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Developing an Open Space Standard in a Densely Populated City: A Case Study of Chittagong City

In densely populated settings like Chittagong, Bangladesh cities facing rapid urbanization and economic growth are challenged to provide open space for its citizens. For example, the population of this port city is 14,200 people per square kilometer and there is a struggle to provide open space. Again, the planning proposal did not set any open space standard to achieve its open space aspirations Hence, the objectives of this paper are four-fold: (i) Develop an understanding of open space standards to establish relative benchmarks for potential use in Chittagong. (ii) Examine existing formal open space in Chittagong. (iii) Document the existing informal open space areas in Chittagong according to the planning direction. (iv) Recommend an approach that can be used to realize open spaces in Chittagong. To achieve these, this paper documents the existing open space scenario in the city, examines the recommended open space standards developed by organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Dhaka Structural Plan (2016–2035) (the planning document of the capital city of Bangladesh) to identify to what extent these ‘benchmark’ standards are appropriate for use in the city. A discussion on open space in Chittagong and the criteria used to ‘frame’ open space calculations in the city is then conducted to provide a foundation to reflect upon the world’s various open space recommendations. Ultimately, by analyzing existing open space recommendations and their associated well-being aspirations, the research suggests that a new standard relating to the unique characteristics of the city should be used when developing open space standards in Chittagong.