The city of Dhaka , Bangladesh , has experienced ima mass migration over the last 3 decades, creating the world’s most congested City.

Dhaka Disorganised City

January 21, 2011 1 Comment

The city of Dhaka , Bangladesh , has experienced ima mass migration over the last 3 decades, creating the world’s most congested City. Photographer Ruhul Abdin has spent time investigating this phenomenon: “This city somehow manages to survive. People somehow seem to manage to get around, yet there are no properly managed traffic systems, public transportation and a seemingly lack of free space.

“I spent over 6 months in the city, documenting this with my camera, capturing the static and kinetic elements that represent the traffic and the life that is affected by it. “My images show how unsafe and perhaps dangerous it is to travel in Dhaka and yet there are age old traditions involved with Rickshaws, boats and walking being a preferred method for a lot of the people.”

The Bromley by Bow Centre hosted the first exhibition of photographs by Ruhul and a small workshop themed on Dhaka city. There was a video screening by Hamja Ahsan, presentations by Restless Beings and RESET Development as well as an opportunity to have conversations about the city. Ruhul said: “The exhibition is based on looking at the effect Traffic has on the everyday lives of the people of Dhaka city.”

The travel research project is titled Tempo Realities, which will coincide with the launch of PARA as an organisation in the summer. “This will enable the team to continue making further investigations as well as develop on the ground projects,” said Ruhul. A question in relation to the traffic problems is the Dhaka Action Plan, which is coming to fruition in 2015. The plan has not been up to much scrutiny and although it is nearing the end, the reasons for the plan still seem unknown to architects and planners, as well as the public. With many failed attempts to tackle the traffic situation, including low resources, a workshop with practitioners is planned, to begin probing and working towards helping this city ‘breathe.’ “It is an opportunity to acquire an understanding from the local city dwellers about their experience of the traffic problem,” added Ruhul. “The workshop will help gain a deeper understanding of the people’s response to the traffic situation and their suggestions to improvement.”

Ruhul will travel to Bangladesh on the 3rd of February for further research.

“The planned workshop will look to tackle traffic congestion and also showcase some of the images captured with my camera, on various different modes of transport, from walking, to Rickshaws, CNG’s, Taxi’s, Buses and trains.” Ruhul has used a slow shutter speed instead of the flash to capture movements within the image.

Outcomes expected from his efforts include the exhibition that highlights the problems faced by city travellers, especially when using the public transport system, walking and rickshaws.

Research will involve a survey that will highlight the most urgent problems faced by city dwellers in relation to the traffic and a report analysing the survey and the outcomes of the workshop.

The findings will be published within a small book in Bangladesh , and will include contributions from practitioners who have participated.