Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Density studies are now one of the areas of the most prolific interest for city planners, policy makers and
designers. The shift of this interest comes from rapid urbanization and globalization issues, which the
modern cities are suffering right now. Density has created some impact upon the city life: both in positive
and negative ways. Regarding the primary concern of the issue, the study here summarizes the impact of
density on city life derived from the experiences and perception of people in two different density
situations: one is highly dense populated South Asian mega city (Dhaka) and another one is sparsely
populated growing European city (Malmö).
Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is now one of the most densely populated mega cities in the whole
world (115,000 per square mile or 44,000 per square kilometer) and has been facing the problems that
arise from the overpopulation issue (BBS, 2011). On the other hand Malmö city is growing day by day
and now it is the third largest city of Sweden with the inhabitant of approx. 300000 people (1805.1 per
square kilometer). The city is well known for its green nature, especially for the parks and open spaces.
These two different scenarios can put up a significant impact on the city life among citizens who have
migrated from Dhaka to Malmo.
Aged and Young people, who live in Malmö now but was born and grew up in Dhaka and the children
who were born in Malmö but have visited Dhaka city several times to see their relative, how do they
perceive/feel/realize about these two different scenarios? Their different experiences and perceptions
about the physical environment in different density situation can provide a better understanding of people
environment relationship, which is much needed for making “city for people”.
The study mainly focuses on the three important aspects of urban environment: outdoor activities, open
space and public transportation. A semi structured qualitative interview method is used to portray the
experiences and perceptions of people who now are living in Malmö city but also used to live in or close
to Dhaka city at any particular time of their life. After selecting the respondents into three groups
(according to the criteria), nine interviews were taken (three from each group). The theoretical framework
based on the definition of density from different aspects, followed by the impact of density studied by
previous researchers which guided me to structure the result and analysis section. And lastly the summery
with concluding remarks and conclusion part is provided for future study opportunities.