A SYNTACTIC ANALYSIS OF THE SPATIAL PATTERN OF THE ECOLOGICAL AREA OF DHAKA CITY OVER THE PERIOD OF THE LAST CENTURY Farida Nilufar Lecturer, Department of Architecture, BUET Dr. Julienne Hanson Director of Studies, Bartlett School of Graduate Studies University College London, Gower Street, WC1E 6BT, UK SYNOPSIS This paper will use 'space syntax' as a tool in analysing the spatial structure of Dhaka City. 'Space syntax' is a theory and method for investigating the society-space relation, which takes account of the underlying difficulty in illuminating the relationship between social structure and spatial structure. The theory also defines the degree of spatial order which exists in organic and planned layouts, by analysing their spatial configurations to show the relation between local morphological properties and emergent global patterns. The first section of this paper will briefly describe the space syntax method in order to pave the way for the latter part of the text where the method be applied to the case of Dhaka. Here, models of the 'axial structure' of the city of Dhaka are developed from cartographic records which cover the period from 1859 to 1991. Thus, the spatial structure of Dhaka City is considered over last century, through the nine different stages of its evolution for which accurate maps exist. Throughout the century, the growing city seems to have exhibited a series of informal and organic spatial patterns. Yet, despite these morphological continuities, major spatial changes at a global scale can be identified through analysis, which can be shown increasingly to have had an impact on the face of the city. Thus, the paper will try to pinpoint how the cumulative process of growth and consolidation has influenced the spatial structure of Dhaka at a global scale. The hypothesis guiding this investigation is that the overall spatial structures of the historical and contemporary city of Dhaka can be shown to exhibit objective configurational differences, rather than similarities which have persisted through time. The research aim is therefore to explore and quantify the nature of the spatial transformation which has taken place within the city during this period. In addition to exploring the spatial measures which result from the use of space syntax, the spatial analysis also reveals how the existing commercial centre systematically loses its importance with each succeeding phase of growth. In the middle stages (1952, 1960, 1973) the global focus of the city shifts from the historic commercial areas of the Islampur Road and the Nawabpur Road towards Motijheel, whilst in the most recent stages of its development, the city again shifts its focus from Motijheel to the new commercial development in the Kawranbazar area. The changing pattern of integration indicates that a constant factor in Dhaka’s growth has been the pull of the new extensions at the periphery, which have brought about changes within the global core of the city with the passage of time. This leads to a conclusion that old city is becoming increasingly segregated from the life of the new core. The core has been more or less static for the last two decades, but major changes in the city morphology are still taking place as new developments are constructed in all the peripheral areas except to the south, the cumulative impact of which may be gradually to draw integration still further away from the historic heart of Dhaka. The implications of this for the long term sustainability old Dhaka are serious, and need to be taken into account in arriving at a strategy for its future conservation. KEY WORDS URBAN MORPHOLOGY; HISTORY AND EVOLUTION; ORGANIC CITIES, SYNTACTIC ANALYSIS OF CITIES; SOCIETY AND SPACE.