Feb 18, 2021 / Research Seminar #8 / Desiring Karail: Morphogenesis of an Informal Settlement in Dhaka

Monthly Research Seminar

Presented by Tanzil Shafique, Chaired by Kim Dovey

Watch online below:

Abstract: Informal settlements currently house more than a billion people; they are pervasive, expanding and persistent. Some embody slum conditions while others do not. Often described as ‘spontaneous’ or ‘autonomous’, they are produced without the explicit control of the state. Yet they embody complex processes of design and production. Understanding such processes in relation to the morphogenesis—the development of the urban form—is the central inquiry of this research. Moreover, the research aims to articulate the dynamic forces that enable or constrain the production processes. The thesis is an in-depth case study of Karail, the largest informal settlement in Dhaka: a dense agglomeration of mostly single-storied metal-sheet houses with a population of more than 250,000. The thesis maps and analyses the morphogenesis of Karail over the last 18 years by tracing morphological change, informal rules used and agents involved. It analyses the underlying forces—the desires—shaping the urban processes. Assemblage thinking, derived from the work of Deleuze and Guattari is used to inform these multiple lines of inquiry to produce narratives of Karail’s informal morphogenesis.

Feb 18, 2021

1 – 2 pm (AEDT / Melbourne time)