Abstract:
Benapole, the most vibrant land-port city of Bangladesh is divided by a bold line at its geographical level, the historical ‘Jashore Road’ running almost in-between the city bifurcating the community of Benapole. The northern part of Benapole is pulsating with mixed use development, vendors and people’s engagement but the southern part is comparatively less vibrant because of traffic congestion and the adjacent lands being ‘Port’ and other ancillary government facilities with over heighted solid boundary wall. Meanwhile, the railway running parallel with the ‘Jashore road’, itself is creating a barrier within the city causing social segregation between the communities. This segregation and street adjacent activity pattern lead to social inequities in terms of community engagement and area development. But developing the Jashore road as a democratic street space instead of just a highway can reduce these social inequalities by providing street that has meaning for people and space for vehicular circulation. This paper aims to identify the social form of inequities burgeoned in Benapole due to Jashore road and explore this street’s potentiality as a democratic street in integrating the communities of both parts. The data used in this investigation are collected from questioner survey, observation, FGD and KPI. Photograph and spatial mapping analysis indicate the lack of social equity among communities and the impact of Jashore road in various scale on adjacent space and the user group. The outcome of this paper will describe the role of a street in cultivating social equity and advocate community engagement of cities.
