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This paper discusses the development of fuzzy logic model for estimating the 85th percentile speed of urban roads. Spot speed survey was conducted on four randomly selected urban road segments for a typical weekday and a weekend. The considered road segment attribute data are length of the road segment, number of access points/intersecting links, number of pedestrian crossings, number of lanes, hourly traffic volume, hourly pedestrian volume and current posted speed limits of the selected roads. Such attribute data were collected and used as input variables in the model. Two models for weekday and weekend were developed based on the field survey data. Both models were calibrated using the neuro-fuzzy technique for optimizing the fuzzy logic model (FLM) parameters. Analyses of estimated results show that the FLM can estimate the 85th percentile speed to a reasonable level.

This research mainly deals with analyzing the urban governance situation of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh and a rapidly growing mega-city with limited financial resources. The research focuses on the analysis of statutory planning processes and the relevant institutional and legal setting prevailing in Dhaka city, the potentials of social self-regulation in unplanned settlements to maintain or establish the functionality of the urban fabric, pros and cons of informal fringe development in the context of weak city governance and on the opportunity to make interfaces for integrating institutions and strategies of social regulation into the statutory planning system. Brief on land management and real estate market are also discussed in this research. Two case studies were selected to examine the impact of the prevailing politico-institutional urban governance setting in Dhaka. Inner city area redevelopment process by the citizens and informal fringe development process were thoroughly investigated for this research over a period of four years. Informality in particular is examined as a central focus in examining all the processes and actions in urban governance. In addition, at the beginning of this book the theoretical discussion on institutional issues related to city governance, land governance and informality is reviewed and compared with the situation prevailing in Dhaka. These theoretical issues are positioned in the context of Dhaka city in the concluding parts

The Eastern fringe of Dhaka city is a low lying area along the bank of Balu River. According to DMDP, 32% of the total population of Dhaka city will be living there by 2020. This area is now facing scattered private housing development projects and rapid urbanization. So this paper aims at preparing a conceptual planning proposal for a planned sustainable urban environment. Objective of this study is planning a sustainable city environment for eastern fringe for projected population (2.6 million) of 2020 and conservation of retention pond areas.

The southwest coastal region of Bangladesh, being under tidal influence and dependent on sweet water supplies from upstream, has a unique brackish water ecosystem. The region, having vast low-lying areas enclosed by man-made polders, is considered to be highly vulnerable to climate change induced hazards. In this study, linear trends in hydro-climatic variables, such as temperature, rainfall, sunshine, humidity, sweet water inflow and tidal water level in the region are assessed using secondary data and following both parametric and nonparametric statistical techniques. Correlation between the sweet water flow from the Gorai River, a major distributary of the Ganges River, and the salinity level in the Rupsa-Pasur River near Khulna, a southern metropolis, is also investigated. The results reveal that the temperature in the Khulna region is increasing at a significant rate, particularly in recent years. The number of extremely cold nights is decreasing and the heat index is increasing. The sunshine duration has a decreasing trend and the humidity has an increasing trend. Rainfall is increasing in terms of both magnitude and number of rainy days. However, the annual maximum rainfall and the number of days with high intensity rainfall have remained almost static. The annual maximum tidal high water level is increasing and the annual minimum low water level is decreasing at a rate of 7 - 18 mm and 4 - 8 mm per year, respectively. There is a negative correlation between the Gorai flow and the river water salinity around Khulna. Dredging of the Gorai during 1998-2001 resulted in an improvement of the salinity situation in the Khulna region. The variation in water salinity, tidal water level and sweet water flows in different time periods indicates that the human interventions through upstream diversion and coastal polders have contributed more in hydro-morphological changes in the southwest than the climate change. However, there are some evidences of climate change in the meteorological variables at Khulna.

Surface water salinity, being accentuated by the reduction in the dry season upland flows, now reaches as far as Khulna – a coastal city of Banglaesh highly exposed to climate change impacts. The projected sea level rise due to climate change would further aggravate the situation with the probably increased spatial coverage and temporal duration of salinity. Amid the lack of studies relatively attributing to causes of salinity intrusion, this study analytically assesses the role of regional anthropogenic interventions in one hand and global climate change induced sea level rise on the other as the causes of salinity progression in Khulna. Analysis of the long-term trends in tidal water level, upland flow and river water salinity, indicates that regional human interventions, both in and outside the country, have contributed more in hydro-morphological changes in the region than the climate change induced sea level rise leading to salinity intrusion in Khulna.

Social space is considered an outcome of pragmatic considerations and social or symbolic values and attitudes of the family in a house enclosure. The house form in the urban context is the physical manifestation of transformed socio-cultural structure and changing social values. Bangladesh has experienced different political, religious and economic forces, which logically influenced the intellectual and cultural ideals of the society. Due to the dynamic changes in the urban lifestyle, scarcity of urban land and the extreme pressure of population on housing, the urban house form experiences a series of alteration and adjustment in its planning, organization and hierarchy of space, and facade treatment, that correspond to the changing habits and activities as opposed to traditional behavior. In Bangladesh, this change is pronounced in Dhaka, especially the old part of the capital of Bangladesh. In order to understand the form and context of the social space of house in Old Dhaka, it is necessary to examine the transition of interior pattern of houses in the four-hundred years old city, from as far back in time as possible to the present. This study examines the socio-cultural contexts (cultural modifiers, colonial architecture, and pattern of the society), form and use of social space spatial organization and transformation of social spaces of the houses in the Old Dhaka. Façade design of the traditional houses, built by the wealthy class, followed the Indo-Saracenic style explaining the social, cultural, political and economic status of the wealthy. In a large mansion, courts are introduced to reduce the depth of the building so as to provide adequate light and ventilation. In spatial arrangement, the multiple numbers of courts retained the basic grouping of a traditional house and courts represent the concepts of distinct domains (i.e. formal, private and service) of such traditional houses. The formal zone or the public court of a multi-court traditional house was belonged to the male domain, while the informal or private court was the most enclosed female domain and less visible from outside. The interior design of informal or private courtyard of the traditional houses symbolizes the religious identity of the occupants. Courts are being transformed to dinning space in the modern houses where it symbolically takes place in the centrality of the whole space organization. An additional family space (e.g. sky open large terrace) is found in the modern luxurious houses and apartments. In some multi–storied apartment buildings, the flats are grouped around the courtyards, which are acting as a social space at the community level.

Bangladesh as an agro-based country has cultivation of varieties of crops round the year. Wheat, the second most important cereal in Bangladesh, is cultivated mainly for Ata or flour. Every year, there goes haphazard and unplanned production of this crop in our country, which cannot meet the rapidly growing domestic demand for it. Therefore, significant quantities of wheat are needed to import in our country to meet the national demand deficit every year and undoubtedly this involves spending of a huge amount of money. However, cultivation of this crop in planned way could solve the problem substantially. In this report some planning proposals have been made in obtaining sufficient yield of wheat in Bangladesh to meet the national demand.