Study of pedestrian movement in relation to spatial configuration and land-use pattern in the context of Mymensingh town

Abstract

Mymensingh is one of the historic towns of Bangladesh that was established during the colonial period. Like other colonial towns, there exist varied types of spatial and diversified functional patterns within the town boundary. In the past, it was a small scale pedestrian friendly town where all urban services were found within a walking radius from different localities. The pattern of streets and the location of different urban services were such that people were encouraged to walk within the streets. In the recent past, through the consequences of unplanned urban growth the spatial configuration along with the land use pattern of the town is changing in a haphazard way ignoring the inherent urban characteristics. As a result, different parts of this town are becoming congested areas with numerous urban problems including traffic congestion. This phenomenon is also jeopardizing the pedestrian friendly nature of the town. Though the recent thoughts of urban planning and design uphold pedestrian friendly towns for achieving urban sustainability, pedestrian facilities are observed to be overlooked in different streets of the Town. In spite of having proper facilities for pedestrians, a large number of people are still observed to walk within different commercial and residential streets. Very recently Government of Bangladesh has taken an initiative through formal planning process for the sustainable and resilient growth of this town focusing 2031. This research mainly focuses on the ‘Historic Part’ of the town for observing pedestrian movements. The pedestrian movement pattern has been analysed to reveal the relationships with spatial configuration and land use pattern. Through ‘Space Syntax’ analysis it is observed that the ‘Global Core’ of the ‘Historic Part’ still acts as the most significant part of the town spatially. The survey findings have shown that higher rate of spontaneous retail and commercial land uses are occurring within this zone where pedestrians are also seen very high. The central area of the ‘Historic Part’ has become the vibrant ‘live centre’ both functionally and spatially that attracts more pedestrians as well as retail and commercial developments. Some implanted land uses like schools and administrative zones are also found to affect pedestrian movement patterns. So, in the future planning process both the spatial configuration and land-use pattern in the historic part of the town should be acknowledged for retaining its pedestrian friendly nature.