Rethinking for the Land

Abstract

Several researchers have explored how landscape planning and design can effectively mitigate floods and leverage flood benefits in flooded land. However, these landscape planning opportunities are rarely used and rarely discussed in research areas. Generally, the people who live in flood-prone areas are economically dependent on this land. Hence, they come back repeatedly after every flood for their livelihood. For instance, Bangladesh, which suffers from floods due to its geographical location and topographical characteristics, has yet to learn about the opportunities available for landscape planning & design. In this research, Shahzadpur Upazila situated near the Jamuna River is considered a case, is the most vulnerable and flood-prone area in Sirajganj. Every year around 20000 people are suffering more or less in Shahzadpur. Many of them are obliged to do temporary migration and start from nothing all over again. Government management response commonly involves riverbank erosion treatment and non-government organization (NGO) funding only for installing tube wells and toilets. Moreover, the importance of bringing back resiliency in those lands is diverting backward due to a lack of knowledge and attention. Due to many challenges, the research focuses on only landscape planning & design before architecture. This paper presents a strategic framework that will discuss the challenges that need to be overcome and the opportunities to address each. The following three landscape planning strategies are discussed to reduce flood damage: raising the land, creating wetlands, and using agriculture as a buffer. Along with this, a mixed-method approach will shortlist the opportunities according to the villager’s needs in terms of implementation. The approaches will introduce the possibilities coming with floods and bring back resilience to the land again.