LIFESTYLE AND AFFORDABILITY CHOICES IN TRADI-

TIONAL HOUSING OF OLD DHAKA

Iftekhar Ahmed
Abstract
Affordability and lifestyle choices in housing are critical to meet basic human needs for shelter, security and wellbeing.
open house international Vol.36 No.3, September 2011 Lifestyle and Affordability Choices in Traditional Housing of Old Dhaka

The meaning of a house for a particular group of people and what is ‘affordable’ for a particular community is the crit-
ical issue. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, has greater population density and rate of expansion compared to almost
any other mega cities of Asia. The historic core of the city known as old Dhaka is a combination of several traditional
neighborhoods. Houses in these traditional neighborhoods are not only places to live, rather an integral unit of a social
system, having a good mix of place of work and individual expression in living. They also show flexibility and adapt-
ability (with more scope for personalization and individual life style choices) compared to the contemporary housing
stock. One of the success factors in these traditional houses is the healthy mix of the income ranges to avoid a ghetto
effect of low cost housing. The recent rapid urbanization has led to a discontinuity of the traditional housing form of old
Dhaka, leading to a disintegration of the mix of lifestyle choices and affordability. Following popular market trends, they
are often replaced by housing blocks in a higher density ignoring the need for a diverse mix. This paper studies the tra-
ditional housing of old Dhaka with two case study neighborhoods. Several elements of housing like the common price,
materials and construction, space layout, scale, social space, facades, street interface, etc are selected for a qualita-
tive study. Local residents interview, archival records, maps, Plans, figure-ground, aerial images are used to analyze,
identify and demonstrate the elements that made them socio-culturally sustainable and affordable for the community.
With the analysis, lessons from the traditional housing form that may contribute to the new housing in Dhaka are iden-
tified.

K e y w o r d s : Traditional Housing,Lifestyle Choices, Affordability, Old Dhaka.

I N T R O D U C T IO N access, flexibility to adapt, etc (Mallach, 2009: 53-

72). Another important issue is the requirement for
Both affordability and lifestyle choices in housing home ownership or rental housing at different
are critical to meet basic human needs for shelter, ranges for different income groups, at different life
security and wellbeing. What is ‘affordable’ for a stages and family compositions. Affordability prob-
particular community involves mixed housing types, lems deepen with the economic condition, espe-
tenure options and cost-models. A lack of appro- cially for the low to middle income households.
priate, affordable housing to meet the needs of Affordable rental accommodation seems the only
people of different age groups, incomes and alternate under such circumstances. It is important
household composition affects social cohesion. to find an appropriate home within a community
Affordability ensures a better community. one feel’s connected to and convenient with pre-
Placing all affordable housing in one subdivision ferred lifestyle choices. Many contemporary hous-
often creates a ghetto effect. There have been many ing schemes fail to meet this requirement for lack of
examples of poor planning that have created housing mix and diversity, adaptable housing and
islands of low-income housing surrounded by reg- universal design, tenure mix, and affordability. This
ular subdivisions ignoring lifestyle and cultural val- creates a need to look back into the wisdom of the
ues. traditional housing form.
With different income levels and family There have been studies in the context of
composition, the preferences become widely diver- housing affordability and lifestyle choices (see
sified; requiring different space composition, rent, Salama, 2006 and 2007) and on housing prob-
74
lems of Dhaka (see Kamruzzaman and Ogura, contribute to the new housing in Dhaka are identi-

Iftekhar Ahmed
2006 and Hafiz, 2000). This paper particularly fied. Finally, conclusions are drawn for possible
focuses on the affordability and lifestyle choices in alternative measures for a sustainable balance
traditional housing, as there has been no significant between the traditional wisdom and contemporary
research in this area. demands of lifestyle and affordability.
The paper has three main sections; the first
section establishes the traditional and contempo-
rary housing condition of Dhaka. The next section H O U S I N G C O N DI T I O N O F D HA K A
is about space formation and lifestyle choices in the
traditional housing. The final section elaborates the Housing of Old Dhaka: Community living and cul-
flexibility, adaptability and affordability of tradition- tural values
al housing. Finally concluding remarks are made Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh. The historic

open house international Vol.36 No.3, September 2011 Lifestyle and Affordability Choices in Traditional Housing of Old Dhaka
for possible use of the lessons learned. core of the city known as old Dhaka is a combina-
tion of several traditional neighborhoods. Houses
in these traditional neighborhoods or mahallas are
R E S E A R C H M E T H O DO L O G Y integral units of a social system (Vastu-Shilpa
Foundation, 1990), having a good mix of place of
This paper studies the elements and wisdom that work and individual lifestyle choices. Field study of
made the traditional houses socio-culturally sus- housing of old Dhaka shows adaptation of rural
tainable and affordable in the older city fabrics, for space formation with the urban ideas of early 17th
possible implementation into the contemporary century. These neighborhoods were (some still are)
urban housing. Old Dhaka is approximately 25 sq enclaves of particular cultural groups with strong
km, with a population density of nearly 80,000 social bond.
people per sq km (The Independent, 2003), one of The houses reflect socio-cultural values,
the highest in the world. Two case study neighbor- social status and identity; meeting the spatial, social
hoods of Old Dhaka: Shankharibazar and and visual requirements. They show flexibility,
Armanitola are selected. Shankharibazar is a 300 adaptability (scope for personalization and life style
years old high density (about 12,000 people in 4.6 choices) and mix of income ranges. All three major
acres) neighborhood, high in socio-cultural signifi- life style (where sub-cultures lead to different
cance. Most of the residents are Hindu specialist lifestyles) theories: the work-based, Attitude-based
craftsmen who make shankha (special bangles) for and status based; are successfully demonstrated in
living. Armanitola was once a thriving center for the the traditional housing.
Armenian merchant community and dates back The houses show spatial territoriality, as
200 years. Over time, people from other commu- Newman (1996:10) recognized, ‘territoriality must
nities settled here. Most of the people belong to low be connected to community’. In a contemporary
to middle income groups. housing complex, individual families are limited to
Selected housing elements like the com- the threshold of their door. Comparatively, with
mon price, materials, construction, space layout, hierarchy of private to public spaces (figure 1); the
scale, social space, facades, street interface, etc. traditional houses have spatial territoriality. This
are chosen for a cross neighborhood qualitative ensures safety and security of the households and
study to analyze what elements work better under the community, and also makes a more cohesive
different circumstances. Local residents interview, social living possible. As Newman (1996) identi-
Archival records, maps, Plans, figure-ground, aeri- fied, this hierarchy begins with the common space
al images and other relevant data are used in the or corridor shared by a small number of house-
study to analyze, identify and demonstrate the fea- holds and extends to the main entry/entries to the
tures of the traditional housing form of old Dhaka. building, next it moves to the households open
The problems and challenges of the contemporary space or courtyard and finally to the interface
housing are also identified. From the analysis, between the house and the public realm. The close
lessons from the traditional housing form that may involvement of the households in forming these
75
Iftekhar Ahmed
open house international Vol.36 No.3, September 2011 Lifestyle and Affordability Choices in Traditional Housing of Old Dhaka

Figure 1. Hierarchy of common spaces into the public realms in housing of the traditional neighborhood (Khan, I.M.
1991).

spaces ensures better living environments; as seen

in the traditional houses.
The house is seen as an integral unit of
social system. The meaning and attachment asso-
ciated with house is cultivated over several genera-
tions’ social interactions. The housing typology
ensured such social interaction with spaces like the
ground level verandah known as rock and the
courtyard.

P ROBLEMS OF CONTEMPORARY
HOUSING

Dhaka has greater population density and rate of Figure 2. Contemporary housing of Dhaka.
expansion compared to most of the mega cities of
Asia. By 2015, Dhaka will be the 4th most popu-
lous city in the world with an estimated population erally ignore local preferences on spaces, materials
of 21.1 million (Kamruzzaman and Ogura, 2006). and built-form or people’s affordability. Naturally,
About 1000 migrants arrive in Dhaka daily, result- they have often proven unsuccessful. Two major
ing in a phenomenal growth in the existing housing problems stand out, they are:
demand of 60,000 units per year with a yearly sup-
ply of only 2,500 (Hafiz, 2000). Apartment build- Low access and affordability: According to a 1996
ings came into the scene during the 1980s with an report of Government of Bangladesh
effort to solve the housing problem. Instead, their (Kamruzzaman and Ogura, 2006), house price to
unplanned growth has converted various parts of income ratio is 18.93, meaning a median income
the city into veritable high-rise slums (Figure 2). household needs 18.93 years annual income to
The rapid urbanization led to discontinuity own a house. 65 percent of the population of
of the traditional housing form, replaced by high Dhaka lives below the poverty line. Their access is
density housing; ignoring the need for diverse hous- greatly restricted due to high cost of land (land val-
ing mix. Following the popular market trends, the ues in prime locations range from US$ 350 to
contemporary housing does not fit the demograph- $1430 per square meter which is too high com-
ics of the areas concerned. Some of the main pared to other developed countries), material and
problems are: lack of affordable houses for rent or construction. Due to this, only the upper-middle to
purchase, unnecessary larger units, etc. They gen- upper income families (which constitutes less than
76
4% of the urban population) Hafiz, 2000) can

Iftekhar Ahmed
afford the current apartment prices. A study for
Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan (DMDP) in
1995 (www.rajukdhaka.gov.bd) showed, ‘the first
quintile of city household has zero affordability to
housing; the second quintile can afford US$ 2 to
4.5 per month; the third quintile can afford US$ Table 1. Proposed Phased Delivery of Dwelling Units
4.5 to 6 per month; the fourth quintile can afford (2008-2025), (Islam, Shafi and Moniruzzaman, 2009).
US$ 7 to Tk. 9 per month and the fifth quintile of
household can afford US$ 15 - 35 per month.
Only 3.85% of household can afford above US$ upper income groups. The main obstacle for devel-
35’. A study by the Consumers Association of opers to adopt the traditional housing pattern is the

open house international Vol.36 No.3, September 2011 Lifestyle and Affordability Choices in Traditional Housing of Old Dhaka
Bangladesh (CAB), in 2007 (The Financial Express, apparent low-return from alternate housing typolo-
2008.) showed that house rent in the Dhaka city gies, which, when dealt in a sustainable manner,
increased by 250 percent in last 17 years despite may not be the case. This will require a major shift
presence of rent control laws. from the existing ‘convenient’ parameters of hous-
ing, and look into alternate locations to lower land
Problems of lifestyle choices: Some of the main cost and revisit the time tested traditional methods
problems of contemporary housing are: lack of of construction, which may lower the material and
responsiveness to the dwellers’ lifestyle choices, construction costs.
lack of personal space, lack of natural outdoors,
poor or no social contact with neighbors, unac-
ceptable places to raise children, lack of flexibility to SPACE FORMATION AND LIFESTYLE
cope with changing lifestyle, etc. Several of these C HO I C E S
issues can lead to socio-psychological problems.
Basic Housing Form and Typologies of Traditional
Housing of Old Dhaka
A F F O R D A B L E H O U S I N G IN Many visually pleasing houses fail to fulfill the
C O NT E M P O R A R Y P L A N N I N G requirements of a safe and satisfactory home. In old
Dhaka, the houses may not always be apparently
One of the contemporary planning visions for ‘beautiful’ by modern architectural standards, but
housing delivery is “A comprehensive housing nonetheless they have effective space formations
development programme” (Islam, Shafi and that have worked efficiently for hundreds of years.
Moniruzzaman, 2009), that proposes ‘a vision for Field study shows three basic typologies of
housing programme by 2025’; with the ‘philo- traditional houses: the courtyard house, linear ten-
sophical stand’ concerning housing access for all, ement house and the villa type house (figure 3). Not
satisfying affordability and equity. It is expected that, going into details of particular types, this section
when executed, the proposal would initiate a ‘spa- discusses their key success factors in general.
tial restructuring’ that may bring significant change
in housing affordability in Dhaka city by delivering
4.45 million dwelling units (Ibid, 2009). The table
shows the focus on providing housing for the mid-
dle to lower income groups. Lessons learnt from the
traditional housing will be very relevant to achieve
greater housing affordability.
About 30 percent of the housing is deliv-
ered by the formal non-government sector, i.e.
developers and 60 percent by the informal sector.
Figure 3. Basic housing typologies of old Dhaka.
The developer build housing is mostly targeted for

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 In traditional houses, use of space is both
Iftekhar Ahmed

religious and cultural. Functions have their respec-

tive sacred or polluting character. Polluting spaces
like toilets require separation from the main living
quarters, while cooking and cleaning areas also
require separation from the living quarters (figure
4).
Originating from the rural courtyards, the
urban courtyard houses in their cluster arrange-
ments work as very successful communal spaces for
the extended family households. They make adap-
tation possible for lifestyle changes. Often, nuclear Diagram 1.. Relationship of different components of
open house international Vol.36 No.3, September 2011 Lifestyle and Affordability Choices in Traditional Housing of Old Dhaka

families become a joint family or vice versa, where the traditional households of old Dhaka.
a large joint family breaks down into several
nuclear families. This was possible in the courtyard es, they also share several common aspects and
houses as the space formation takes place from help to understand the physical and social factors
outside in, rooms are added around the shrinking in affordable housing (Salama, 2006 and 2007), .
courtyard. In cases of household division, the The housing of old Dhaka is successful considering
courtyard itself (or spaces around it) could also all the major lifestyle theories; as discussed here:
be divided.
For every family, the behavior politics is dif- Work based lifestyle choices: Pioneered by Hojrup
ferent and this should be reflected in space forma- (2003), the theory is principally concerned with
tion. The courtyard houses could successfully career dominated or self employed wage earner
address this. They ensure a smooth execution of and the related dynamics in the lifestyle choices.
avoidance-respect behavior through separation of Hojrup (2003) stated that people’s values are con-
male-female and public-private spaces. (Figure4). strained by cultural-relational dialectics and are
The breakdown in social hierarchical structure product of cultural life modes. Curiously, all three
results in diminishing use of rules of precedence as lifestyle modes under Hojrup’s work based theory
well as avoidance behavior in use of space, as evi- are present in old Dhaka at varying degrees. The
dent in the contemporary housing. shop-houses have a very strong live-work relation-
ship demonstrating the self-employed type. Most of
Lifestyle Components in Traditional Households these households run family business for genera-
Wentling (1995: 3) identifies several key compo- tions. The second mode (wage-earner) has become
nents in lifestyle oriented space formation. These more common recently with separation of work
components are rather general areas of a home place with living quarters, which is used mostly for
based on principal use and the households as recreational purposes. The third mode (career ori-
assemblage of these components. These compo- ented) relates the personal position in society with
nents appear in varied compositions in the tradi- career progression and its reflection in the house-
tional houses of old Dhaka, based on requirements hold choices by past and recent experiences in
of social interaction, privacy or backyard behind the household preferences. This mode is expressed in
door functions. They are shown in Diagram 1. extension and addition of facilities, or an entire
block into present household with career progress.
Affordability is critical as with rising price of
L IF E S T Y L E T H E O R I E S A N D T HE land and construction, reasonably priced houses
HOUSING OF OLD DHAKA are short in supply, which makes the area less
attractive for the wage earner. The traditional hous-
Houses affect human life in all its aspects either ing was successful due to shorter (often walking)
powerfully or subtly by the lifestyles chosen. Though work-living distance as the development was mixed.
the lifestyle theories consider different lifestyle choic- This is lost in contemporary housing for over segre-
78
gation of living place with work. Commutes have sub cultures facilitate the understanding of the

Iftekhar Ahmed
an inverse relationship with affordability, adding to household choices. In old Dhaka, they vary accord-
the living cost and are reflected in housing choice. ing to house size, position and relationships of the
Often current residents leave the region and house in the neighborhood and the image of the
prospective residents choose against moving in. house in terms of affordability, mostly in the form of
Lower income households suffer most in villa type houses.
terms of housing cost and housing occupancy with As the communities are not too hierarchi-
overcrowding. Affordable housing should have a cal, examples are found in the palatial residences
good mix of location for all income ranges, which, of the rich. Subsequent subdivisions over genera-
the traditional neighborhoods achieved successful- tions show their flexibility to changing needs.
ly. Concentrating the poor to moderate income Isolation and individualism is essential in household
households to the lesser desirable locations stigma- choices. There should be a good mix of these types

open house international Vol.36 No.3, September 2011 Lifestyle and Affordability Choices in Traditional Housing of Old Dhaka
tizes them and impacts job choices. Traditional of households in a community for a healthy social
housing avoids over segregation and with a good environment and avoid creating ‘household
mix of household income ranges, offers a well bal- islands’. The attitude based household examples of
anced living-work environment. old Dhaka show ability to adapt and co-habit with
other houses.
Status based lifestyle choices: Bourdieu’s (1984)
status based lifestyle theory highlights the factors of
distinction and social position having strong influ- MAJOR CHANGES IN LIFESTYL E
ence in housing choices. Traditional home owner- C HO I C E S
ship is indicator of occupational and social status
and is a produce of social relations. In the tradi- There has been significant change in the household
tional neighborhoods’, the social relations are cul- lifestyle choices in the traditional houses in the last
tivated over generations and status is maintained few decades. Some these are:
even under changing economic conditions. The
flexibility and adaptability of the traditional houses Changing household composition: With changing
help to maintain this. socio-economic conditions, the household compo-
There are examples of Gated communities sition also changes. Nuclear families replace the
(Ex. The Japan garden city) in contemporary hous- large extended families. There are also increasing
ing, which have often failed. Comparatively, the tra- number of single parents, childless adults, single
ditional housing offers better solutions of status persons, and unrelated people sharing household
based lifestyle choices that are more integrated with putting greater demand on the household spaces
the community. to be more flexible and adaptable to cope. There is
The house is seen both as a social and also the need to meet the varied demand of differ-
economic unit. It is a common practice to rent out ent age groups which the traditional housing has
the front room of the ground floor to recover con- been able to sustain.
struction cost or as an additional income source. It
is essential that this is possible maintaining the Changing social and personal values: One of the
social boundaries and privacy factors. key changes in the late twentieth century has been
Attitude based lifestyle choices: Mary Douglas’s prioritizing carrier advancement before family life.
(1996) attitude based lifestyle theory is based on Leisure and socio-cultural pursuits, which are
household preferences backed by strong competi- reflected in the household design, followed suit.
tive forces, individual choices, seclusion and indi- Fortunately, this trend is waning, meaning there is
vidualism and ultimately the scope of their integra- increasing tendency to spend quality time with
tion in the neighborhoods. Her proposed sub cul- family with greater demand of shared family
tures are: competition and individualism; isolation spaces. Within similar affordability, the spaces for-
and avoidance of social controls; equity and nego- merly used differently are converted into something
tiation; and hierarchical communities (Ibid). The new, as has been achieved successfully in many of
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Iftekhar Ahmed
open house international Vol.36 No.3, September 2011 Lifestyle and Affordability Choices in Traditional Housing of Old Dhaka

Figure 4. A typical traditional house with courtyard in old Dhaka.

Figure 5. Plot subdivision and gradual changes in traditional houses of old Dhaka (Khan, I.M. 1991).

the traditional households. changing employment pattern and advanced tech-

nology.
Changing employment patterns: Since the nineties,
an increasing number of households have two par-
ents working. Breakdown of the corporate entities F L E x IB I L I T Y , A DA P T A B IL IT Y A N D
into smaller businesses means that people have A F F O R DA B I L I T Y O F T R A D I T IO N A L
more flexible working hours and may work more HOUSING
from home with advance of computer and internet
technology; decreasing the requirement for physi- Frank (1985) points out, all designed environments
cal presence at workplace. This resulted in the con- result in environmental changes, meaning, they are
version of part of household into an extension of purposeful modifications of our physical surround-
workplace, impacting the household space usage. ings. Flexibility of both affordability and life style
While many of the traditional houses were also choices is required with change in family structure,
places of work, the composition has changed with social networks, gender compositions, economic
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 Iftekhar Ahmed
open house international Vol.36 No.3, September 2011 Lifestyle and Affordability Choices in Traditional Housing of Old Dhaka
Diagram 2. Issues related to affordable housing and lifestyle choices in old Dhaka.

and educational opportunities. Figure 4 shows a Another prevailing housing typology is the
traditional courtyard house of an adapted extended hybrid tenement house that successfully responds to
family. Size along with flexibility to adapt to chang- the demand of affordable high-density low cost
ing family compositions was satisfied with change in dwelling. The inhabitants’ original life style had
lifestyle choices like use of space by household been adapted to changing economic conditions
members within the dwelling, and development of and collective co-habitation gained new norms and
new modes of privacy. The adaptive space re-con- values with internal space divisions. Diagram 2
figuration (figure 5) in the traditional housing units shows some issues related to affordable lifestyle
was possible by their relatively narrower width and choices.
the use of common circulation spaces like the
courtyard. The narrow width and courtyard allowed
subsequent subdivisions.

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Iftekhar Ahmed
open house international Vol.36 No.3, September 2011 Lifestyle and Affordability Choices in Traditional Housing of Old Dhaka

Diagram 3. Elements of housing affordability and lifestyle choices in old Dhaka.

ELEMENTS OF AFFORDABILITY AND LIFESTYLE behind a low supply of affordable housing (Hasan,
CHOICES 2000). Even the most inexpensive newly construct-
ed residential units are way beyond the reach of the
Though diverse in nature, the elements of afford- lower income groups (Landt & Bray, 1997). This
ability and lifestyle choices in the case study areas leads to filtering down of older units at lower cost.
can be sub categorized into few groups (diagram 3). For this reason, the traditional houses of old Dhaka
Within a category, the choices vary widely accord- are still high in demand. The construction materials
ing to the socio-economic preferences and status. and techniques used were and still are local, which
Greater density is achieved, when the location is reduces the unnecessary cost of transportation that
closer to urban transport centers, recreational and in turn adds on to the construction cost. This has
other quality lifestyle choices. The dwelling size is enabled the traditional housing lot to remain more
generally smaller compared to the lot size, which economic compared to the contemporary housing.
reduces development costs and enables flexibility of
future household needs and expansions. Space subdivision and affordability
Comparatively, the larger houses provide opportu- Affordable housing should not put undue or dis-
nity to subdivide according to requirements of sub- proportionate burden over the household income
sequent generations. Other important factors are to spend on shelter. ‘Affordable housing should be
neighborhood and housing layout, permeability understood as a commitment of time rather than
and connectivity, mix of room types and space con- simply immediate solution to a pressing need’ (Bell,
figurations, community integration, proximity of 2003:84). What is affordable may not always be
open spaces, etc. The key to affordability is to have related to the numbers rather what a household
variation and options in desirable locations. feels they are comfortable to spend for a house of
their preference based on their means and socio-
Cost effective use of material and local construction cultural preferences. But a thumb rule standard is
techniques maintained that a family should not be forced to
Rising construction cost is one of the main reasons spend more than 30 percent of the household
82
 CONCLUSION

Iftekhar Ahmed
The changing economic conditions have com-
pelled many low to moderate income households
to live in smaller units out of necessity. It is also not
practical to expect ready units of affordable size of
the households. Thus the viable alternate no doubt
is the re-organization of the existing households for
greater number of occupants. Many traditional
houses offer this flexibility, while many of the con-
temporary houses fail.
The study shows two particular findings.

open house international Vol.36 No.3, September 2011 Lifestyle and Affordability Choices in Traditional Housing of Old Dhaka
The more obvious one is the failure of modern
housing to provide changing lifestyle choices in
most cases. Comparatively, the traditional housing
has successfully adapted to changing socio-eco-
nomic conditions aided by the flexibility and adapt-
ability of their spatial layout, which has scope for re-
arrangements and subdivisions. Despite their
apparent older look, investigation shows that they
are more livable than the contemporary housing.
The affordability indices and failure of the
Figure 6. 3D Reconstruction showing the flexibility and private housing sector of Dhaka City imply that the
development phases in the traditional houses with sub- govt. has to play both provider and
division and shared usage of common spaces in old facilitator/enabler for different income groups.
Dhaka. Revisiting the housing challenges by enabling, facil-
itating and channeling the potentials of traditional
income for shelter. Unfortunately, contemporary housing can be a good way to start the search for
housing fails to keep to this limit. housing affordability. The contemporary housing is
The traditional houses display a great too highly priced owing to high land, construction
capacity to adapt to changing needs of the resi- and material costs and only serves the higher-mid-
dents (Figure 6). Though generally undesirable, dle to high income groups, which constitute a very
greater housing expenses have led to overcrowd- small part of the population. To provide affordable
ing. Overcrowding is very closely associated with housing for major part of the urban population, a
the rising housing cost, compelling many to share fresh outlook into the current housing scene is
the same household though subsequent genera- required. Fundamental change in attitude and
tions. Houses should be flexible enough to accom- unconventional innovative methods needs to be
modate different sets of user-space relationships. adapted.
In extreme cases, there is no option but to Traditional housing form, which can be
share the household to avoid homelessness. It also more affordable for the highest segment of city
provides added income in the challenging eco- dwellers ranging from low to lower-middle income
nomic conditions for the owner to rent out the extra groups can be a possible answer to the problem.
spaces. The traditional dwelling units by their space Besides being affordable, they may also successful-
distribution have scope of such adaptation. One ly answer the socio-cultural problems persistent in
good example is the shared access to the common the contemporary housing. There are several
spaces like the courtyards from the continuous run- important lessons to learn from the traditional hous-
ning corridors that enables easy access for every- ing space formation and their adaptive qualities
one without compromising the privacy of others. that in turn may be used successfully in the con-
temporary housing.
83
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Iftekhar Ahmed

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