Rethinking Urban Waterfront as a Potential Public Open Space: Interpretative Framework of Surma Waterfront

Waterfront is a great natural resource for the urban dwellers to get the recreational and economic benefit. The increase in economic value, leisure, public health and tourism sector has created an opportunity to rethink the waterfront area. Sylhet city divided by the Surma River is an example of declining waterfront while there is hardly any public space for recreational benefit inside the whole city. Naturally, the river has divided the city into two parts lined with two different urban edges. This separation has identically changed the urban morphology in two banks. However, the city corporation authority took initiative to make waterfront aesthetically pleasing rather than constructing a comprehensive plan in order to build responsive public open space. This paper examines the current physical condition as accessibility, transport and transit, land use, public activity and variety of function surrounding waterfront in order to identify the reason of waterfront degradation. As a qualitative research, the observation survey will be conducted to understand the physical condition of the study area. The research will conclude with the scope of strategic urban design guidelines to generate an economically enrich, socially logical and publicly vibrant urban waterfront.