Nest for the Future

Many people believe that urban children enjoy a higher quality of life than their rural counterparts. Paradoxically, impoverished urban children often face more severe living conditions and lower standards of living than rural children. Bangladesh has recently experienced rapid urbanization, with increasing numbers of families migrating from rural areas to cities. As a result, many poor urban children end up living in slums, where they are among the most vulnerable, directly affected by the harsh realities of slum life. These challenges not only impact their childhood but also limit their future opportunities as they grow older.

While many studies have addressed these problems from various perspectives, there has been little discussion about solutions, especially architectural ones. Additionally, most research has focused on Dhaka’s slums, even though cities like Sylhet face equally severe slum issues. Consequently, children in Sylhet’s slums suffer from dangerous living conditions, which have been largely overlooked.

This study prioritizes an architectural approach to solving the problems faced by urban poor children, focusing specifically on Sylhet city, to address the challenges of children living in non-capital city slums. Through the housing design research, the study aims to improve the overall well-being and living conditions of impoverished urban children, while ultimately providing better opportunities for their families. The goal of the research is to meet the need of children and create child-friendly neighborhoods through new housing design.