The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) Delta is one of the most climate-exposed regions in the world, where communities have long adapted to floods through their own knowledge and practices. However, formal urban planning in these areas continues to rely mainly on technocratic and infrastructure-centric approaches, often overlooking the value of Traditional Local Knowledge (TLK). This research advances the concept of Adaptive Delta Urbanism by investigating how TLK can be meaningfully integrated into flood-resilient urban planning within the GBM Delta. Through a review of existing literature, the study examines locally rooted, both structural (hard) practices, including Tidal River Management (TRM), floating agriculture (baira), raised homesteads (dara), and non-structural practices like oral forecasting, communal labor and spiritual coping mechanisms.
Grounded in a transformative paradigm and guided by the Social-Ecological-Technological Systems (SETS) framework and Decoloniality, this study critiques epistemic hierarchies that privilege scientific knowledge over lived, cultural knowledge. Through qualitative methods, including interviews, focus group discussions, and workshops with local knowledge holders, urban experts, and policy actors in Bangladesh, the research identifies institutional, policy, and governance barriers that prevent TLK integration. Findings suggest that TLK is not only a source of practical adaptation strategies but also strengthens social cohesion, stewardship of natural systems, and community-led governance elements often missing in top-down planning models.
The research proposes a shift towards Adaptive Delta Urbanism, where planning processes actively engage local knowledge holders and promote co-design between communities and institutions. By treating TLK as a living and evolving knowledge system rather than a static tradition, this work contributes to rethinking urban resilience as a collaborative process. It advocates for planning approaches that respect community agency and enable delta inhabitants to shape their own responses to climate uncertainty. Ultimately, this research calls for a more equitable and context-specific vision of urban futures in climate-vulnerable deltas.