Jahangirnagar University

Department of Urban and Regional Planning

Course no. – URP 3103

Housing Studies

Submitted to

Dr. Adil Mohammed Khan

Professor

Department of Urban and Regional Planning

Jahangirnagar University

Submitted by

Group 1

Md. Sajid Iqbal, Roll – 744

Alimuzzaman Siam, Roll – 746

Toushikur Rahman, Roll – 761

22nd Batch

Date of Submission – 8th January, 2023

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Introduction
Housing refers to the development of living facilities for people. The UN housing policy guideline
for developing countries states that the concept of housing is more than merely a physical shell.
Housing encompasses all auxiliary services and community facilities necessary to human
beings. As a basic need, housing is a fundamental human right. In Bangladesh, the existence of
human settlements or housing has been found as early as prehistoric times. Since then style
and pattern of housing have evolved in adaptation to environmental, economic, and social
needs guided by climatic and geographical locations.

Even in the second decade of the twenty-first century, Bangladesh is predominantly a rural
country with over 70% of its population living in nearly 80 thousand villages and the rest in over
525 urban centers ranging in size from small growth centers to the huge megacity, Dhaka. As
such a discussion on housing in Bangladesh needs to be done under the two geographical
sectors, rural and urban.

Types
There are two types of housing on the basis of their locational characteristics in Bangladesh,
rural and urban housing. In terms of planning, urban housing can be classified into planned and
unplanned housing. Planned urban housing consists of neighborhoods, gated communities,
govt. housing projects, private land development, housing programs, etc. On the other hand,
urban unplanned housing indicates scattered, dispersed growths, suburban sprawl, etc.

Rural
The rural homestead, in turn, is a part of a Gram or village, a linear or clustered compact
settlement. A rural homestead may have one or more houses. Structurally rural houses can be
of different types.

Figure 1: A Typical Courtyard Layout of a Rural Homestead.

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Sirajul Islam Chowdhury, a cultural geographer, classified rural houses of Bangladesh mainly on
the basis of cultural and social influences. The types identified by him are

● choushala griha or a house with four units on four sides (bhita) of a courtyard or uthan in
the middle;
● briti griha a house completely surrounded by walls made of bamboo or mud or other
materials;
● atchala griha, an eight roofed house, four on the main structure and four over the
attached verandahs;
● posta griha a house with raised platforms all around. Sometimes, for rich families the
platform can be pucca;
● dishala nanda griha with two houses on either side of the courtyard;
● shusthita griha or balanced house with verandahs on all sides; tribal house and adibashi
house.

Figure 2: Salient Features of a Typical Rural House.

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The choushala house is widely found throughout Bangladesh and the form has also found
popularity in urban areas.

Briti, atchala, dishala, shusthita, and posta houses are not too commonly seen these days.Briti
houses are seen only in Northern Dinajpur, atchala in Satkhira, dishala in Sylhet, shusthita in
Sitakundu and Posta in Mirsharai.

Figure 3: Typical Roof Forms of Rural Houses.

Tribal houses are found in the Chittagong Hill Tracts as well as in other districts inhabited by the
tribal communities. Their houses are distinguished by form and function and are mostly made of
wood and bamboo, sometimes on platforms.

Adivasi houses refer generally to those of the Santhals, one of the earliest of the indigenous
peoples in Bangladesh. Their houses are made of mud walls.

Figure 4: Salient Features of a Typical Rural Homestead.

The current predominant house types in rural areas are the dochala or double tin (Corrugated
Iron Sheet) roofs with bamboo walls, the all-tin dochala and the chauchala (four-roofed), and the
semi-pucca houses.

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Urban
Urban living in Bangladesh became prominent during the colonial period. The development of
small townships in ancient Bengal by kings, maharajahs, zamindars, wealthy merchants, and
landowners started the era of urban housing.

The European architectural design of housing for the elite became fashionable in the nineteenth
century. In the Pakistan period (1947-71) modern structures were built for housing for the rich
and powerful both in the public and private sectors.

Large tracts of land were acquired by government bodies and developed as planned residential
areas and new satellite towns in Dhaka and other cities. Planned low-income high-density areas
with small single-story pucca nucleus houses were also built, such as the ones in Mirpur,
Dhaka.

Housing in spontaneous urban poor settlements (or slums and squatter areas) consists of
kutcha and semi-pucca structures similar to rural settlements.

Apartment housing as a phenomenon started in the nineteen eighties and has evolved from
six-story walk-up buildings to tall buildings of 10-20 floors, with elevators. Individual homes of
the rich have taken the form of single-story bungalow types to two-story duplexes and even
three-story triplex types. However, the numbers of such houses are very limited. Floor spaces
range from under 300 square feet for low-priced units to over 3000 square feet for luxury units.

Figure 5: Ruplal House (formerly known as Aratoon House) is a 19th-century mansion in the Farashganj
area in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The house was built in 1825 by an Armenian businessman Stephen Aratoon.
It was later bought by two merchants, Ruplal Das and his brother Raghunath Das, in 1840. Later, an
architect firm in Calcutta, Martin Company, re-constructed this building.

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Rural Types

1. Two-storied Mud House

Panitola is also known as a city of two-storied mud houses. The thick mud wall of the
house tapered upward to secure the load. The pitched roof is typical of dochala or
chouchala type. A liner-hanging balcony on the first floor is also common. Identical
window and frame details are also noticeable features.

Figure 6: Illustration of a two-storied mud house from Naogaon

Location: Panitola, Naogaon, Rajshahi.

Construction material: Mud, Bomboo, Thatch.

2. Mud and Clay Roof House

L-shaped house commonly set around an Angina/ courtyard. The mud wall is often
painted with organic colour. Shallow, widen dochala roof is covered with sundried clay
tiles.

Figure 7: Mud and Clay Roof House

Location: Gomostapur, Barind, Chapai Nowabganj.

Construction material: Mud wall, Bamboo, clay roof tiles.

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3. Santal House
A typical house of the Santal tribe living in the northwest of Bangladesh. The house has
a strong mud base, thick walls, and an extended thatch roof (chouchala/ dochala). Every
house has a Garva Griha attached.

Figure 8: Santal House.

Location: Nachole, Barind, Chapai Nowabganj.

Construction material: Mud, Bamboo, thatch roof.

4. Mud House
A common house type has been seen all over the central part of North Bengal. Both the
boundary and main walls are prepared with concentrated earth. The planning
organization is having a sequence from Kachari to Ander Mohal. This kind of rural house
has a hierarchy in setting roof tiers.

Figure 9: Mud House.

Location: Kakonhat, Chapai Nowabganj.

Construction material: Mud wall structure, thatch roof.

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5. Mud House
This rural houses are seen in Barind area. This type of House form is enclosed with a
small courtyard, the courtyard is surrounded by the main house, secondary sheds for
multipurpose activities and the linear L shape form contains all the services including
entry gate. Solely mud walled structure and bounded by wide mud craftsmanship. The
thick mud walls are topped by gentle slopped Dochala roofing, which continues as the
linear roofing on the service mass area.

Figure 10: Mud House.

Location: Rajabari, Rajshahi.

6. Garo House
The long rectangular house had three rooms: a front room on ground level, the main
room and a sleeping room on a raised platform. The main construction of the house, the
circular central columns and the heavy roof and floor beams were made of wood. The
supports of the raised floor were also made of wood or sometimes large standing stone.
The rest was mostly made of bamboo. The walls were made of bamboo framework with
(where necessary) shores or crosses, all cleverly inserted through each other and
covered with woven bamboo. On the roof beams, all separately supported, lay bamboo
rafters and thatch laths.

Figure 11: Garo House

Location: Garo village of Sibalgiri.

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7. Bangla Baton House
Bangla Baton’ is a traditional house form of Sylhet City, locally known for its vernacular
construction technique of a timber frame (Baton) structure with plastered bamboo fence
surfacing. The technique was adopted to build a lightweight structure with pitch-roof by
locally available materials to avoid seismic vulnerability and for substantial rainfall of this
area. The ‘Bangla-Baton’ houses are nearly similar to vernacular Assamese-house style.
However, this pattern was largely practiced in colonial time following the local modules
and ethnic expression thus forming a blend of tradition and technology.

Figure 12: Bangla Baton House.

Image Source: Saki Choudhury. Drawing by: Saba Islam.

Location: Golapgong, Sylhet.

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8. British Bungalow
The development of this house can have its origin in the British colonial past, when such
houses were built in tea gardens and in administrative headquarters. These houses also
provide effective protection against heavy tropical rain Sylhet region.

Figure 13: British Bungalow.

Location: Hingazia Tea Estate Kulaura, Moulvibazar, Sylhet.

9. Mancha Ghor (House on Stilt)

Typical house of Marma community live in hilly area. The entire house is elevated and
seated on terrace scaffolding or Machang. The space underneath the Machang is used
for various purposes such as keeping livestock, storing fuel wood etc. Cluster of houses
are arranged around an elevated terraced floor. All kinds of daily activities are performed
here.

Figure 14: Mancha Ghor.

Location: Ramu, Cox's Bazar, Chittagong.

Construction material: Bamboo, wooden pillar, thatch roof.

10. Mhrang Uing/ Marma House

In a ‘Mhrang Uing’ the main house is divided into two rooms Praw (living room) and
Toi-the (bedroom) by an internal wall. The floor level of main house is raised by 6” from

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 the terrace and it has a separate over hanged do-chala roof. Praw i, chiefly serves as a
family living and guest entertaining room. A sleeping arrangement is made if there’s a
son or guest staying overnight. Overhead storages are used to store clothes, glasses,
cigars, books etc and an altar carrying the statue of Buddha. Toi-the is the most private
part of the house. A terrace. an elevated open or semi enclosed platform, is attached to
the front part of the main house facing the access road, is climbed either by a notched
tree ladder or bamboo built ladder. Wide ranges of outdoor activities like drying clothes,
chilies, threshing corns, weaving etc are performed here. It is a space for relaxing and
socializing.

Figure 15: Mhrang Uing/ Marma House.

Location: Chittagong Hill Tracts.

11. Four pitch Thatch house (Jupri)

Typically seen is char areas. House of this type is primarily constructed with thatch with
bamboo support.The roof is the most dominant part in the house form of this type. It has
four pitches: gable roof over main structure and single slope on sides, extending
significantly almost to touch the ground. The house usually has no verandah or even
window opening except the door way placed asymmetrically on sides.

Figure 16: Four-pitch Thatch house (Jupri).

Location: Char Gangamati, Patuakhali.

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12. Bangla Baton House
Walls and roof of this house is commonly constructed with galvanized corrugated iron
sheet over timber framework. House of this type has a core living unit with a verandah in
front and extension on the rear side. With the verandah and extension part the house
takes the shape of a rectangle with length and width ratio within 1: 1.125. The house has
a six pitched roof with a hip roof over the core unit and single pitch over the verandah
and extension part. The height of the verandah is considerably lower than the core unit
and of enclosed type having small openings with shutter.

Figure 17: Bangla Baton House.

Location: typically seen in Patuakhali, Barisal, Barguna region.

13. Golpata House

In Sundarban region, construction of houses with Sundari tree as support material and
Golpata as shading material is common. At first, the frame of the house is made using
Sundari planks or poles of different thickness. Golpata is then attached as covering
material.

Figure 18: Golpata House.

Location: Koromjal, Sunderban.

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14. Clay-roofed tiles house
Some examples of rural houses with clay roofing tiles are still evident in the south and
south-western part of Bangladesh like Jessore, Shatkhira, Pabna, Pirojpur, Barisal ,
Faridpur etc. Cay roofing tiles are produced in local industries of Shatkhira and Jessore
and can be differentiated by its size and design. Roof tiles are arranged on a bamboo
framework starting from the bottom end of the slope roof. Generally an angle of 30 deg is
maintained for the roof slope.

Figure 19: Clay-roofed tiles house.

Location: Maynapur Village, Keshabpur, Jessore.

Material: Mud wall, Clay roofing tiles.

15. Prefabricated Two-storied Baton House

Location: Bikrampur, Munshiganj.
Material: Wood and Corrugated Steel.

Figure 20: Prefabricated Two-storied Baton House.

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16. Corrugated Iron (CI) / Tin Sheet Houses

Figure 21: Corrugated Iron (CI) / Tin Sheet Houses.

In the northern part where rainfall is relatively very high, houses with tin sheet roofing
and also as walling material are becoming common, since it offers obvious advantages.
The sheets are damp-proof, light, and durable, and ensure direct protection against
heavy rain. This type of house acts as a status symbol in the local community and most
rural households aspire to it.

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Urban Types

1. Single Detached/ Attached Duplex Homes

Detached: A free-standing residential building. It means that the building does not share
an inside wall with any other house. Mostly seen in Gulshan, Dhanmondi, and Banani.

Attached: It consists of pairs of houses side by side as units. They share a party wall.

Figure 22: Single Detached/ Attached Duplex Homes.

2. Apartment/ Condominium Houses

A multi-unit dwelling made up of several apartments/ flats/ condos within a building.
Mostly seen in rich/ elite areas in Bangladesh. Privately owned and well facilitated.

Figure 23: Apartment/ Condominium Houses.

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3. High Rise Housing.
High-rise Buildings are product of current time and temporary solutions for the problems
they create. In recent years, developing countries are emerged as centers for new
high-rise buildings like Bangladesh. Land is scarce and way expensive particularly in big
cities like Dhaka.

Figure 24: High Rise Housing. In the photo - Japan Garden City, Bangladesh.

4. Gated Community Housing

High-rise Buildings are product of current time and temporary solutions for the problems
they create. In recent years, developing countries are emerged as centers for new
high-rise buildings like Bangladesh. Land is scarce and way expensive particularly in big
cities like Dhaka.

Figure 25: In the photo - Rupayan City Uttara.

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5. Housing of Urban Poor
Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world. There are several reasons for
this insufficiency and uncontrolled population growth is one of the prime reasons. Others
include low economic progress, imbalanced resource management, unemployment and
underemployment, urban migration and natural catastrophes etc. As a result, the rate of
urban poor is increasing inevitably in every sphere of urban cities in Bangladesh and
Dhaka is the most affected one.

Figure 26: Housing of Urban Poor. In the photo - Almost one lakh people live in Korail
Bosti, a slum built on 90 acres of government land in the capital's Mohakhali.

6. Government-Funded Housing Projects

This Project had been accepted categorically by ECNEC under Uttara 3rd Phase
Project, RAJUK on 25th April, 2000. In line with the categorical acceptance a
Development Project Proposal (DPP) for construction of around 22000 apartments for
middle and lower income group of people at sector-18, Uttara, Dhaka. It is the ever
largest Planned Apartment Project in the country having 214.44 acres of land at Uttara
3rd Phrase Project, Sector-18, Uttara, Dhaka for Low and Middle Income group of
people. Approximately 240 nos. 16 storied Apartment Building including one basement
floor comprising about 20,160 nos flats were supposed to be constructed. The statistics
of Building and flats as per approved DPP.

Figure 27: Government-Funded Housing Projects.

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 7. Informal Housing - Slums
Bangladesh has roughly 5.3 million informal settlers and approximately 164.69 million
people. More than 93% of informal settlements are very crowded, have poor
environmental conditions, and have poor housing. Due to rapid rural-to-urban migration,
lack of adequate and timely initiatives, government institutional weaknesses, the urban
poor's face the difficulty to get affordable land for houses, and unstable land tenure are
all driving forces behind informal settlements growth. However, Bangladesh will face
many more problems in the future, including migrating rural-to-urban areas for living and
working opportunities.

Figure 28: Informal Housing - Slums.

Future
In the past few decades, Bangladesh has seen unprecedented economic growth. This has
resulted in a rapid increase in the standard of living for its residents. With this increase,
however, comes an increase in demand for many things, including housing, mostly in urban
areas. But as time passes, and the population of our country grows larger and larger, this
demand for urban housing is becoming harder to satisfy.

Figure 29: Landscape of Housing in Dhaka.

The major cities of Bangladesh helped drive its economic growth. They became hotspots for
industrial and commercial activities, and as these cities grew larger economically, more and
more people moved into the cities. This increasing rural-urban migration started to become a
problem, as the infrastructure of major cities were ill-equipped to satisfy the housing demands of
so many new residents.

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Even with a massive boom in real estate in the 90s and 2000s, these housing demands were
never truly met. This problem affected and continues to affect mostly the middle class, with 80
percent of Dhaka’s residents still having to rent homes. These are people who have aspirations
of owning homes but the sky-high prices of property in major cities, plus inadequate financing
opportunities present, have deterred them from ever making such purchases.

Another problem that came with the urbanization of our nation is the recent economic migration
to major cities such as Dhaka. This is mostly due to rising sea levels destroying the livelihood of
fishermen and farmers in the south of the country, who have come to Dhaka to start life anew.
Other than that, poorer people from many other parts of the country also migrate to Dhaka to
look for new opportunities. But these people face numerous challenges when it comes to
housing. With proper low-cost housing unavailable in Dhaka, they have to resort to living in
slums, where housing conditions are dismal. The urban poor are in desperate need of proper
low-cost housing. In the next section, we will be looking at how different sectors can help
provide urban housing solutions for Bangladesh and alleviate the housing problems of the lower
and middle classes.

Bangladesh’s real estate sector is thriving, but it’s driven mostly by profit and speculative
practices by landowners and developers. Their main purpose is to serve the demands of the
upper and upper-middle classes, leaving the middle and lower classes in the lurch. But with
proper policymaking from the government, along with initiatives from NGOs and the private
sector, the housing crisis can be negated. This is why we will be looking at how these different
sectors can help provide proper housing solutions for Bangladesh.

Conclusion
Housing is a complex social and economic dynamic whose outcomes include the physical
layout of cities and towns, the characteristics of communal life, and the health and well-being of
the populace. Housing plays a role in maintaining societies because of the interplay between
economic and cultural qualities.

Types of Housing there are two types of housing in Bangladesh, rural and urban housing. Along
with this growth comes a rise in demand for a variety of goods and services, most notably
housing, particularly in urban regions.

Bangladesh's rural areas have unique dwelling characteristics. Housing characteristics are
mostly influenced by location and kind. Due to the nearly flat and deltaic geography of most of
Bangladesh, homes must be built on higher ground or raised artificially, as in the haor areas, to
avoid flooding during the monsoon season.All in all many types of housing types in terms of
structure are needed to ensure housing for all in a sustainable manner.

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