INNOVATE III

DHAKA-INNOVATE is centred around the informal settlements of Dhaka and focuses on three interwoven topics of vital relevance for the future development of the megacity of Dhaka, Bangladesh: Firstly, socioeconomic development, limitations, and improvement strategies; secondly, climatologic and air pollution effects from the local to global scale; thirdly, public health issues related to socioeconomics, climate and air pollution and living conditions. The research is undertaken in a spatially explicit way, linked in with remote sensing derived meta-indicators, and integrated via GIS-based modelling approaches. The research takes into account the globalised framework of relevant processes, both socioeconomically and environmentally. Local effects are hence embedded in a multiscale framework, providing a focus so as to derive relevant indicators in the context of global, regional and local driving forces. Results will on the one hand facilitate integrated modelling allowing for future perspectives in the light of relevant processes in the Dhaka context. On the other hand, indicator based and spatially explicit explanation pathways open up the opportunity to transfer results to other megacities. After joint research of something over three years a strong focus on the matter of health has evolved. Our interdisciplinary approach allowed us to account for various aspects of health and disease. Physical and social aspects were considered on spatial and temporal scales, allowing us to contribute interesting new findings to the scientific discussion.