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Working Title : Real Estate Sector in Bangladesh: Consequences of

Earthquake especially in Housing Sector as Safety Issue

Course No: DS-404

Submitted to:

Md. Reazul Haque

Associate Professor

Depertment of Development Studies

University of Dhaka

Submitted by:

Tawfiq Md. Hasan

Roll-18

2nd

Batch Undergrad Student

Depertment of Development Studies

University of Dhaka

Date of Submission:24-05-12

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Table of Content

Chapter 1- The Real Estate Sector in Bangladesh 1-5

Background and Relevance of the Research 1

Problem definition, aim, and the added value of the research 2

Justification of the Research 2

Research question 3

Research method & field work 3

Research Design 3

Research area 3

Sources of Data 4

Data Collection 5

Data Analysis 5

Ethical point 5

Limitations 5

Layout of chapters 5

Chapter 2- Theoretical Aspects of Safety Housing 6-11

Understanding of Real Estate 6

Housing as Human Right 6

Human Right to Adequate Housing 8

Urban Consolidation 8

Ethical Perspective 10

Chapter 3- How Vulnerable the Situation in Bangladesh 12-16

Chapter 4- Data Collection and Analysis with a Case Study 17-28

Architects 18

Civil Engineer 23

Case study: Japan Garden City Limited, Dhaka 24

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Chapter 5- Findings and Recommendations for Safe Housing 29-31

Findings of the Research 29

Recommendations of the Research 30

Conclusion 31

Appendix 32-36

References 37-38

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Abstract

Bangladesh is extremely vulnerable to seismic activity. While the earthquake resistant building

design and construction code has been developed in sophisticated national/city level, the

implementation at the local level has been more of an exception than the rule. People used to

make their houses by local materials and local construction technique without any engineering

philosophy especially in rural areas. Therefore, there is an imminent need to know the actual

physical condition of the rural houses and to estimate the risk associated with them, to bring into

force simple, user friendly, non-engineered construction practices for use by the community and

the construction artisans. A physical survey has been done on the existing condition of the rural

housing. From this information the problems are identified with respect to earthquake resistant

non-engineered housing technique. Techniques of strengthening of existing rural houses to make

them earthquake resistant are elaborated and earthquake resistant building technology for new

houses are formulated. These techniques may be the guidelines to the rural people for making

low cost earthquake resistant house and also will make a pointer towards engineered building

from non-engineered construction.

Acknowledgement

I am greatly thanked to my Honorable supervisor Md. Reazul Haque, Associate Professor,

Depertment of Development Studies who have gave me the chance of acquring knowledge in the

field of Real Estate. I also thank my cousin Mr. ATM Shahriar who helped me to get different

data and talk to the professionals in the field of Real Estate. I also thank one of my uncles who

helped to get the FGD from the case study area. At last, I thanked Allah for helping doing this

research in time.

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List of Abbreviations

BUET- Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology

REHAB- Real Estate & Housing Association of Bangladesh

CDMP- Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme

MoFDM- Ministry of Food and Disaster Management

MoHPW- Ministry of Housing and Public Works

MoHFW- Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

BNBC- Bangladesh National Building Code

UNB- United News of Bangladesh

BSS- Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha

CE- Civil Engineer

JGC- Japan Garden City

WHO- World Health Organization

RAJUK- Rajdhani Unayan Katripakkha

FGD- Focus Group Discussion

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Chapter 1- The Real Estate Sector in Bangladesh

Background and relevance of the research: The Context

Bangladesh is a small country with a very low per capita income. Here people still struggle

for the basic needs‘ fulfillment. When still lots of people struggle to have a minimum shelter,

real estate products that is assumed to be very expensive, is kind of extra luxury to the

majority of the mass population. However, real estate sector has been developed and it is

growing with a good pace along with a gradual increase of its contribution in total GDP.

Investments in this sector have been increasing over time and competition has becoming sharper

because of the increased number of firms as well as stakeholders‘ awareness. Government is

trying to build a proper framework for this business sector.

People who are in the high income brackets are the main customers of these real estate

products. But day by day involvements of the middle class in the society is increasing. In

this circumstance, government is trying to involve low income people too by suggesting

the real estate companies to plan for housing for these people. As the involvement

increases, question of quality and satisfaction also comes to the scenario. Urbanization is an

outcome of both population growth and rural-urban migration. As urbanization increases, more

and more people are becoming city dwellers. The ever increasing urban population is creating an

increasing demand for shelter. The UN declaration and the constitution of Bangladesh recognize

the right of shelter (REHAB, 2003). But being a government of the poor developing country, it is

almost impossible on the part the government to ensure housing for all. As public sector failed to

ensure their right, people have taken their own initiative to ensure their fundamental need for

shelter. This paper is an attempt to observe how private developer and real estate companies are

influencing the urbanization pattern.

The background of this research is those factors which lead the development of the real

estate business in Bangladesh along with an analysis of its safety and security issues

regarding Earthquake. At the same time how people think about the quality of the real estate

products are also considered. The way the real estate companies work, site visiting by the

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customers in the time of construction, the quality of products used in the construction period etc

are also will be seen in this paper.

Problem definition, aim, and the added value of the research:

This research is basically a descriptive one with some characteristics of normative research

focusing on the development of the real estate sector in Bangladesh. At the same time current

security and safety condition has been covered too along with a presentation of customers‘

viewpoints on real estate business in Bangladesh like what customers think about different

aspects like quality of real estate products. Therefore the research is aimed at discussing

the factors that contributed to the development of the real estate business in Bangladesh and

how the safety measures are taking in these building in case of earthquake

Major values of the research come from its contribution in the knowledge spillovers system

especially in the area of real estate business in Bangladesh. However the research works

finally produce a report which is an academic requirement. At the same time the research also

generates building blocks for further studies on the subject matter, as it can be a good

starting point from where policy makers can start to go ahead.

Justification of the Research:

Rapid population growth together with economic change due to recent globalization trend fuels

the urbanization process in most of the developing countries. The issue of sustainability has

emerged as a major concern for mega cities of developing countries, where high growth rate,

uncontrolled development and expansion of the city is a constant threat on environment and

socio-economic condition. After liberation, Dhaka has become the capital of Bangladesh and

from then all the urbanization measures have been taken in Dhaka. The inner core of Dhaka City

reveals a tendency towards high density built form, because of close proximity between place of

residence and place of work. Transport sector failed to keep pace with the growth of the cities;

there is insufficient provision of appropriate transport modes and inadequate infrastructure. As

the city develops around its every corner, the wetland and the agricultural lands are now being

used as the land of residential lands. These lands are being filled by using the soil from different

areas which takes time to have the strength to carry a multistoried residential building. So, the

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safety issues of these types of residential buildings should be done now before it is too late to put

the life of general people at stake.

Research question:

This part talks about the main research question along with sub questions that might arise to

study the major research question. The major research question is,

“How the Owners of the Residential Buildings and Developers are Disobeying the Laws

regarding to Building Code?”

To answer this central question, some important issues related to this question are needed to be

answered.

1. Does the price of Materials have any Influence in This?

2. Contribution of the real estate companies working in Dhaka city and the real estate

owners.

3. Who are the major players in the real estate sector in Dhaka city.

4. Analysis of safety from the perspective of stakeholders.

5. Analysis of safety from the perspective of government and non government actors.

Research method & field work:

Research Design:

As mentioned earlier the research is a descriptive in nature. The research mainly focuses on the

development of the real estate market in Bangladesh. It also talks about the current safety,

security and the responsibility of the real estate companies, Civil Engineers, architects, owners

and residents of the apartments in Bangladesh. Also it talks about the possibilities about the

times to come.

Research area:

Research area I have selected is Mohammadpur thana of Dhaka Metropolitan city. In the recent

years, this part of the city growing pretty fast and people from all around the income scale live in

this part. As with the growth of middle class families, the real estate sector is also growing. 10

years ago, there were only a few buildings were above 3rd

floor. But now the situation has

changed. There are now many buildings which have crossed the height level of 5th

floor. It is

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sure that the population growth will increase the real estate development, but it just growing too

fast.

Figure: Map of Mohammadpur thana (Source: Google Map)

Sources of Data:

Both primary and secondary have been used to prepare the paper.

Primary Data: Primary data comes from the interviewing people through their knowledge,

experience and the informal interviews with the real estate professionals and experts in

Bangladesh. Discussions with the professionals are other main sources of primary data.

Secondary Data: Secondary data comes from different published sources like research reports,

internet journals, real estate publications, news paper articles and different web sites on real

estate sector and so on.

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Data Collection:

Focus Group discussion (FGD)will be used to collect data from the stakeholders through face

to face interview with a simple random sampling. In case of experts and real estate

employees the medium is Semi-structured questionnaire.

Data Analysis:

Data is analyzed from different perspectives like actors‘ perspective, stakeholder‘s perspective,

perspectives of rules and laws etc. These analyzed data will be distributed among the related

parties like real estate firms, architects, fire department etc to have a knowledge spillovers affect.

Ethical point:

The primary sources of this research all professionals. Any knowledge may wrongly understand

by the mass, so they do not want to publish their name.

Limitations:

Due to time and resource constraint I had to limit my study on Japan Garden City in

Mohammadpur thana. I also could not cover other aspects of RAJUK for the lack of time and

proper response. I also could not visit the whole area due to lack of transport and time.

Layout of chapters:

In the 2nd

chapter, I will give some theoretical perspectives from the human right based point of

view, as we know that housing is one of man‘s fundamental rights and safety, security will be

also provided by the government. Theories related to Urbanization and Ethics will be shown too.

In the 3rd

chapter, I will try to find out the present situation based on the theories I will give in

the 2nd

chapter and analyze the situation. The rules and acts for fire safety and security will be

given in this chapter, which will help to analyze the situation more clearly.

In the 4th

chapter, I will try to give some information which will be founded through having

interviews of primary stakeholders like residents of the apartments, and then the experts like civil

engineer, architect, and then the government organizations who are giving the services to the

people.

In the 5th

chapter, I will try to find out the problems and give some recommendations which will

help us to become more secure on the research question.

In the 6th

chapter, I will try to summarize and conclude the paper.

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Chapter 2- Theoretical Aspects of Safety Housing

From the beginning of the life of Human kind, they did not have any place to stay or to sleep for

a long time because there were ferocious animals living all around them. But when human were

started to possess different course of knowledge and actions from the passage of time, they

understood the importance of society and they had formed the hunting and gathering society.

Even though living in society, human did not stay any place permanently. But when they

discover agricultural process, then they had to fix a place for a long time habitat. This is how the

village was created and then it started to become bigger. Their villages have become today‘s

megacities where millions of people are living in thousands of stories in different regions, in

different economic condition, in different culture and society.

Understanding of Real Estate:

Real Estate is "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural

resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested

in this; (also) an item of real property; (more generally) buildings or housing in general. Also:

the business of real estate; the profession of buying, selling, or renting land, buildings or

housing‖ (Oxford English Dictionary online). It is different from the real estate developers, who

just builds and sells. Developer Louis Lesser drew the distinction in a 1963 New York Times

article, "Developing is the key word. ‗We don't build ourselves', Mr. Lesser stresses.‘ we buy the

land, finance the deal, and then we have the best builders build under bond at a fixed cost ‗‖

(New York Times, March 16, 1963). From this situation, we can clearly differentiate the two

perspectives. Real estate developers are working more on the business perspective. So now we

see the key theories which we can relate to the Real Estate sector.

Housing as Human Right:

Everyone shares the right to a decent standard of living. Essential to the achievement of this

standard and therefore to the fulfillment of human life beyond simple survival is access to

adequate housing. Housing fulfills physical needs by providing security and shelter from weather

and climate. It fulfills psychological needs by providing a sense of personal space and privacy. It

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fulfills social needs by providing a gathering area and communal space for the human family, the

single unit of society. In many societies, it also fulfills economic needs by functioning as a center

for commercial production.

The human right to adequate housing is the right of every woman, man, youth and child to

acquire and sustain a secure home and community in which to live in peace and dignity. The

right to housing is codified as a human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

(1948):

"Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of

himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and

necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment,

sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances

beyond his control." (Article 25(1))

Population growth, migration to urban areas, conflicting needs for existing land, and insufficient

financial and natural resources have resulted in widespread homelessness and habitation in

inadequate housing. In every country children, men and women sleep on sidewalks, under

bridges, in cars, subway stations, and public parks, live in ghettos and slums, or "squat" in

buildings other people have abandoned. The United Nations estimates that there are over 100

million homeless people and over 1 billion people worldwide inadequately housed.

These statistics are evidence for the difficulty governments have in guaranteeing access to

housing for their citizens, but they also raise complicated questions about the extent of the

obligations of governments to do so. The fact of shelter as a human need does not imply that

governments must provide each one of their citizens with land, four walls and a roof.

Controversy can therefore emerge over exactly what governments should do to help people

exercise their rights and obtain housing. Government action is usually country-specific, and is

dependent on a variety of economic, cultural, and social factors. In some cases, increasing access

to education or to the labor market is the best way to ensure the right to housing, because the

realizations of those rights mostly lead to greater access to housing. In other cases, it is necessary

for governments to provide physical shelter directly to people. But regardless of past government

action, in all countries there exist people who, because of personal issues such as physical or

emotion incapacity, environmental issues such as natural disasters or famine, or social issues

such as war or political instability, are unable to obtain housing for themselves. In those

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situations, governments are obligated to help make housing accessible. Governments are

obligated to function as fair and stable systems through which their citizens can achieve the

satisfaction of their rights, and to provide the means for the realization of the right to a decent

standard of living which their citizens may utilize through their own free initiative.

Human Right to Adequate Housing:

Adequate housing is essential for human survival with dignity. Without a right to housing, many

other basic human rights will be compromised including the right to family life and privacy, the

right to freedom of movement, the right to assembly and association, the right to health and the

right to development. The right of every human being to an adequate standard of living,

including housing, was reaffirmed by the international community at the World Conference on

Human Rights in Vienna in 1993. Paragraph 31 of the Program of Action adopted by that

particular conference, provides for ―... the rights of everyone to a standard of living adequate for

their health and well-being, including food and medical care, housing and the necessary social

services‖.

The right to housing has particular significance for children. Because of their vulnerability they

have special needs for care and protection. Without decent secure accommodation children are

unlikely to realise their right to grow and develop in an atmosphere of moral and material

security, free from abuse and neglect. The right to housing is clearly supported by international

law, indeed at the very foundation of the international human rights system in the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights. This Declaration, adopted by the United Nations in 1948,

establishes an internationally recognised set of standards for all persons without qualification.

Urban Consolidation:

This research paper focuses the issue of ‗Urban Consolidation‘ and its prospect of application in

Dhaka City. Burgess (2000) defines ‗Urban Consolidation‘ as the process to increase built area

and residential population densities; to intensify urban economic, social and cultural activities

and to manipulate urban size, form and structure. It has been observed that it is a matter of debate

whether the city will be sustainable if it is compacted. City compaction has both its positive and

negative consequences in case of developing country cities. In some cases, it is the process of

increasing or maintaining the density of housing in established residential areas. The ultimate

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aim of consolidation is to reduce development on the fringe areas of the city. It increases the

accessibility provision of services and facilities and ensures high quality of life by preserving the

urban open space.

Again the high densities have obvious consequences in terms of the choice of transportation

modes, living conditions, congestion and pollution. Denser living environments are associated

with more traffic congestion and noise, more exposure to toxic releases, more environmental

pollution. These negative externalities are also aggravated by inadequate infrastructure.

Besides, a common argument is that developing country cities are much more sustainable than

developed country cities because material consumption per capita levels are much lower. Low

income urban citizens are models of sustainable consumptions that they use very few non-

renewable resources and generate very little waste. Considering the negative and positive aspects

of consolidation, a careful selection of strategies can ensure positive impacts of consolidation in

the cities of developing countries.

In case of Dhaka City, consolidation process has been started spontaneously by private initiatives

about 15 to 20 years back in a most unplanned and sporadic way. Zaman and Lau (2000)

describes that the city is developing to higher densities through urban consolidation by private

initiatives in Dhanmondi residential area and in Sukrabad residential area. In recent years,

replacement of old low story structures by high-rise apartments is a common phenomenon in

most of the residential areas like Dhanmondi, Banani, Gulshan, Shantinagar, Shidhheswari,

Muhammadpur, Kalabagan and many other localities. But the areas with poor accessibility to

road network and other infrastructural facilities failed to attract developers for such kind of

development. Though consolidation has been stated as a strategy in the DMDP Structure Plan

1997-2015 but no specific policy has yet been considered for the implementation process. There

is a dearth of research work to explain the context of Dhaka in relation to consolidation process

considering its physical setting, road network, infrastructure and other urban facilities.

Consolidation is a complex process as it is associated with various elements like characteristics

of built area and residential population densities, infrastructure and land capacity, transport,

land use, intensification of activities, urban form, urban structure, activity pattern and settlement

systems. This study attempts to explore the context of consolidation approach in Dhaka City. It

primarily focuses on the availability of potential developable land, and its scope of development.

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Ethical Perspective:

"Everyone is obligated to act only in ways that respect the human dignity and moral rights of all

persons." - Immanuel Kant

Moral principles focus primarily on people's actions and doings. People "apply" them by asking

what these principles require of them in particular circumstances, e.g., when considering whether

to lie or to commit suicide. People also apply them when others ask what they require as

professionals, e.g., lawyers, doctors, or business people, or what they require of social policies

and institutions. In the last decade, dozens of ethics centers and programs devoted to "business

ethics", "legal ethics", "medical ethics", and "ethics in public policy" have sprung up. These

centers are designed to examine the implications moral principles have for people‘s lives.

(Velasquez, 1988). "Virtues" are attitudes, dispositions, or character traits that enable us to be

and to act in ways that develop this potential. They enable us to pursue the ideals we have

adopted. Honesty, courage, compassion, generosity, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control, and

prudence are all examples of virtues.

In article 1 of Fundamental Principles of Humanity in Universal Declaration of Human

Responsibilities, it has clearly stated that, “Every person, regardless of gender, ethnic origin,

social status, political opinion, language, age, nationality, or religion, has a responsibility to

treat all people in a humane way”. In a developing country like Bangladesh, it has hardly seen

that people are showing respect to other people in terms of previous distinctions. When it comes

as business dealings, the situation worsens. People in Bangladesh are always thinking how to

take more money from the customers by giving them the least good services. This scenario is

seen in every sector in today‘s Bangladesh.

In real estate sector, now it is most common that the developer companies do not give sufficient

effort to make a safe housing sector, unlike to few other companies. The demand of having a

residence in capital Dhaka has become the most priority issues of certain income groups. It also

has become a new dimension in business. There are many people who are investing in real estate

as future investment by taking high interested loan from the banks. But they do not think of the

possibility of losing that investment if the constructor made the building faultily.

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From these theoretical perspectives, we have seen that housing is one of the fundamental human

rights but if we gone through different articles, we will see that the theories are not match with

the current condition of real estate in Bangladesh. In the next chapter, we will see the situation

around the Dhaka city and how experts are thinking of having this kind of situation in a high

population density country like Bangladesh.

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Chapter 3- How Vulnerable the Situation in Bangladesh

In the contemporary world there exists significant and wide difference in between the building

constructed by the owner and a salable apartment building constructed by a developer. The busy

cities of populous countries having inadequate land for habitation seems to have accepted the

program of accommodating people in multi-ownership apartment building as common and

appropriate solution. While all these may be seen as "right solution to the problem", a deeper

thought might reveal that in place of making the lives of the inhabitants safe and sound, this

solution would in fact endanger those, especially if the country exists in earthquake prone zone.

When an owner goes for the construction of a building he takes utmost care to ensure the

stability and durability of the built-form. On the other hand, the developer designs and constructs

such a building solely for the purpose of earning profit. In the crudest word, it matters a straw to

the developer if the building collapses immediately after the apartments have been handed over.

In the developing country there is no government rule to hold the developer responsible for bad

construction. Also the loss in good will can be taken care of by opening a new company with

another name.

In Dhaka city multi-level apartment buildings are constantly replacing the low-rise independent

owning residences. The concept of design (as followed by the architects and design engineers),

construction technology (as followed by the contractors) and materials (as made available by the

local and international manufacturers) etc. used in constructing buildings are much better than

those used and available in earlier days. In such a reality it is natural for one to think that today‘s

apartment buildings would be much superior in points of safety, life-span, resistance to hazards

etc. The reality, however, is with the change in objective from "owning and using" to "selling

and earning money" has, in many cases, if not all, worsened durability and life-span of the

"salable commodities".

The trend of constructing high-rise residential building initiated in Bangladesh in the seventies.

Some of the factors that created this scope were: (i) Extremely high land price in the cities, (ii)

Affordability of non-resident wage earners to maintain their families in the city, (iii) Need of

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such wage earners to get a house as a ‗purchasable item‘. (iv) Availability of material and

technology for construction multi-level buildings. Even though the purchasers of apartments

became the owner, they did not have absolutely any scope to see or know the quality. In such a

state, the parties who could guide the quality of such buildings are (i) urban authorities, (ii) the

design architects and engineers and (iii) the contractors. We have already shown that none of the

above parties exert their duties honestly and efficiently. The evil consequences of this failure will

be known in the days ahead. In the second week of February, 2010 we have seen 7 members of a

family to have died due to fire incident in the famous Japan Garden City, situated in Ring Road,

Mohammadpur, Dhaka. We came to know about the deficiency of safety only after their deaths.

Probably the other defects associated with such buildings will be known after many deaths. It is

probable that the non-resident wage earners working abroad feel pleased to know that they have

"accommodated their old parents" in the "safest place of high-rise apartment building". In case

such buildings have not been designed with care, those "safest places" might turn to "death

traps".

In 24 January, 2010, the Daily Star published an article named ―Dhaka city at risk of massive

destruction A 6-magnitude earthquake can demolish 78,323 buildings: Study Unb, Dhaka‖. That

article was based on the study conducted by Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme

(CDMP) under the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management (MoFDM) from February 2008

to August 2009. The study showed that how the intensity in earthquake can cause different level

of damage. Some 78,323 buildings will be destroyed completely if a 6-magnitude earthquake

shakes Dhaka originating from its beneath, causing havoc throughout the densely populated

capital city. In case of a 7.5-magnitude earthquake originating from Madhupur Fault, the study

said, some 72,316 buildings in the city will be damaged totally while 53,166 partially. It also said

if an 8.5-magnitude of tremor from the plate boundary of Fault-2 hits the region, some 238,164

buildings will be destroyed completely across the country. ―Economic loss due to damage of

structures will be US $ 650 million and US $ 1,075 million respectively in case of an 8-

magnitude earthquake from the plate boundary-2 and in case of a 6-magnitude earthquake from

under Dhaka city,‖ the study said. Some 30 million tonnes of debris, equal to 2,880,000

truckloads (25 tonnes for per truck), will be generated if a 6-magnitude earthquake jolts the city

from beneath of it. A 7.5-magnitude earthquake from the Madhupur Fault will generate a total of

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30 million tonnes of debris, killing some 131,029 people instantly and injuring 32,948 others. Dr

Maksudur Rahman, an urban environmental management and planning researcher, told United

News of Bangladesh (UNB) reporter Rafiqul Islam that Bangladesh is situated at a high risk zone

for earthquake and an unprecedented human disaster may occur in the city anytime for even a

moderate to heavy tremor. He also stressed the need for demolishing old and risky buildings of

the city as a first step towards minimising casualties in such natural disasters. ―If we can

maintain the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) in constructing new structures, we can

minimise causalities and damages to some extent,‖ Dr Rahman said. Dr. ASM Maksud Kamal,

an earthquake and tsunami expert of the CDMP, also a teacher of Geography and Environmental

Science of Dhaka University, feared that if a quake of lower magnitude lasts for a minute it may

destroy 80-90 percent of the urban concrete structures. ―Gas leakage management, power supply

control, firefighting, alternative power generation, wireless communication system, heavy

equipments for removing debris and emergency clinical facilities are the top priority areas for

attention,‖ he said. It was Professor Roger Bilham of Colorado State University in the USA who

first came up with his recent research findings that major earthquakes might take place in the

sub-Himalayan region, including Bangladesh. Another study of Michigan University has

pinpointed that Dhaka is one of the earthquake vulnerable city out of top cities because of its

unplanned urbanisation.

An article in the Dhaka Courier, named ―On Shaky Ground‖ (5 April 2012), showed that what

will happen in Dhaka if there in a major earthquake in Bangladesh. Earthquake expert Mehedi

Ahmed Ansary, professor of civil engineering at Bangladesh University of Engineering &

Technology (BUET) said that ―Total disregard for the national building code by the builders has

left Dhaka extremely susceptible.‖ His comment showed that Bangladesh is ill-prepared for

earthquakes due to lack of awareness and unplanned urbanization. The worst case scenario was

shown by the Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP) under the Ministry of

Food and Disaster Management (MoFDM). According to their study in 2009, they showed that

more than 100,000 people may die and numerous others need hospitalization if a 7.5 magnitude

earthquake from the nearby Madhupur Fault were to hit the capital. Some 400,000 buildings in

the country‘s three largest cities – Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet – are extremely vulnerable to

earthquakes and would be damaged ―beyond repair‖ in the event of a major quake, according to

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the CDMP study. Bangladesh experiences minor jolts now and again, most recently on March

18, when a moderate quake measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale shook the capital and nearby

areas. But most people continue to regard earthquakes as a minor talking point rather than a

looming threat. The reason for this complacency is obvious: Bangladesh has not experienced a

major earthquake in over 90 years. ―Bangladesh has some major fault lines, including the Dauki

fault, Madhupur fault and the tectonic plate boundaries,‖ says Dr ASM Maksud Kamal, national

expert on Earthquake and Tsunami Preparedness of the Comprehensive Disaster Management

Programme (CDMP). He also added that a lot of energy has built up in these fault lines over the

last century or so. Small quakes have occurred, but the epicenters of these releases have not been

along the fault lines where the energy has built up. So the fear is that the pent up energy will be

released soon, triggering a major earthquake in Bangladesh. There are an estimated 849 major

hospitals in these three cities, but most would be damaged or non-functional in the event of a

major quake, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) office in Bangladesh, which

has since 2010 funded a health team to conduct hospital safety assessments nationwide.

In another report in the Daily Sun, named Major Earthquake may hit country anytime: Experts

(13 May, 2012), Prof Mehedi Ahmed Ansary said a strong earthquake within 330 to 500

kilometers of Dhaka city will damage almost 50 percent buildings, claiming a huge number of

lives and destroying property. ―We should step up our preparation to reduce the impacts of

quakes. Otherwise any major tremor will create a terrible situation for the country,‖ he added.

Most of the dwellers are not following the Bangladesh National Building Code 1993 (BNBC-

1993), which is a major obstacle to minimizing the quake impacts. Rajdhani Unayan

Katripakkha (RAJUK) is not aware and even ready enough to enforce the building code in

Dhaka City. He suggested RAJUK can appoint private firms to monitor the construction works

which will ensure quake resistant buildings, following the example of United States of America

(USA) and India. While talking to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) recently, National

Project Director of Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP) Mohammad

Abdul Qayyum said ―Under the CDMP, we are taking various steps to reduce the impacts of

earthquakes in three major cities of the country — Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet.‖

Under the CDMP, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) is strengthening its

capacity to set up temporary medical centres in Dhaka city for the earthquake victims, he added.

21

―We have recommended that the Ministry of Housing and Public Works (MoHPW) enforce the

building code strictly for constructing quake resistant buildings in Dhaka and other areas of the

country for minimising losses of lives and property,‖ Qayyum added (BSS).

From the literature review section, we now understand that the situation of real estate in the time

of a massive earthquake and how vulnerable we are in that situation. To understand the points

from face to face, I have taken few interviews of the real estate related professionals. In next

chapter, we will understand the situation and different queries regarding real estate from

professional‘s point of view.

22

Chapter 4- Data Collection and Analysis with a Case Study

The real estate sector is often used as an indicator to measure a nation's economic growth.

Flourishing economies in China and Dubai for instance, are represented by booming real-estate

markets. The housing industry in Bangladesh, especially in Dhaka, has made remarkable

progress in the last ten years. With apartment-sale charts consistently displaying positive curves,

many predicted the housing industry to be the next golden sector of the country. However, an

assessment of the sector, based on an annual survey conducted by Sheltech, one of the leading

Real-Estate firms of the country, indicates a disturbing slump in the number of apartments sold

in Dhaka last year (the Star, 27 January, 2012).

According to Toufiq M Seraj, Managing Director of Sheltech, the sale of apartments dropped by

almost forty percent last year. One of the main reasons behind this drop, he claims, is the fast-

increasing price rate of the apartments. ―The cost of flats in Bangladesh is now one of the highest

in the world and is completely disproportionate to the country's falling economy.‖ While there

are several reasons behind the mounting price-rates of the flats, the high influx of developing

firms and the increasing rates of construction materials, in the last five years, are some of the

more prominent causes.

―After 2007, the economy was in a very bad state. This eventually led to an increase in prices of

raw materials like cement, rods etc.‖ explains Seraj. Apart from increasing costs of construction

materials, the sector also witnessed the entry of several developing firms guilty of accepting

housing projects at high prices and eventually contributing to the increasing cost of the

apartments. ―Today there are more than a 1000 developing firms in the city, but only 20 of them

can be considered professional,‖ explains F R Khan, MD, Building Technology and Ideas Ltd.

In Bangladesh Real Estate Business started in Dhaka in late seventies. During 1970s there were

fewer than 5 companies engaged in this business. In 1988 there were 42 such developers working

in Dhaka. To strengthen the role of real estate sector Real Estate & Housing Association of

Bangladesh (REHAB) was formed with only 11 members in 1991. The objective of REHAB was

to promote formal private sector Real Estate Development in Bangladesh. REHAB is the only

trade organization of Real Estate Developers with a current membership of 260 Developers. As

Mr. F R Khan said there are 20 developing farms are working professionally, but as we see there

23

are 260 members in REHAB. How about the almost 980 other developing companies? How they

are working without proper observation?

Costs of finished apartments are rising day by day. Where the cost of a structure is about BDT

2200 per square feet is increased in to BDT 5500 per square feet after the apartment is finished.

The buyers are paying almost double when they are buying a flat. The developer companies are

not worried of that because they know that whatever happened, people will come to buy a living

space for themselves. The luxurious flats cost more than BDT 8000 per square feet in few areas.

So if the companies use low graded materials, the only way to understand it if the flat rate is

lowers than the others alike it.

Architects:

In the field of habitation the architects work for the human society, where as in the building

industry the developers or contractors work for profit. When individual owners approached for

designing the building, they asked for one that would fulfill the needs and achieve longer life.

Now, when the same architects are approached by the developers, they ask for a building that

would look nice with no question on its life or durability. Apart from the design of the architects,

the developer is free to use low quality materials and can make more profit.

Design and Construction of Salable Commodities:

The two major fields in which the qualities of apartment buildings have worsened in Dhaka City

are: (i) Life span and (ii) Safety. The various design and construction processes on which these

two qualities depend upon are (a) Architectural Design, (b) Structural Design inclusive of

24

foundation, (c) Materials used and (d) Supervision and construction method utilized.

The endeavors of the owner of a building usually are the following:

1. Importance on safety and life span : The owner stresses upon the factors like architectural

design, structural design, electrical and plumbing design, quality of materials used and

supervision because the owner cares for safety, durability and life-span of the building.

2. Less importance on superficial beauty: In case of financial constraint, the owner goes for

inferior quality finish materials and fixtures responsible for superficial beauty. He knows

that these can be changed later.

By all means, the aim and objective of a developer in business of "salable apartments" would be

different. These may be:

1. Little or no importance on life-span or safety: The life-span and safety of the building in

fact matters nil for the developer in business. The only thing he needs to do is to satisfy

the rules and regulations of the urban authorities. To their great fortune, such authorities

in Bangladesh do not have consumer-friendly rules and regulations. What is still worse is,

many personnel working in these organizations are ‗purchasable by money‘. The

developer in general believes that there lies profit in each and every violation of

RAJUK‘s regulations.

2. Extreme importance on factors giving superficial beauty: Since the buyers mostly

evaluate the apartment on the basis of its superficial beauty, the developer ensures that

through factors like nice-looking finished materials, painting, fixtures etc. The developer

in general knows that the better will be the superficial beauty; the more will be the price

of the apartment.

3. The developer also knows that designs by reputed architects, attractive advertisements in

the Medias etc. can attract the buyers.

The above realities have rendered some, if not all, of the multi-level apartment buildings of

Dhaka city quite vulnerable and even ‗death-trap‘ during earthquake. The major fields in which

these buildings are defective or weak are shown hereunder.

Vulnerability Due to Faulty Structural Design: Size of Column: RAJUK has prescribed car-

parking in the ground floor of the apartment building. This makes the lowest floor a "soft floor"

(a floor with less number of walls is known as soft floor), where frequent use of walls in the

25

other floors make those "hard". During earthquake the hard floors en masse act as a rigid body

and only the exposed columns are exposed to shivering. In a thumb rule, a reinforced concrete

frame-structure building with 6 stories and above needs minimum 20"X20" column in the ‗soft

floor" in order to withstand an earth-quake of 3.5 Richter scale, even though a lesser size may be

sufficient for bearing the vertical loads. In Dhaka city apartment buildings having columns with

less than this size in the "soft floors" are vulnerable to earth quake.

The capacity for bearing vertical load by a column is given by its cross-sectional area. The cross-

sectional area of a 20"X20" column is 400 Sq. Inch. Columns with various sizes (like, 10"X40",

15"X27" etc.) may satisfy the condition of bearing vertical load. The designers prefer one side of

the column to be 10" since it is advantageous to "flush" the 10" walls with it. Such columns may

withstand the earth-quake coming from the direction of its short side. However, apartment

buildings having columns with less than 20" on any side in the soft floors are vulnerable to earth-

quake coming from the direction of its larger side.

Alignment of Column: As per structural principle of r.c.c frame-structure buildings, the r.c.c.

columns need to be placed in regular (not necessarily equal) grid and order. This helps in

achieving stability and group-resistance against lateral loads. From whatever direction the

vibration due to earthquake may hit a building, it would start swaying only in the two major

directions of the rectangular or square plan of the building. It is not difficult to understand that a

building can easily resist the vibration coming from its length-wise direction. Even if the

designer knows that earthquake would come to his building from a particular direction, in most

cases it is not possible to design the building considering this direction only. In order to function

well the building must be oriented so as to fit the entrance from the main road, views from inside

and outside, climate etc. As for resistance to vibration, a column is stronger in its longer section.

However, since it is not possible to orient the columns with respect to any direction, one good

solution is to use cross-sectioned columns, where possible. Apartment buildings having columns

(i) in less or inadequate number along any length of beam and (ii) not standing in straight lines

are weak and vulnerable in point of earth-quake resistance.

Continuity in Beam: Excepting the cantilever ones, all beams should terminate only in columns.

It has been observed that in order to facilitate room-divisions many designers place columns at

26

places other than column junctions. Even though such a system can take care of vertical loads,

apartment buildings having columns not at the and away from the junction or meeting place of

beams are vulnerable to earth-quake.

Vulnerability Due to Low Quality Construction Materials: In addition to worthwhile structural

design, what contributes most to the life and stability of a building is material. The principle

ingredients of reinforced concrete are rod, coarse aggregate and cement. When the owner of a

house purchases these items, he endeavors the best materials for obvious reason. But what

someone with the objective of earning profit from the "deal" of the consumable item (i.e. the

apartments) would purchase from the market are the low quality materials. Unfortunately all

varieties of these materials are available in Dhaka city. Thus old rods, brick bats (coarse

aggregate) from old buildings, poor quality cement etc. are available in the city. The level of

honesty of the people of Bangladesh is not that high. In such a reality it is quite probable that

many of the apartment buildings constructed and then sold by the developers are vulnerable to

earth-quake simply because of having less strength due to inferior materials.

Other Reasons of Vulnerability: Another important cause of vulnerability of the buildings

constructed with best quality materials and sound design has been caused due to inadequate

space left around such buildings. In prescribing free/open space in between multi-level buildings

what the city authorities (i.e. RAJUK) have considered is the space required for running service

lines. Naturally multilevel buildings can be constructed by leaving 1 or 2 meter distance in

between buildings. In Bangladesh there is good possibility of any building to collapse due to

earthquake, structural failure, fire incident etc. and the urban authorities should have prescribed

the minimum inter-building open space such that the collapse of one building may not affect the

adjacent ones. When buildings are constructed with 1 to 2 meters distance, the sudden collapse

of a ill-designed building for whatsoever reason is sure to make the good buildings also to

collapse. The case is even worse in case of buildings having flat-plate floor slabs.

Imagined Scene of Devastation: Since the earth would not change its habit of contraction, there

will be earthquakes. The weaker and old buildings are supposed to collapse due to earth quake.

The same may also happen to buildings due to hazards like fire incident or structural fail,

27

specially due to rusting of the reinforcing rods. The city of Dhaka has grown up quickly as per

right or wrong decisions of the political government, the various rules and regulations regarding

construction of built-form have been prescribed by respective authorities, the developers have

constructed the buildings to the best of their honesty and social responsibility. The purchasers of

the apartments had little choice, because they did not have any scope to see how the building was

constructed and with what type of materials. In such a context we can imagine what may happen

in the city in case a severe earthquake hits the city. Thus may be like:

(a) The buildings, specially the high-rise buildings start shivering. In the buildings having

all the columns standing on the junctions of regular grid take the jerk equally. In the

buildings where some of the columns have been shifted away from the junction points

find them helpless, leaving the great task on others. Thus, in a building with say, 5

columns in one a bay, only the few columns standing in one line may contribute to the

strength. In case the shiver is sufficient to overpower only this may, there is possibility

that the entire building would collapse.

(b) The building having its upper floors furnished with walls in fact act as a solid

rectangular mass. When the columns in contact with the ground vibrate, the upper mass

tends to remain stationary or move aside due to inertia. In such a situation only the free

length (may be 10 feet in case of flat-plate, or 9 feet in case of frame structure) of the

columns in the ground floor would try to maintain balance. It is obvious that these would

fail unless the sections and reinforcements of the columns are adequate.

(c) During earthquake vibration comes from lateral direction and from below. Buildings

with long piles in the ground naturally suffer from more vibrations. In soft clay the piles

themselves are subjected to shear failure. Now say, during casting of pile there happened

a ‗cave in‘ of mud in the reinforcing iron cage. With the passage of time the rods would

start rusting. In normal case it may stand in the same position even with rusted rods. But

those are supposed to fail due to shivering during earthquake.

(d) Let a 20-storied building fails because of failure in foundation, fracture of the free

columns etc. In case it leans to one side, what would happen to the buildings on this

side? Even if it collapses right on its base, should any one expect to see the adjacent

building in tact?

28

Civil Engineer:

Few Reasons of Failure of Earthquake-proof Buildings:

It is commonly believed that some houses could be made earthquake proof. The reality however

is that by taking up precautions, the earthquake resistance of the house is increased finitely, to

make them resist quakes of specific magnitudes. These houses, too, may fail once they face

quakes having more intensity than their design took care of. Following are the few reasons why

earthquake proof houses may fail:

Vibrations: The movement within the earth‘s crust manifests itself in the form of waves that

reach earth‘s surface and cause vibrations in structures. The structures fail and collapse under the

action of these vibrations. These vibrations may be in horizontal direction, in vertical direction or

combination of both, which generally in the case. The vertical component of seismic force

creates repeated changes in the weight of structures while the horizontal component induces.

These forces get commanded in each cycle.

Inertia Force: Houses collapse as a result of inertial forces. Under the action of earthquake the

lower portions of the structures that are in direct contact with the ground tend to vibrate more;

whereas due to inertia the upper portions of the structures tend to remain static. The resultant

stresses build up fast with the increased frequency of vibrations leading to failure of the

structures.

Poor Quality of Material: The Spectrum Sweater factory, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh disaster

came about when the 9 storied huge stone masonry walls gave way under the earthquake

bringing down with them the roofs that were overlaid with thick clay. The walls and roofs were

heavy; the masonry was badly made with round stones. 64 workers were killed and 74 injured in

the collapse in that incident happened in 11 April, 2005. The huge mass poor quality of

construction material led to a massive disaster.

Dead Load: The magnitude of the inertial forces increases as directly as the weight of the houses.

The heavier the house, heavier is the destructive force. One important consideration in making a

house more earthquake resistant is to reduce its mass and making it as light as possible.

29

Case study: Japan Garden City Limited, Dhaka.

In Mohammadpur, now there are many high rise residential buildings in different conditions. But

the most superior of them is the Japan Garden City (JGC). It is the first satelit city of

Bangladesh. It is situated on the edge of Mohammadpur, Outskirt of Circular Embankment of

Dhaka which is now called Ring Road. This is a residential complex containing all the necessary

facilities of a social life, without educational institutions and hospital. Total land space of JGC is

9.78 acers or 30 bigha (JGC website). The 43% of the total land is the constructed area and 57%

of the land is Greenway, Walkway, Garden and Vacant Area.

Figure: Master Plan of JGC (Source: JGC website)

There are 25 15 storied buildings where number of residents is almost 10000 persons, along with

the security guards, caretakers and other members the total population will rise up to 11000

persons. It is surely providing housing for large number of people.

But after the focus group discussion and interview with civil engineer (CE), it has founded that

the JGC lacks many safety issues started from its construction. From the CE‘s view, there are

several issues that lacked from the beginning of its construction.

30

The land where the JGC is situated was basically a water based area and it was built by

filling that wetland by outside soil.

In that type of area, the outside soil takes some time to be congested so that it can carry

the buildings. But in that time, the soil is not well tested.

The temperament, load bearing capacity of that soil is not well tested (Bangladesh

Journal of Science and Technology. July 2002, 4(2): (Please see pages 193-203))

From the residents‘ perspective, the buildings are very congested. They also informed that

there were a previous plan of only 17 buildings, but now everywhere it is 25 buildings. ―It is

looked enough space by the constructors, but 20 feet is not enough space among these

buildings‖, said by a respondent. With the implementation of new plan the population has

increased about 70% of previous plan. After the fire incident in JGC in 2010, the fire safety

drill was done by the building committee by every 5-6 months. But the earthquake related

drill was never happened. All of the respondents are staying in the JGC over 6 years, so

people can rely on their information. The main staircase of the buildings fulfill the National

Building Code 1993 (BNBC-1993), but emergency staircase lacks it.

Picture: Emergency Stair Case of JGC (taken by author)

31

Picture: Regular Stair Case of JGC (taken by author)

Picture: Distance between two Buildings (taken by author from top view)

32

Photo: Distance between two Buildings (taken by author from ground view)

So these are the data analysis with case study. In the next chapter we will see the findings and the

recommendations of the study from different perspectives with the government and non

government organizations with mass people.

33

Chapter 5- Findings and Recommendations for Safe Housing

After completing the interviews, group discussions and case study, there are now some findings

and recommendations regarding the real estate sector in case of safety issue about earthquake.

Findings from the interviews with Architect and Civil Engineer are given one after the other:

Architects have to study the project area before giving any plan.

They have to study about the perspective, culture, heritage, environment, climate around

the building and so on.

They have 3 clients; project owner, environment and community.

They have thought of innovating new designs which can be earthquake resistant.

They have to give an efficient design to their customers.

The decision of owner has to be followed by the consultation of them.

In Bangladesh, there is Institute of Architects, Bangladesh (IAB); who is maintaining the

quality of the Architects.

Civil Engineers (CEs) have to study the economic use of materials, space, surviving of a

structure, land information and so on.

CEs are the key to construct a building.

Diploma CEs are not reliable for constructing buildings; after consulting with a CE then

they can step forward.

As we know there are almost 1000 developer companies in Bangladesh, but most of them

are dependent on the Diploma CEs, so they do not construct quality buildings.

Rajdhni Unnayn Katripakkha (RAJUK) has much important contribution to create

different laws and regulations, but fails to maintain them.

BNBC-1993 is maintained strictly to get approval of a building, though there are many

low graded buildings are constructing around the city.

Disobeying BNBC-1993 has to be made as Criminal offence.

Awareness among the people is not very high. They just know only the basic things, but

none of them are life saving activity.

Different ministries have their duties to aware the people about the consequences of

earthquake, but they do not perform it.

34

Materials used in construction are sometimes are in very poor condition.

People using these materials may not be well educated to do the projects.

So these are the findings of the primary and secondary data and after having the interviews.

So the policy recommendation should be fulfilled by mitigating the findings. They are:

Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP) taking various steps to

reduce the impacts of earthquakes in three major cities of the country — Dhaka,

Chittagong and Sylhet.

Tk 70 crore worth of equipment has already been handed over to the Armed Forces

Division and Fire Service and Civil Defense to conduct rescue operations during the

earthquake.

Tk 100 crore worth of equipment is in the pipeline for handing over to the departments

concerned.

The government has a plan to train 62,000 volunteers for carrying out rescue operations

after earthquakes in Dhaka.

Under the CDMP, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) is strengthening

its capacity to set up temporary medical centers in Dhaka city for the earthquake victims.

Government has launched Awareness in time of Earthquake brochure, but people donot

know of it.

Accessibility in government about the awareness of the people.

Media has to play a vital role in raising awareness among the mass.

Earthquake related issues should be introduced in the educational system in very early

level, so that children‘s can have thought of it.

As the architects have fixed time slot to upgrade their working capacity, all the CEs and

Diploma CEs should have a system like this.

The weather department of Bangladesh is needed to be well equipped and modern

instruments should be given to them for weather forecasting.

Though lack of manpower, RAJUK has to monitor construction process from start to end.

Awareness and Preparation drill has to be done from time to time.

Not only Government but also Community Based organizations has to come forward to

raise awareness.

35

New inventions of construction should be adopted.

Advanced technologies like pre-fabricated materials, recyclable materials should be used

for miniminsing the risk of earthquake.

Sustainability of the buildings should be increased by using these types of materials.

So these are the findings and recommendation of the study. If the government increases the

monitoring activities, people will help for their own protection. As a result, the risk of

destruction caused by earthquake will be reduced.

Conclusion:

Bangladesh is a country of rivers, which means that the lands were created upon siltation. This

siltation lands are not good enough for constructing high rise residential buildings. So the

RAJUK has introduced many code of conduct about construction of real estate, so that faulty

buildings may not be constructed. But the specialists from different perspectives have estimated

a large number of losses if there is a major earthquake in Bangladesh. They are continuously

informing the authorities to take safety initiatives in those buildings and take charge to those

corrupted people who lack ethics in their business. In developing countries like Bangladesh, the

local laws are not well maintained. If we want to maintain the international laws of United

Nations, we have to do a long list of things. High density country like Bangladesh can never

fulfill the right to adequate housing. Preparedness for natural disasters like earthquake should

take time to time so that people can cope with the life saving process. In a high density city like

Dhaka will always face the worst possibilities in case of a major earthquake. So we should be

getting prepared to save ourselves from earthquake.

36

Appendix:

Interview Questioner of Civil Engineer:

Name of the Interviewee:

Educational Background:

Occupation:

Experience:

Projects Done or ongoing:

1. …..

2. …..

3. …..

Question 1: What do you think of the current situation of Real Estate Development in Dhaka

City?

-

Comment:

Question 2: How the Civil Engineers are contribution to it?

-

Comment:

Question 3: There are both B. Sc and Diploma in Civil Engineering. What are the differences in

work situation between these two groups?

-

Comment:

Question 4: What are the key socio-economic issues that are kept in mind in time of construction

of a project?

-

Comment:

Question 5: How Civil Engineers (CE) are dealing with the safety issues of his/her project?

Especially in the case of Earthquake.

-

Comment:

Question 6: There are almost 1100 developer companies enlisted in REHAB. REHAB claimed

that only few of them are doing the quality work. What do you think of that?

37

-

Comment:

Question 7: What do you think of RAJUK‘s contribution or dis-contribution in the case of

maintaining safety in housing sector?

-

Comment:

Question 8: The BNBC is maintained strictly for construction and disobeying it is a criminal

offence. What do you think of this issue?

-

Comment:

Question 9: What the CE are thinking of sustainability and environmental concern for their

project?

-

Comment:

Question 10: As you have gained experience in working with different situation, what do you

think of awareness level among the mass regarding Earthquake?

-

Comment:

Question 11: What do you think of the customers? What are their demands from you when you

design their project?

-

Comment:

Question 12: If we take ‗Japan Garden City‖ situated in Mohammadpur as a case study, what

you think of its safety issues in case of Earthquake, Fire etc.

-

Comment:

Any knowledge outside this questioner is highly appreciated. Interviewee has the right to change

any information in any time. If there is any concern about the reference, please provide it without

any hesitation. Thank You for your precious time.

38

Interview Questioner of Architect:

Name of the Interviewee:

Educational Background:

Occupation:

Experience:

Projects Done or ongoing:

1. …..

2. …..

3. …..

Question 1: What do you think of the current situation of Real Estate development in

Bangladesh?

-

Comment:

Question 2: How the Architects are contributing to the Real Estate sector?

-

Comment:

Question 3: What is the role of an Architect in designing a Project?

-

Comment:

Question 4: How many Architects are currently working with licenses and how many are there

without licenses?

-

Comment:

Question 5: What will be the problem if we do not use architects to design a building?

-

Comment:

Question 6: What are the key issues that the architect can talk with the owner of the project?

-

Comment:

Question 7: How can an architect influence in the decision of the owner of the project?

-

39

Comment:

Question 8: How the Urbanization can affect the Dhaka city if there is a major earthquake?

-

Comment:

Question 9: By doing what, an architect can maximize the sustainability of a project after an

earthquake?

-

Comment:

Any knowledge outside this questioner is highly appreciated. Interviewee has the right to change

any information in any time. If there is any concern about the reference, please provide it without

any hesitation. Thank You for your precious time.

Interview Questioner of Focus Group Discussion:

Names of the Participants:

1.

2.

3.

4.

Professions of the participants:

1.

2.

3.

4.

Years of living in the case study area:

1.

2.

3.

4.

What types of Safety Preparedness Drills have done:

-

40

Awareness raising programs about Natural Disasters:

-

Any focused activity related to Earthquake:

-

Any Comments:

-

Any knowledge outside this questioner is highly appreciated. Interviewee has the right to change

any information in any time. If there is any concern about the reference, please provide it without

any hesitation. Thank You for your precious time.

41

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42

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17. Major Earthquake may hit country anytime: Experts; published on 13 May 2012, in the

Daily Sun, http://www.daily-

sun.com/index.php?view=details&archiev=yes&arch_date=13-05-2012&type=Major-

earthquake-may-hit-country-anytime:-

Experts&pub_no=142&cat_id=1&menu_id=10&news_type_id=1&index=9, (last cited

on 16th

May, 2012)

18. Dhaka city at risk of massive destruction A 6-magnitude earthquake can demolish 78,323

buildings: Study Unb, Dhaka; published on 24 January 2010; in the Daily Star;

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=123247, (last cited on 16th

May, 2012)

19. THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY, FACING A SLIPPERY SLUMP; published in the Star,

27 January, 2012.

20. Bangladesh Journal of Science and Technology. July 2002, 4(2): (Please see pages 193-

203)