City-community co-creation: Enquiring partnership model for community-driven open spaces in Narayanganj City

Abstract

Open spaces for play and recreational facilities are one core necessity of urban communities. By nature, suburban settings have accommodated ample supply of community open and recreational spaces (CORS) for diverse need of communities; but in development process these kinds of spaces become much contested in denser urban contexts. Narayanganj city, a similar setting located at 17 kilometres south of Bangladesh’s capital city Dhaka, is facing the same challenge over time. Particularly rapid urbanization in last two decades has caused sharp decline in both quantity and quality of CORS affecting living condition there. Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) as like other urban institutions in the region is struggling with typical top-down planning and delivery approach; which is constrained by both resources (i.e. supply of desired land and budget in typical requirement) and quality maintenance (i.e. place management and user participation in typical practice).

To overcome that gap, NCC intends to explore alternative approaches involving community’s partnership for CORS, with the objectives of optimum use of resources, reducing cost and management burden and encouraging community ownership. A design-research group is working for the NCC to contribute CORS design and management model aiming at co-creation and community-led management to optimize resources and reduce maintenance burden, as well as enabling community-building through participation and place-making.

The study as part of that process focuses on defining favourable condition/criteria for such model in that particular context. Grounded on Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) principles the study inquires community’s challenges faced and resources (skill, material) needed for self-built and managed CORS. Empirical data is collected through participatory community design workshops, focus-group interview and the findings are analysed in comparison to the performance of existing community parks built and managed in typical approach. The study is expected to identify key-gaps between current practice and community-led approach and shall suggest key-principles to develop a context-based design and management model for co-creation and community-institution partnership, enhance community’s capacity and identity in long run.