From Authoritarian to Permissive: Creating a Place Identity at the Diminishing Historical and Cultural Landscape of Sylhet's Old Central Jail, Bangladesh

Sylhet is a historic city in Bangladesh where rapid and congested urban growth is placing increasing pressure on cultural identity, heritage assets, and accessible public open space. The former Sylhet Central Jail area, a 200-year-old landmark in the city centre, offers an opportunity to connect heritage conservation with contemporary urban needs and inclusive public space to become an urban node. This research asked how the site can be revitalised as an inclusive civic space while maintaining its heritage value, historic character, sense of place, and relationship with its urban context. The study aimed to develop a design framework for revitalisation of the site, which negotiates the relationship between historic fabric and contemporary urban functions through adaptive reuse, sustainable planning, inclusive public realm development and improved urban connectivity. The research adopted a qualitative and design-oriented methodology. Primary data was drawn from site survey, observation, visual mapping, spatial analysis, design feedback and public aspiration. Secondary data included journal articles, books, heritage conservation & adaptive reuse case studies, the urban design literature, newspaper reports, online architectural sources, and precedent projects. The research process explored the historical significance of the jail site, its current urban condition, and potential role within the wider city. It then developed strategies for adaptive reuse, connectivity, public realm improvement, and mixed-use civic programming, enhancing its heritage value. The originality of the research lies in its challenge to demolition-led redevelopment and its framing of the site as a cultural asset, public resource and catalyst for broader urban regeneration. The main outcome is a heritage-based regeneration framework structured around four components: heritage retention, civic accessibility, public realm activation and urban connectivity to generate a vibrant urban node. Together, these components guide the transformation of the former jail site from a closed institutional compound into an inclusive, connected and culturally meaningful civic space.