Water as Leverage- Setting the scene for a call for action

Water as Leverage for Resilient Cities Asia Setting the Scene for a Call for Action Content
2.2.1 Pond City
Dozens of ponds play an important part in the social
structure of Khulna. Neighbourhoods are often
situated around them, making the ponds central
public spaces where children and adults meet and
play. The ponds are a signature element in Khulna’s
urban structure. Originally, they were constructed
as systems for water retention and were used as
a supply of drinking water, for washing and for
aquafarming. Just as Khulna’s canals and rivers,
many of the ponds are currently being filled in for
real estate development.
2008). The city is characterized by a very
low-density urban structure. This is due to a
series of socioeconomic factors, including
land ownership issues, which are inhibiting
possibilities for densification. To overcome
these limits, the ponds are occasionally
filled in order to generate additional plots
for construction. As a direct consequence,
the already small water absorption capacity
of the city’s soil has been further reduced.
Additionally, the ponds and their capacity
to host small-scale socioeconomic and
environmental ecosystems has also been
compromised by the pollution caused by solid
waste and ineffective sewage infrastructure
(Rekittke, 2009). Given that houses were
traditionally built around these ponds, they
form central areas in neighborhoods where
children and adults alike meet and play. On top
of that, the fertile areas around them are often
used for agriculture. As such, maintenance and
improvement of the ponds could provide new
opportunities for an extension of public space
or urban food production within the city while
tackling water challenges simultaneously (Foré,
van de Sande, Rekittke & Shannon, 2008).
The early settlements that would later evolve
into Khulna were established for their strategic
position vis-à-vis the trading routes to the
Ganges River and the Bay of Bengal on
the intersection of the Rupsa and Bhairab
rivers. Scattered over multiple locations, the
early settlements were mainly situated on
the western shore of the rivers, where the
slightly elevated ground offered protection
from flooding and waterlogging. At the time,
the extremely permeable ground was often
excavated to reach superficial aquifers and
provide direct sources of fresh water. This
process, together with heavy seasonal rains,
generated a series of water ponds, which
would become a unique aspect of Khulna’s
urban tissue.
Occupation started to take place on slightly
higher creek ridges, often densely planted with
trees. Land was elevated with soil that was
gathered by digging ponds. The ponds could
either be dug on new locations, or they could
be made by transforming linear water bodies
into a series of ponds with the use of dams,
after which they were deepened. These ponds
still are – especially in the more rural areas –
the social core of communities, which people
use for bathing, fishing and for household
and drinking water. The ponds used to be a
functional ‘backyard’ for low-density housing
complexes and production facilities, hosting
small-scale economies, like fish farming and
agriculture. Each pond was semi-privately
owned, being shared by the surrounding
houses and being only partially accessible
from the street. Together with a network of
connecting canals, called khals, they ended
up supporting the drainage capacity of the city
(Rekittke, 2009).
With recent growth and urban expansion,
the city continued to follow the river and the
main infrastructure along a north-south axis,
thereby maximizing the contact with the water
to empower new economic activities. Located
by the Rupsa River, sediment (i.e. sand) is
an abundant resource in Khulna. On the one
hand, the increase in sedimentation made the
navigability of the rivers problematic. After the
beginning of large-scale industrialization in
the 1960s, the city started transitioning from a
water-based economy, where waterways were
the primary catalysts for commercial activities,
to a street-based economy by improving
ground-based infrastructure.
On the other hand, these sediments are used
for the brick industry in the eastern tributary
and for the urban development relating to
the ponds and canals. With regards to the
latter, sediment has been used over the
last thirty years to fill up as much as 50%
of the ponds and a large amount of canals
in order to create more inhabitable space
(Foré, van de Sande, Rekittke & Shannon,
Green pond edges
Water filter
Swimming and bathing
Pond Entrance
Traditional use of the
pond: fishing, bathing
and for drinking water.
Fishing
Rain Water Infiltration
Salt intrusion
Land Elevated with
excavated soil
New developments around water tank
OverheadTank
Piping
New urban developments
around the construction
of a drinking
water system.
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Water Issues
PART 2/Background Information on the Partner Cities
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