Washed Dirty

Dhaka is threatened from the interior by its own massive expansion and pollution and also by the increased levels of water rushing towards the city from the rapidly melting Himalayas. The wetlands which normally slow the passage of water to the Buriganga River have been plugged with multi-story living complexes and so when the rains of the monsoon season come they flood the city and mix with the sewage creating a cesspool of infectious disease.

First the city must deal with the infrastructural problems by moving them above the unstable soil. Next a housing system can be inserted which does not inhibit the water from saturating into the soil, which includes removing and reusing the materials from existing buildings which plug the wetlands.

Purposeful separation of the confused landscape into layers allows the over populated city to de-densify. For instance elevated landscapes can allow children to play out of the water during the monsoon season while also add layers to the urban fabric, insulating Dhaka.















http://www.sos-arsenic.net/english/development/waterlogging.html

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/07/29/southasia.floods/index.html