:FieldSurvey,2017)

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5.4Conclusion

TheabovegivenanalysisprovidestheimpressionthatthepublicspacesofKhulnacitycanbe

analyzed from different angles based on functions, ownership and access based on gender

roles.Theplanneduseofanyspacemaychangeitsnaturebytheusertofollowtheirdemand.

Ownership and maintenance responsibility can also play role to characterize any space.

Gender norms are also imposed to these places to define accessibility. So, amatrix can be

developedtodefineurbanpublicspaceofKhulnacitybasedontheseclassificationcriteria.

Table5.1:UrbanPublicSpacesinKhulnaCity

PublicSpaceCategory

PublicSpaceSub-Category

FormsofUse Ownership GenderRoleandAccess

Street Walkingtrail Planned Formal Equalaccessbymenandwomen

Roadsidecaféandrestaurant

Planned Formal Equalaccessbymenandwomen

Placeforcivicengagement

Spontaneous Formal Equalaccessbymenandwomen

Stagetocelebratelife Spontaneous Formal Equalaccessbymenandwomen

Smallteashopsandfoodkiosks

Spontaneous Informal Mendominant

Infrontofchildrenschool

Spontaneous Formal Womendominant

Professionalassociation

Spontaneous Informal Mendominant

Drinkingwatercollectionpoint

Spontaneous Formal Womendominant

MarketPlace Walkinglane Planned Formal Equalaccessbymenandwomen

Freespaceforsocialinteraction

Planned&Spontaneous

Formal Equalaccessbymenandwomen

OpenSpace Municipalparksandmemorial

Planned Formal Equalaccessbymenandwomen

Communitypark Planned Formal Equalaccessbymenandwomen

Placeforpoliticiansandsocialactivists

Planned Formal Equalaccessbymenandwomen

Openplayingfield Planned Formal MendominantCommunityopenspace

Spontaneous Informal Equalaccessbymenandwomen

Openlandinperipheries

Spontaneous Formal Equalaccessbymenandwomen

PublicLibrary Publicreadingplace Planned Formal Equalaccessbymenandwomen

Source:Fieldsurvey,2017

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The above mentionedmatrix reveals that the planned forms of public spaces have formal

ownership which are created and managed by certain city authorities or private owners.

However, spontaneous forms and use of public spaces are observed both in formally or

informally managed or owned places. It emerges naturally over time by neglecting the

ownership context. Ownership doesn’t also hamper to access any areas according to the

genderrole.Thisisthefunctionsandsocialnormsthatdefinegenderaccess.

Beside many other financial, political and geographical issues the three major factors as

functions,ownershipandgenderrolekeepsignificantimpactinthecreationandmanagement

of public spaces. This is the activities which define the characteristics and consequent

maintenanceofanyarea.Masterplanalsooffersvariedprovisionfordifferentkindsofpublic

spaces.So,thecreationofpublicspacesdependsonwhatkindoffunctionsthespaceisgoing

tobeplayed.Ownershiphereisveryimportantforthepropermanagementofpublicspaces.

Placeshavingformalownershipshowedbettermaintenancethaninformalplaces.Theowners

are entitled to provide themanagement service. On the contrary, gender roles come here

fromadifferentperspective.Safety,equityandsocialenvironmentinmanycasesdefinethe

accessofwomentoanypublicspace.So,toensuresustainablemanagementofanyareaitis

veryimportanttomakepublicspacesgenderfriendlyinallaspects.

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ChapterSix:TowardsaSustainablePublicSpace

Lackofproperplanningandcoordinationbetweendevelopmentagenciesismakingmanyof

thepublicspacesofKhulnaunusable.Sustainablemanagementofthis importantcivicspace

canprovideabettercitytothepeoplelivinghere.Thissectionwillmainlyfocusonproposing

somesimplemanagementpracticesbasedonthechallengesfoundinthisstudy.

6.1ExistingSituationAnalysis

Thegeneraloverviewof thepublicspaceshasalreadybeenelaborated inpreviouschapters

thatexploredpublicspacecategories,maintenancepracticeandmanagementchallenges. In

addition to that, a simple situation analysis of three popular public spaces identified in the

surveyhasbeenconducted.TheseareKDANewMarket,HadisParkandNiralaMore.

Thesethreeplacesarequitedifferentintermsoffunctions,ownershipandusercategory.KDA

New Market is the biggest market place in Khulna where people mainly go for shopping.

However,thisplaceisalsopopularamongthecitizenforsocialhangout.Asthenameimplies

thismarketandsurroundingareasisownedandmanagedbyKDA.Ontheotherhand,Hadis

Park isbasicallyaparkwiththememorialgroundforthemartyrswhosacrificedtheir lifeto

establish Bengali as national language. People come here for recreation and spend their

leisuretime.ThisplaceislocatedatthecenterofKhulnacity.Importantbusinesscentersare

locatedsurroundingthisarea.So,alotofinformalactivitiesareobservedhere.KCCismainly

responsible for the maintenance of park, memorial and adjacent streets. Nirala is quite

differentinnatureandownership.ThisismainlyaplannedneighborhooddevelopedbyKDA.

Theyhavedevelopedthelandandsoldtothepeople.So,nowtheselandsarenowownedby

private owners. KDA don’t perform anymaintenance responsibility. The streets within this

neighborhoodisownedandmaintainedbyKCC.Thepartofthisneighborhoodadjacenttothe

main road is known as Nirala more. There are several shops which are owned by private

owners.Thisisaplaceofmassgathering.So,largescaleinformalactivitiesareobservedhere

in street sides. A lot of people come here every day for different purposes like shopping,

meeting friends, spend time in professional associations etc. These informal activities are

mainlymaintainedby localmusclemen. Thedetail findings of these three locations canbe

foundfromtable6.1.

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Table6.1:SituationAnalysis

Criteria KDANewMarket HadisPark NiralaMore

Ownedby KDA KCC PrivateOwnersandKCC

Developedby

KDA KCC KDA,KCCandPrivateOwners

Maintainedby

KDAandShopownersassociation

KCC KCC,PrivateOwnersandMuscleMen

MainPurpose

Marketplace ParksandMemorials Streets,Commercialshops,CarParking

InformalPublicSpaceFunctions

Socialgathering,streetshops

Socialgatheringinroadsideshopsadjacenttothepark

StreetShops,PoliticalOffice,SocialInteraction,Walking

UserGroup Allkindsofpeoplecomehereforshoppingandsocialmeeting

Allkindsofpeople.However,womenandkidsgenerallycomeatdaytime.

Avarietyofpeopleareobservedasitoffersalargescaleofactivities.Politicalofficesareforpeoplewholikepolitics,walkingisobservedbyeveryone,androadsideshopsandteastallsarealmostaccessedbyeveryoneincludesstudents,serviceholders,rickshawpullers,daylaborsetc.However,intheseteashopsthepresenceofwomenislessthanwomen.

SafetySituation

Quitegood,Therearegatementoensuresecurityforthepublic

- Safetysituationisnotquitegood.Hijackingandstealingofgoodshappenssometimes.Womenalonedon’tfeelsafetocomeintheevening.Nosafetyguardorgatemanobserved.

- Manyhomelesspeoplealsostayat

- Theplaceissafeasitislocatedneartopolicestation.

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Criteria KDANewMarket HadisPark NiralaMore

nightwithinthepark.Peopledon’tfeelitsafetowalkthereatnight.

Aestheticquality

- Themarketwasdevelopedin1960s.Afterthatnotmuchrenovationworkhasdoneexceptsomesmallmaintenancejob.So,theaestheticqualityobservedmoderate.

- Thereisasmalltreenurseryatthecenter.Exceptthatthereisnogreeneriesinthemarketground

- Theparkhasrecentlygotsomerenovationwork.Thereisawaterfrontandmemorialwhichisverygoodinquality.

- Therearetreesandopenspaceforroamingaround.

- Theplacemainlygrowswithoutanyformalplanning.Pedestrianwaysareencroachedbyinformalactivities.So,aestheticallytheplacedoesn’tlookgood.

Cleanliness - KDAensurethecleanlinessofthearea.Cleanerscleantheroadandpublictoiletseveryday.Shopownersalsocleantheirsurroundingforthesakeoftheirbusiness.

- Citycorporationcleanercleantheparkareaseveryday.So,thecleanlinessisnotbad.However,thesurroundingencroachedbystreetshopsandillegalparkingseemsquitedirty.

- Citycorporationcleanercleansthepedestrianwaysandroads.

- Noonformallyresponsiblefortheinformallyownedareas.

- Becauseofmanyinformalshopstheseareaslooksdirtyinmostcases.

UtilityFacility

- Thereareseparatepublictoiletsformenandwomenwhichisverygood.

- Thereisnopublicsittingarrangementinthemarketground.So,elderlyandsickpeoplefindthisdifficulttoenjoytheirtimehere.

- Childrenhasnodedicatedplacetoplay

- Thereareseparatepublictoiletsformenandwomenwhichisverygood.

- Publicsittingarrangementattractsmanypeopletocome,seatandenjoythenature.

- Parklightingsystemisquitegood.

- Thereisnoformalutilityservicefortheusers.Manymenobservedurinatingintheopenstreetordrains.

- Noparkingfacilitiesarefound.Haphazardparkinginroadscreatecongestion.

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Criteria KDANewMarket HadisPark NiralaMore

- Theparkingfacilityoutsidethemarketiswellenough.

- Enoughlightingfacilityfortheusers.

- Thereisnospecialarrangementforphysicallychallengedpeople.

- Thereisnoformalvehicleparkingplacefortheusers.Peoplekeeptheircarorcycleoutsidetheparkinthestreets.So,trafficcongestionisverycommoninthesurroundings.

Source:FieldSurvey,2017

So, these public spaces have some differences in nature and also inmanagement context.

Here, two places are owned andmanagedmainly by individual authority as KDA and KCC.

Whereas,NiralamorewhichisbasicallyastreethasbeendevelopedbyKDA,KCCandprivate

owners. The maintenance responsibility of street goes to KCC. However, no one take the

liability for the informal activitieswhichperforms themajor role as public gathering. These

ownership and management context somehow influence in maintenance services. For

example,bothKDAnewmarketandHadispark remarkedbettermaintenanceservices than

NiralaMore.KDAhasdeveloped theareaand sold toprivateowners.Asper legal bindings

KCC receives the responsibility to take care of the roads and pedestrian ways. KCC only

performitsresponsibilitywithin its jurisdiction.Maintenanceof informallyencroachedareas

isfoundasnoone’sliability.Despitetheownershipandmaintenancefactorstherearesome

commonchallengesidentifiedbyfortheseareas.Thoseare:

- Lackofproperplanningencourageinformalcreationofpublicspaceformsi.e.street

shops

- Mostofthespaceslackgreenfactorsexceptparkareas.

- Basicservicesaresometimesnotofferedinthesespaces.Forexample,bettersitting

andwalkingarrangementsforallcouldincreasetheappealofthesespaces.

- Theplacesarealsonotwomenfriendly.Theydon’tfeelsafetogoalonewhenitis

dark.Basicutility servicesarealsonotoffered insomeareas i.e.public toiletsare

hardlyaccessiblebywomen.

- Cleanliness isalsoachallengefortheseareas.Authoritiesprovideregularcleaning

servicesbutdirtystreetsandparksarealwaysprevalent.Thisisbecausetheillegal

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useofthesespaces.Forexample,streetpeoplewhospentnightatparksmakethe

surroundingdirty.Thisisalsotrueforthestreetshopareas.

- Thereishardlyanyplacewhichhasspecialfacilityforphysicallychallengedpeople.

So, the public spaces exclude a larger portion of the community to access the

services.

6.2ProposalforSustainableManagementofPublicSpacesinKhulnaCity

Thesustainabilityconceptcontainsaseriesofsocial,economicandenvironmentalissueswith

thecommitment toprovidean improvedqualityof life.Public spacesareconsideredas the

mostimportantingredientforalivelycity.Thesustainableuseofthispublicplaceleadstoan

urbanenvironmentwhichishealthy,safeandattractivetoliveandwork.Hence,inresponse

tothefindingsofpublicspacesituationofKhulnacitysomerecommendationwasgenerated

toensureplanningandmanagingofthisplaceatdifferentlevels.

6.2.1SociallyInclusive

The public spaces should not make any boundary for gender, social class or physically

challengedpeople.Thisshouldcontributeindevelopingthesenseofcohesionandcitizenship

byfosteringsocialandculturalinteraction.Unfortunately,forKhulnathesocialenvironments

limitusers toaccessmanypublic spaces.Cityauthoritiesshouldbecarefulonmaking these

places inclusive for all. Specific planning provisions need to be provided in development

guidelines. Authorities responsible for maintenance services should be sensitive on these

aspects.Therecommendationstomakepublicspacessociallyinclusivearelistedbelow:

i. Thepublic space shouldbe safeandaccessibleby children.Cityauthorities i.e.KDA

and KCC can take initiatives to provide enough playing opportunity for children to

spendsocialtimewithotherkids.Itisimportantforyoungtoincreasephysicalactivity

andalsotodevelopsocialcapacitybyplayingwithothers.Theexistingpublicspaces

especially the community parks could be targeted in this case. KDA can provide

enoughprovisionforchildrenactivity intheirplanhavingconsultationwithKCCand

otherkeyactors.

ii. Public spaces should be managed in a way where women can feel safe and move

freelywithoutthefearofanykindofharassments.Inadditiontopropersafetyguards

i.e. enough lighting,wellmaintained space toask forhelp inparks,open spaceand

marketspublicawarenessamongthecitizensshouldalsobedeveloped.Police,social

andprintmediascanplayhereamajorroles.Properimplementationoflawscanalso

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ensure gender security in accessing the public spaces. Here needs a better

coordinationbetweenallthestakeholders.

iii. Controltheunethicaluseofpublicspacesisalsoveryimportant.Thepublicspacesare

sometimes observed occupied by drug users or prostitutes. So, people avoid those

spacewhatevergoodtheservicequality is.Withsupportfrompolicecityauthorities

canidentifythelocationsandstopunethicaluseofpublicspaces.

iv. Itiscrucialthatwomenfeelcomfortableinpublicspaces.Havingpublictoiletsisone

ofthemajorchallengesthatthecityarenowfacing.Thepublictoiletsmostlyarenot

in quality or don’t provide facilities forwomen to use. The existing toilets could be

improved that will certainly increase women ratio accessing outdoor activities. As

developingandmanagingpublictoiletsrequiresfund,thedevelopmentagenciescan

jointly make plan to create new toilets and ensure proper maintenance from joint

funding.

v. The elderly and physically challenged people keep the equal right to enjoy open

environmentinparks,openspacesorfreelymovinginthestreets.Unfortunately,the

cityhardlyprovidesanyfacilitythatsupportsthemenjoyingthefreedom.Thestreets

should have safe pass for them. Open spaces, parks and community spaces should

havefacilitieslikerampandsittingfacilitiesforthisspecificgroup.

vi. Manypeopledon’tfeelcomfortabletobringfamiliesandchildreninpublicspacesas

it is sometimes filled with beggar and floating people. This problem should be

managedinplannedwaybyrelocatingthemtosomesafeplacestomakepublicspace

free.

6.2.2EconomicallyViable

PublicspacesinKhulnaarethehomegroundformanyinformalactivities.Thisprovidesmany

people the opportunity to earn livelihood although most of their activities have no legal

permission.Formalizationoftheseactivitiescanaddeconomicvaluetomanagepublicspaces.

Thesuggestionsherebymadeare:

i. The public streets are occupied by informal street shops that hardly keep enough

space for pedestrianmovement. One of the reasons of growing these shops is low

establishmentprice. Shopownersdon’thave the capacity tobuyor rentbig space.

Theyused to give some small amount of donation to localmuscleman for running

theirbusiness.Cityauthorities canuse thisopportunitybyproviding lowcost space

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and relocating them in amoreplannedway. Thiswill notdestroy thepopular road

side public space activities and also provide earning opportunity to city authorities

thatcouldbeusedtodevelopmorepublicspaces.

ii. Haphazard parking in public streets and outside the parks and open spaces create

traffic congestions. This system can also be improved by introducing someplanned

arrangement.Someplacesinbusytrafficzonecanbeidentifiedthosewillbeusedfor

parking.Nootherplacesshouldhavethepermissionexceptthesedemarcatedplaces.

Cityauthoritiescanimposeparkingfeesforvehicleparking.

iii. MarketplacesarealsoveryimportantpublicspacesinKhulnacity.InadditiontoKDA

or KCC owned markets there are also some places which are owned by private

owners.TheseformalmarketsprovidecitytaxtoKCCtoruntheirbusiness.KCCcan

influence them toprovideenough facilities for thepublic i.e. public toilet, safe and

secure environment, public sitting arrangement etc. by introducing tax redemption

provision.Thiswillcertainlykeeppositiveimpacttoimprovepublicspacesituationin

Khulnacity.

6.2.3EnvironmentFriendlyCleanPublicSpace

Lack of coordination between authorities has turnedmany public spaces to a spare place.

Cleanliness is the major challenge faced by these areas. Public spaces with multiple

ownershipsbecomenoone’sresponsibility.Asaresultunhealthyenvironmentprevails.Some

proposalscanbemadeinthisregard:

i. Streets consume the major parts of public space in Khulna. Proper planning to

encouragebicyclemovementcancontributetolesscarbonemissions.Unfortunately,

theroadsofKhulnaarenotcyclefriendly.Cityauthoritiescangiveemphasistocreate

andmaintainseparatelaneforcycle.Thiscanalsoreducecarmovementandimprove

traffic situation. Proper planning should be done from beginning of work. For

example, KDA scan consult with KCC and traffic authority before initiating road

development.ThesamethingshouldhappeninKCCdevelopedroads.Thiswillensure

theaftermanagementoftheroads.

ii. For the maintenance of multi-owner public spaces specific rules and regulations

should be in place.Overlapping responsibilities should be identified and distributed

among the authorities. Agencies with specific responsibilities will be liable to

completetheirdesignatedtask. It isacommoncomplains forpublicspacesasthese

arenot clean.Wastes are seeneverywhere. Street sidedrains andnarrow spaceof

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parks are always used as urinating place bymen. Trees are dying because of poor

maintenance.Drain,publictoilet,greenspacemanagementetc.everyworkshouldbe

properly identifiedandplanned foragreenandcleanpublic space.However, this is

the city dwellers who have to change their habits. Mass scale awareness is thus

expected.

iii. Developmentorganizationsmakingnewpublicspacesshouldbecarefulofaftercare

budget. If the final responsibility goes to KCC they should be informed from the

beginning so that fund allocation is ensured. For community managed spaces the

community association should also be aware about the maintenance responsibility

verywell.

iv. Road sideplantation is thebest option to increase green spaces. Foot-travelers can

enjoytheshadowedpathsinsunnysummerdayswhilecrossingtheroads.Thereare

treesinthestreetofKhulnacity.However,stilltherearemanystreetsleftbehindthis

scheme. City authorities claim that not having funded to provide andmaintenance

treeisthemainchallengealthoughtheywishtomakethecitygreen.Privatizationof

green space in street side can solve this problem. Companies can advertise their

productbyplanningtreesasstreetsarethelucrativeplaceforpublicity.

6.2.4ManagementandCoordination

BesidethethreekeysustainabilitychallengesthepublicspacesofKhulnacityalsosuffersfor

not having proper coordination effort between different authorities working for the

development of the city. Based on the analysis performed to understand the coordination

challengessomeproposalsaremadeas:

i. As KDA and KCC perform the major development job for Khulna city better

coordinationamongthemishenceveryimportant.Sharingofworkplanisstilldonein

amuchunorganizedway.Bothorganizationssendrepresentativesonlywhentheyare

asked for any meeting. Regular sharing of work plan has never been observed.

Besides, legally both organizations have very limited control on each other to

influence anydecision taken individually.Having a formal committeewithonly KCC

andKDAmembersmayimprovethesituation.Themainobjectiveofthiscommittee

willbetoregularmeetandsharetheircurrentworkprogressandalsofutureplan.In

this meeting they will discuss on different development projects and their

maintenancecontext.ThefinaldevelopmentdecisionsforKhulnaeitherKCCorKDA

fundedshouldcomefromthiscommittee.

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ii. Developmentdonorsand central government canalsoplayherea very crucial role.

They can give emphasis on better coordination between city authorities while

providing budget for any development project. In their project provisions can be

made to takeconsent fromall the stakeholders relevant to thework.Emphasis can

alsobegivenonregularsharingofworkupdatebetweenalltheactors.Thisshouldbe

mandatory to get financial support which will make city authorities interested for

bettercoordination.

iii. Challenges also found while handing over the management responsibility. For

example, KCC always feels them excluded in KDA projects although the final

maintenance responsibility vested to them. So, a kind of hidden negligence in

maintenanceoftheseareas issometimesobserved.Active involvementofKCCfrom

the beginning of development work can minimize this problem. This should also

happeninKCCorotherorganizationownedactivities.Allthestakeholdersshouldfeel

apartofdevelopmentinitiativestoensuresustainablemanagement.

iv. Better coordinationwith law enforcement authorities is also very important. Their

supportisrequiredwhileillegalencroachmentoflandneedstobedemolished.They

also feel excluded as in most cases they are contacted at last moment. Better

managementofpublicspacescouldbeprovidediftheirinvolvementisensuredatan

earlystageofthework.

v. Citypeoplearethekeystakeholdersofanykindofdevelopments.Publicspacescould

be better maintained if their participation is ensured. So, coordination between

planning agencies and community people canwork better to offer some attractive

publicspaceforKhulnapeople.

6.3Conclusion

Publicspacehastheboundlessopportunitytoactasacenterofcultureandsocialcapital.This

place needs to be open, safe and accessible to all by means of socially inclusive,

environmentally safe and clean, and economically viable functions. Here comes the

management role of planning and development authorities to ensure a sustainable

managementofthisvitalingredientofciviclife.

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ChapterSeven:Conclusion

Sustainable formation and management of urban public space is important to offer a

sustainablehealthy civic life. The livelinessof this amenitydependsonwhat scale andhow

theseplaces arebeingusedby citizens. Thereare some formalpublic spaces inKhulna city

developedbydifferentcityauthorities.Theyarediverseincharacterandplayimportantrole

in civic life. However, different management challenges make the task difficult to run the

servicesinasustainableway.Asaresultpeoplefindtheirownwaysofmakingsocialspaces.

Therefore, informal public spaces are created and added an extended wing in the already

existedserviceswhich isgoodbutsometimesthesituationgoesbeyondcontrol.Unplanned

growth of informal public spaces has appeared as the main reason of traffic congestion,

unhealthyenvironment, illegalencroachmentofpublic land,violationofplanningguidelines

etc.Theoppositescenariocanalsobefound.Duetotheseinformalpublicspacespeoplemay

haveatleastsomeplaceintheirvicinitytotakebreathandmeetpeople.Thesituationcanbe

compared with other developing countries with similar socio-economic situations. Cities in

pooreconomicpositionfacechallengeswithlandandfundscarcity.Publicspacegetsherethe

least priority and is neglected in urban planning and development. They are inmost cases

poorlyintegratedinplanninglegislationswhichnarrowdowntheprovisionofprovidingpublic

spacesforthecitizens.So,inadequatepublicspaceisoneoftheprominentproblemsinmost

ofthesecities.Inadditiontothatlackofsustainablemaintenanceprocessmakesmanyofthe

existingpublicspacesobsolete.Theseplacesareturnedintowastedumpingplacesorhouse

offloatingpeopleratherthanfunctioningasasocialcourseofinteraction.Decisionmakersof

the developingworld thus should recognize the role of public space it can play to create a

sustainable lively city. Therefore, it is very important that developing countries give much

attentionto this fundamentalcivicservice inpoliciesandpractice that itdeserves.Thecase

analysisinthisstudycandrawapathwayforfurtherenquiryandimplicationofpublicspaces

inthecitiesofdevelopingworld.

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