Mapping invisible narratives for future imaginaries; in Nandipara, Dhaka and beyond
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Examensarbete för masterexamen
Master's Thesis
Master's Thesis
Modellbyggare
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Sammanfattning
Urban planning has long relied on maps to understand and manage spatial relations, yet mapping is
never neutral. It is a political act that shapes how cities are imagined, governed, and transformed, often
reinforcing dominant power structures while rendering informal realities invisible. This research investigates
the potential of mapping as a critical and participatory tool to challenge such narratives and support more
ecological, just, and inclusive urban transitions.
Focusing on the Jirani Canal area in Nandipara, a rapidly urbanizing peripheral neighborhood in East
Dhaka, the study examines how formal planning discourses overlook the everyday practices, spatial
adaptations, and ecological logics of informal urban development. Nandi Para embodies many of Dhaka’s
contemporary challenges, climate vulnerability, infrastructural deficits, and migratory pressures, yet also
offers grounded examples of community-managed public spaces, informal circulation networks, and
smallscale urban agriculture.
Using a critical mapping framework, the research adopts a mixed-methods approach combining GISbased
spatial analysis, historical cartographic review, participatory mapping workshops, observational
fieldwork, and speculative design. It engages with multiple actors, local residents, schoolchildren, farmers,
and planning professionals, to map and interpret the lived realities of the area. By analyzing contested
mappings, the study surfaces “invisible narratives”: ecological corridors, informal economies, and adaptive
urban strategies often omitted from official maps.
Rather than producing a fixed masterplan, the thesis embraces mapping as an open-ended, reflective,
and collective process that foregrounds contested space, plural knowledges, and future possibilities. The
research advocates for a more participatory and speculative modes of map-making that not only document
but also reimagine the city. In doing so, it contributes to a broader discourse on the role of mapping
in shaping urban futures, particularly in contexts marked by informality, rapid change, and institutional
fragmentation
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
critical mapping, participatory mapping, informal urbanism, speculative design, participatory GIS, global south, urban futures, Circular and Ecological Urbanism