Abstract:
The h~h-rise residential development in Dhakacity ls a phenomenon that has been changing
the skyline of the city for over a decade and a haif. Dhak.ahils a kmg tradition of urbanization
_and urban dwellings. The new form has been an outtome of a long graduai process where
the oontext and its ch~nging forces played an importont role in its course of making. The
study probes into these contextual backgrounds of this evolving fot1Tlto identify the gradual
process of transfot1Tlation of this development. Therefore the continuity between the
developments of the past and the present has been thoroughly investigated and links
between oontextual forces and the formal deveiopment has been established. The study
shows that the high-rise residential development in Dhaka City is very much ~n outtome of
the need of our oontext and time; further analysis of the built fot1Tlreveais that the very
organizational aspects of the bUilt fot1Tlhas evolved from the past developments of the urban
residential fot1Tlsof Dhaka city. Though it is rooted to the past forms and organiUltion, the
sheer VOlumeof this new form also has other dimensions unp~rallei to any old forms. It is
simultaneously a bUlit form and a neighbourhood. This new dimenSion of the fot1Tlhas also
been focused on this study.
The form again, from its very initiation till date, has been subjected to various forces; and
changed had occurred even within its decade old existence. The Inner organization of the
fot1Tlof high-rise residential development has, therefore, been subject of investigation, which
led to a classification of this development.
The study can also be considered as a documentation of some urban reSidential forms in
Dhaka's context. The gUidelines established in the process may help future studies In this
field. The inner vitality of the high-rise residential built fot1Tlhas made It phenomenal in our
context, which if dealt wIth oomprehension, can be a new solution to our need for dwellings
in Dhakacity.
