A Planning Perspective on Fire Hazard Vulnerability of Shopping Centers in Dhaka City: A Case Study Base Approach

Abstract

Now-a-days, fire hazard has become a very common issue for Bangladesh, especially in urban areas. Shopping is an important and  essential routine of urban life. Day by day the need for organized shopping centre is gaining importance in our society. The current trend in Dhaka is to accommodate various functions such as office, hotels, apartments etc. along with the shopping facilities within the  same structure. These have increased the potential danger of fire hazard in these mixed uses, multi-storied and usually introvert  building type. Fire at different shopping malls is a very common phenomenon nowadays. Shopping centers have large numbers of  people passing through. So if any fire incidences occur in shopping centers it can causes human losses and damage properties. In  recent few years, many fire incidents have taken place in different shopping centers at Dhaka City and other areas of the country. In  this context, the present study tries to assess fire hazard vulnerability level of shopping centers. From the research findings it is  observed that most of the case study shopping centers are highly vulnerable for fire hazard. There are several reasons behind the present situation. At the same time, these shopping centers are not well equipped with fire fighting tools to prevent fire hazard. At  last, this study comes up with some recommendations. The implementation of these recommendations can help to reduce the risk of  fire hazard vulnerability of these shopping centers, as well as other shopping centers of Dhaka City and the entire country.