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Spatial pattern analysis of manufacturing industries in Keraniganj, Dhaka,

Bangladesh

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DOI: 10.1007/s10708-018-9961-5

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GeoJournal
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-018-9961-5 (0123456789().,-volV)
(0123456789().,-volV)
Spatial pattern analysis of manufacturing industries
in Keraniganj, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Mohammad Mehedy Hassan . Meshari S. Alenezi . Ryan Z. Good
Ó Springer Nature B.V. 2019
Abstract Understanding industrial clustering and its
patterns of development are important steps in linking
regional policy development, strategic decision mak-
ing, business site management, and fostering a coun-
try’s economic growth. A considerable variety of
common location-based cluster measures are available
in practice, including area-based measures and a
variety of indicators based on analyses of point data.
This study uses the geostatistical approaches kernel
density, multi-distance Reply’s-K, and spatial auto-
correlation, both global Moran’s-I and local Moran’s-
I, to assess the degree of spatial clustering of
manufacturing locations in Keranignaj, located at the
southern periphery of the urban region of Dhaka,
Bangladesh. Results indicated a non-random pattern
for all manufacturing locations in the study region.
Small-scale industries such as garment manufacturing,
metal, and brick making have a strong presence in
Keranignaj. Expansion of such industries were highly
associated with proximity to a river, while food
processing, rubber and plastics manufacturing indus-
tries were clustered in relation to road proximity. The
spatial association Global Moran’s-I with higher
positive coefficient value indicates homogeneity, or
spatial auto-correlation, exist in the industrial loca-
tions studied here. Local Moran’s-I, which documents
regional clustering, has yielded a statistically
M. M. Hassan (&)  M. S. Alenezi  R. Z. Good
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
e-mail: mehedy@ufl.edu
significant manufacturing cluster (0.05 level) for the
manufacturing areas of Zinjira, Kaliganj, Mirerbagh,
and Chunkutia. Since cluster-based economic devel-
opment has recently been an area of increasing interest
for both developed and developing nations, the
outcomes from this study provide an insight into
spatial processes of industrial development in Bangla-
desh, and the Dhaka area in particular, enabling
planners and policymakers to make rational, informed
decisions and strengthening the economic growth and
capacity for development of micro-industries clusters
for the area studied here and the region beyond.
Keywords Cluster analysis  Kernel density 
Reply’s-K  Global and local Moran’s-I  Keraniganj 
Dhaka
Introduction
Among the most significant changes now affecting the
people of developing countries is the ever-increasing
level of urbanization and industrialization (Chen et al.
2014; Turok and McGranahan 2013). Urbanization
and industrialization are closely related, and industri-
alization is often the prerequisite to urbanization
(Chen et al. 2014). Bangladesh is a country with
relatively low levels of urbanization and industrial-
ization compared to other more developed nations in
123

Asia (Hassan 2017). Currently, the industrial sector
contributes approximately 33% to the country’s Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) and has grown by over 11%
in the 2016–2017 fiscal year (Economic Review 2017;
CPD 2018). Such industrial growth, however, is
mainly attributed to the growing numbers of small
and medium enterprises (SME) across the country.
Additionally, approximately 80% of employment in
the industrial sector is with the SMEs (Economic
Review 2017). As a result, the contribution of SMEs to
GDP increased to 23% in 2017.
Due to investment-friendly policy instruments and
an environment conducive to cost-effective industrial
setup (including convenient gas and water supplies,
availability of cheap labor, and the creation of several
special economic zones (BBS 2013a, b) numerous
small- to large-scale manufacturing industries have
developed in the country, with heavy concentrations
around large cities such as Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna
and Rajshahi. Roughly one-third of the country’s
manufacturing units have been set up in Dhaka and
neighboring areas, such as Gazipur, Savar, Narayan-
ganj, and Keraniganj (BBS 2005). Since the indepen-
dence of Bangladesh, Dhaka has been the focal point
of industrial development, but traffic congestion,
excessive pollution, and overpopulation are driving
investors to shift from central Dhaka to adjacent
districts in the urban area. Thus, areas like Gazipur,
Savar, Narayanganj, and Keraniganj have gradually
become favored locations for entrepreneurs to invest
in industrial development. For example, industrial
expansion in Keraniganj has more than tripled, with an
increase from approximately 2000 SMEs in 2001 to
6766 in 2013 (Economic Review 2017; BBS 2005).
This industrial development and its geographic con-
centration is meaningful for both research and poli-
cymaking (Feser et al. 2001; Kies et al. 2009).
Understanding these processes provides evidence to
policymakers and fostering industrial development
and economic growth, potentially eliminating regional
economic imbalances (Cortright 2006). Further, it
potentially helps investors and potential clients to find
markets and highlights geographic weakness in plant
investments.
Despite both the marked growth of manufacturing
industries in peripheral areas of Dhaka urban area and
the potential benefits of using cluster-based economic
development strategy for fostering economic growth,
little study has been conducted on economic
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agglomeration in Bangladesh. This study attempts to
fill that gap by mapping geographic distribution of
manufacturing industries and analyzing their spatial
development processes in Keraniganj, the southern
fringe of Dhaka urban area. Using combined statistical
methods and GIS techniques including Kernel density
plot, Multi-distance Ripley’s K function, Global
Autocorrelation Moran’s-I, and Local Moran’s-I, this
study explores development patterns of manufacturing
industries. Since there is currently no such study in
Bangladesh, the outcomes from this study will give an
insight into spatial process of industrial development
in Bangladesh, and the Dhaka area in particular,
enabling planners and policymakers to make rational,
informed decisions and strengthening the economic
growth and capacity for development of micro-indus-
tries clusters for the area studied here and the region
beyond.
This paper begins with a discussion of the structure
of industry and manufacturing in Bangladesh, paired
with a review of relevant literature, including classical
theory on agglomeration factors and recent cluster
detection techniques using geostatistical analysis
tools. Employed geospatial analysis techniques with
data collection procedures are then discussed. Finally,
outcomes from the employed methods with discussion
and implications of this study are given. The study
outcomes and analysis are based on information
derived from first-hand field data collection in 2008
and secondary data from the 2005 Bangladesh Small
and Medium Scale Manufacturing Survey (BBS
2005).
Empirical studies on industrial clustering
The central task of contemporary industrial geography
is to describe and explain changes in the spatial pattern
of industrial activities (Watts 1987). Although clus-
tering-based economic development polices have
increasingly been used in regional development
strategies in recent past, the practice was pioneered
by Alfred Marshall in the late 19th century. Marshall’s
(Marshall 1961) theory of industrial districting focuses
on three principles—material supply, labor pooling
effects, and knowledge spillovers—remains one of the
most important theoretical motivations for modern
industrial cluster applications and policies today.
Later, Porter (Porter 1990, 1998, 2000) applied the
theory across a range of areas including business,
GeoJournal
economics, politics and social policies. The tendency
toward economic or business cluster formation around
the cities or in small regions has long been evident; as
a result, there are a number of non-spatial clustering
techniques such as input–output analysis (Isard and
Langford 1971), location quotient analysis (Porter
2000), and shift-share (Barff and Knight 1988) that
were employed to document why economic activities
tend to be clustered in certain geographic areas. Most
studies of industrial cluster analysis define cluster as
localized concentrations of linked sectors (Feser et al.
2001) that have demonstrated some evidence of local
competitive success and reveal ways to maximize
competitive synergies among cluster members while
minimizing barriers to entrepreneurship, innovation,
and growth (Porter 2000; Waits 2000). A substantial
body of empirical work investigates regional agglom-
eration economies with production function (Rosen-
thal and Strange 2004). Among governments of most
developed nations and an increasing number of
developing countries, there is growing support for
clustering polices replacing the traditional supply-
driven sector (Choe and Roberts 2011).
Despite this growing recognition of the critical role
of cluster-based regional policy development in fos-
tering countries’ economic development, little study
has conducted exploring the spatial patterns of indus-
trial development in Bangladesh. Only a small number
of published and unpublished studies have been
completed, exploring location characteristics,
entrepreneurship types and growth of small-scale
industries in Bangladesh. A study carried out by
Kamal (1984), found that availability of a skilled and
cheap labor force allowed industries to agglomerate in
a certain place in Bangladesh. Khan (1996) discussed
industrial location and decision making in Dhaka city,
arguing that the family background, educational
qualification, place of residence, and access to indus-
try are the dominant factors of the location decision
making. Islam (1994) examined locational factors of
readymade garments industries in Dhaka. Momen
(1994) studied spatial pattern industrial development
in Chittagong city. A similar study was carried out by
Sultana (2002) in Savar, Dhaka, characterizing
entrepreneurship types, labor composition, and spatial
distribution of manufacturing industries. Choe and
Roberts (2011) conducted a comprehensive cluster-
based city economic development study in Bangla-
desh, India, and Sri Lanka. Using Location Quotients
(LQ), the concentration of industries in the Dhaka
capital region was analyzed in relation to national
concentrations. Results from this study indicate that
the construction industry had the highest LQ values,
followed by public administration, defense, and man-
ufacturing. A similar study was carried out by Hossain
and Nazem (2016) in Chittagong, the second largest
city of Bangladesh. Using LQ, industrial clusters were
determined, and competitive dynamics were assessed
by shift-share analysis. The LQ indices from this study
suggest that petroleum industries have the highest
agglomeration in the study area, followed by manu-
facturing of basic metals, chemical and chemical
products, and manufacturing of motor vehicles. Most
research was conducted using publicly available
regional level data to estimate aggregate industry
functions for selected sectors. With better availably of
micro-level data and the aid of geographic information
system, plant-level estimation has largely succeeded
the aggregate approach (Drucker and Feser 2012).
Spatial clustering studies using geographic infor-
mation system are a new approaches of regional
sciences (Boasson and Boasson 2011; Frizado et al.
2007; Grubesic and Murray 2001; Feser et al. 2001).
Unlike conventional methods, spatial analytical tools
help to identify the structures and suggest reasons for
spatial pattern characteristics (Feser et al. 2001;
Shafabakhsh et al. 2017; Wang et al. 2015). Under-
standing of spatial structures of manufacturing devel-
opment can facilitate various analysis tasks including
comparison (Brachert et al. 2011; Cifranič 2016;
Drucker and Feser 2012; Kies et al. 2009; Porter
2000). Regional planners can closely monitor such
patterns to determine how to strategically take action
to improve service facilities (Wang et al. 2015).
Spatial modeling strategies such as point pattern
analysis using geo-statistical analysis techniques such
as quadrat counts, average nearest neighbor analysis,
Moran-I, and Reply’s K function have successfully
been employed to describe, explain, and predict
dynamics of natural phenomena such as wildlife
population habitats, crime mapping (Kim et al. 2016;
Messner et al. 1999) human settlements’ cluster
identification, traffic accidents (Mohaymany et al.
2013; Shafabakhsh et al. 2017), and disease cluster
mapping (Dogru et al. 2017). In addition, industrial
cluster measure using Getis and Ord Gi (Getis and Ord
1992; Ord and Getis 1995) was used to study the
location and spatial extent of value chain cluster in
123

Kentucky (Feser 2001). Regional industrial cluster
such as forest- and wood-based industrial agglomer-
ation was studied by Kies et al. (2009) using a
combination of Moran’s I and Getis-Ord G. As there
are a considerable variety of common location-based
cluster measures available in practices, from area-
based measures such as the simple location quotient to
a variety of indicators based on analyses of point data
(e.g. establishment locations), this study used geosta-
tistical approach incorporating both local and global
Moran’s I for regional industrial cluster analysis. In
contrast to the location quotient, the I statistics help to
pinpoint groups of aerial units where given clusters are
of significant size.
Materials and methods
Study area
The study area, Keraniganj, is located on the southern
edge of the primate city Dhaka, Bangladesh, flanked
on three sides by rivers—the Buriganga on the north
and the Dhaleshwari on the east and south (in Fig. 1).
The total population in the study area is 830,174 (BBS
2014), with an area of 166.87 sq. km., making it the
largest Upazila the second lowest tier of regional
administration in the Dhaka district. Due to rapid
urbanization in Dhaka, the study area has experienced
rapid urban development recently. As such, the total
area occupied by urban development increased by
764% between 1990 and 2015 (Hassan and South-
worth 2017). The major urban development in
Keraniganj is found on the south bank of the Burig-
anga River, in such locations as Zinzira, Ragunathpur,
Mandail, Kalindi, Barisur, Dakpara, Kaliganj, and
Mirerbag.
The area houses many small- and medium-scale
manufacturing industries, warehouses, and lower-
income homes. The study area is predominately low
elevation, with approximately 46% of the area having
elevation lower than 6 meters from mean sea level. As
a result, vast spans of the area are subject to flooding
during the monsoon season. These low elevated lands,
however, are being built up rapidly in recent years to
support massive urban expansion, particularly for new
residential development projects by government and
private land developer. As a result, land fill areas in
Keraniganj increased by 1052% over 25 years
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GeoJournal
(Hassan and Southworth 2017). Along with residential
development projects, industrial development in the
study area has shown marked increases. For example,
in 2005 there were approximately 2000 manufacturing
enterprises in Keraniganj, which has increased to
around 7000 in 2013, a total growth of 6900%.
Agriculture and manufacturing are the most important
employment sectors of the area with 12% of house-
holds dependent on agriculture, 4% on industry, 30%
on business, 4% on construction, 8% on transportation
and communication, and the rest are involved in other
non-agricultural occupations (BBS 2008).
Data collection and analysis methods
This study utilized both primary and secondary data
sources. Secondary data, which included geocoded
manufacturing unit’s location with detailed attributes
(a) ownership types, (b) gross value of plant, (c) fixed
capital, (d) invested capital, (e) total persons engaged,
(f) wages, (g) fuel consumed, (h) gross output,
(i) proportion of male and female workers, and
(j) year of establishment, were derived from Bangla-
desh Bureau of Statistics Survey of Manufacturing
Industries (SMI), 2005–2006 (BBS 2005). Primary
data was collected from a field survey in the study area
in 2008. The SMI survey data contains a range of
spatial and non-spatial information of manufacturing
units with ten or more employees. Initially, these
geocoded data were tabulated and stored in a geo-
database. These geocoded data were later aggregated
into mouzas, the smallest available geographical unit,
and a base map of the study area was generated. Using
this base map with Google Earth high-resolution
imagery and a handheld GPS, each mouza and
location of industrial site was visited in December
2008. The base map with Google Earth was used to
identify the industrial cluster and distribution, while
GPS was used to take a coordinate of each visited
cluster.
Since the SMI survey data contains information on
only 10 manufacturing units, other small-scale indus-
tries such as fishing, poultry farming, workshop, and
furniture manufacturing were excluded; however,
these small-scale operations were prevalent in Kerni-
ganj. Some selected units reported in the SMI survey
did not match with the ground survey and were
excluded. Some units found during the field investi-
gation had engaged some employees but were missing
GeoJournal
Fig. 1 Location of the study area (inset map, in context of
Dhaka district and Bangladesh) with elevation, administrative
boundaries, main roads, and distribution of six major categories
in SMI data were added into the survey database. All
raw data collected from both primary and secondary
sources were filtered and cross checked. This refined
dataset was stored in a geodatabase and later used for
cluster analysis and spatial mapping. Initially, all
collected information was processed and classified
into 10 broad categories using Bangladesh Standard
Industrial Classification at 4-digit level. To facilitate
cluster analysis, these 10 categories of manufacturing
industries were further classified into six broad
manufacturing groups. These are: (a) garments and
textile, (b) rubber and plastic, (c) bricks, (d) metal and
chemical, (e) machinery, and (f) food processing.
ArcGIS was used to map the study area and present the
distribution of industries as point data, and r-statistical
analysis with ‘‘spatstat’’ and ‘‘spdep’’ packages and
of manufacturing industries. Manufacturing distribution is
based on both field survey of 2008 and SMI survey of 2005
associated libraries were used to conduct geostatistical
analysis.
In cluster analysis, a great variety of methods have
been proposed in the past decades for classifying
geographical phenomenon on the basis of their
similarities and dissimilarities (Boasson and Boasson
2011; Feser 2001; Czamanski and Ablas 1979).
Spatial distribution of a sample population over the
geographic area using density mapping, Spatial Auto-
correlation Global Moran’s I (Aldstadt et al. 2016;
Kreft and Jetz 2007; Bivand et al. 2009), Anselin
Local Moran’s I, Getis-Ord General G, and Multi-
distance Ripley’s-K function (Khaemba 2001;
Lamichhane et al. 2013; Zhang et al. 2014) are all
being widely used to determine spatial structure and
clustering of geographic events. Global measures of
spatial autocorrelation, such as Moran’s I, provide
123

summary statistics for overall spatial clustering (Lee
2001; Paradis 2018). Autocorrelation measures
covariance and correlation of the values of a single
variable for all pairs of points separated by a given
spatial lag (Lin and Zhang 2007). Data points in
geographically referenced data sets are not indepen-
dent from one another due to spatial dependence. As a
result, spatial autocorrelation and spatial distribution
often present significant local variations resulting in
the presence of discrete spatial events within a study
area (Anselin 1988; Haining et al. 2009). Given a set of
features, and an associated attribute, spatial autocor-
relation measures how similar one object is to others
surrounding it and concludes whether the pattern
expressed is clustered, dispersed, or random (Bivand
et al. 2009). The common form of spatial autocorre-
lation Moran’s I is:
Pn Pn
n i¼1 j¼1 wij ðxi  xÞðxj  xÞ
I¼ Pn
W Þ2
i¼1 ðxi  x
where wij is the weight between observation i and j,
and W is the sum of all wij. x is the value of the variable
at location i and x. If the observed value of I is
significantly greater than expected values (I0), then
values of x are positively autocorrelated, whereas if
I is less than expected value, this will indicate negative
autocorrelation. The normalized values of Moran’s
index range between - 1.0 and ? 1.0, where values
approaching ? 1 indicate positive autocorrelation and
values closer to - 1.0 means negative autocorrelation.
Local Moran’s I identify spatial clusters of features
with high or low values. High values indicate that the
given area is in proximity of other areas with similarly
high levels of manufacturing clustering. As a result,
maps of the I statistics provide a summary of the
regional distribution of clustering as well as important
localized clusters in neighbor areas.
The Multi-Distance Spatial Cluster Analysis, based
on Ripley’s K-Function (Ripley 1977), is another way
to analyze the spatial pattern of geographically
referenced point data. A distinguishing feature of this
method is that it summarizes spatial dependence
(feature clustering or feature dispersion) over a range
of distances (Perry 1995). Ripley’s K-function illus-
trates how the spatial clustering or dispersion of
feature centroids changes when the neighborhood size
changes. K-function analysis provides more accurate
analysis of point distribution (Haase 1995; Perry
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GeoJournal
1995). If the average number of neighbors for a
particular evaluation distance is larger than the
average concentration of features throughout the study
area, the distribution is considered clustered at that
distance. The K-Function is given as:
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
P ffi
A ni¼1;j¼1;j6¼i kði; jÞ
LðdÞ ¼
pnðn  1Þ
where d is the distance, n is equal to the total number
of features, A represents the total area of the features
and ki;j is a weight. If there is no edge correction, then
the weight will be equal to one when the distance
between i and j less than d and will equate to zero
otherwise. When the observed K value is larger than
the expected K value for a particular distance, the
distribution is more clustered than a random distribu-
tion at that distance (scale of analysis). When the
observed K value is smaller than the expected K, the
distribution is more dispersed than a random distribu-
tion at that distance. Similar to analysis of nearest
neighbor distance, the input of a confidence interval
for K function is commonly considered as 5%. In
addition, the study hypothesizes that all industrial
locations studied here are Complete Random Spatial
patterns (CSR).
To accept or reject the hypothesis this study utilizes
combinations of three different spatial analysis tech-
niques to explore spatial processes of manufacturing
industries distribution and their spatial variation of
intensity in the peripheral region, Keraninganj of the
greater Dhaka. Spatial point patterns analysis pack-
ages ‘‘spatstat’’ and ‘‘spdep’’ were used in RStudio
(https://www.rstudio.com/) for point pattern density
and geostatistical analysis.
Results
Mapping spatial distribution of manufacturing
industries in Keraniganj
In Kerniganj, six major sectors of manufacturing
industries were identified according to International
Standard of Industry Classification (ISIC) and Ban-
gladesh Standard of Industry Classification (BSIC).
These broad sectors are (a) food processing and related
industry, (b) clothing and textiles, (c) brick manufac-
turing, (d) machinery and equipment, (e) basic metal
GeoJournal
and other non-metallic mineral products, and (f) rubber
and plastics. Among these broad categories, clothing
and textiles manufacturing is the most prevalent,
accounting for approximately 60% of manufacturing
sector located in Keraninganj. These enterprises are
mainly developed along the southern edge of Dhaka
on the bank of the Buriganga River and next to the
Sadarghat launch terminal, with heavily concentration
in Kaliganj and Alamnagar in Aganagar Union. The
local garment industry in Keraniganj is very different
from the export-oriented one. The export-oriented
garment sectors in the country operate on a large scale
with hundreds to thousands of employees, whereas the
garment manufacturing studied here operate on small
scale with 10–50 employees. They usually produce
basic garments, such as men and boys’ shirts, women’s
and girls’ blouses and shorts, and baby clothes. This
sector grew quietly, cashing in on the waste rags of the
export-oriented garment industry and meeting the
growing domestic demands for ready-made clothes.
The total ready-made garments operations in Kerani-
ganj is estimated to be around 1000 according to a SMI
survey in 2005 (BBS 2005); however, results show
approximately 1500, mainly concentrated in Kaliganj
in Aganagar Union.
Along with this garment manufacturing, linked
industries such as dyeing, bleaching and finishing
textiles, woolen textiles, embroidery were found to be
thriving. The field survey revealed 65 weaving and
woolen textiles businesses, 50 dyeing, bleaching, and
printing operations, 15 embroideries, and 4 jute
textiles in Keraniganj. Dyeing and bleaching plants
are predominately located in Agangar, Zinjira and
Mandail, whereas the woolen textile business is in
Hasnabad, Kaliganj and Subhaday.
Brickfields are the second largest manufacturing
sector in Keraninganj (Fig. 2). According to the SMI
survey report of 2005, there were 85 brickfields in
operation; however, the field survey data shows
approximately 165 brickfields are in operation in the
study area. These brickfields are mostly located in
Konda Unions, along the north and west banks of
Buriganga and Dhaleshwari Rivers next to the major
construction sites. The same locations are used
repeatedly over many years. Some brickfields are also
located at Taranagar Union in the northwest portion of
the study area, close to Saver Upazila.
In Keraniganj, various machinery equipment is
engaged in the manufacturing of basic power and hand
tools, hardware, small-scale machinery and other
industrial components. The industry includes polish-
ing and metal-working machines, drills, nuts, bolts,
screws, springs, valves, and other basic industrial
equipment. There are approximately 30 machinery
manufacturing units located in the study area, mainly
located in Zinjira. Ship building and repairing is
another important sector, accounting for 50 operations
in the study area where thousands of workers build
small ships, launches, and ferries. These dockyards are
located along the bank of the Buringanga River at Char
Mirerbagh, Khajur, and Katuail Elaka in Subhaday
Union.
Typically, in Keraniganj various types of food
industries have been developed by focusing on
Dhaka’s demand. The study found that there are eight
grain mills, 14 rice mills, 13 candy and ice-cream
manufacturers, and 22 bakeries. These are distributed
all across the study area, operating with 10–50 workers
and supplying varieties of cookies and bread to local
markets and the capital city. Plastic and rubber
manufacturing in Keraniganj are dispersed throughout
Sakta, Karnalbagh, Konokhola, Mandail, Ramer
Kanda, and Zinjira, producing footwear, toys, and
plastic utensils. In addition, there are three large-scale
export-oriented melamine manufacturers producing
home appliances for consumption in both the domestic
and the international markets. With the rapid urban-
ization and industrialization of the area, the demand
for wood drastically increased. In Keraniganj, there
are approximately 58 small-scale furniture manufac-
turing units that have been identified, with a majority
of them located in Zinjira and Ati Bazaar. A handful of
timber processing units are also located along the bank
of Buriganga River, mainly at Katpooty in Zinjira.
Spatial process analysis of manufacturing
industries
Spatial process explains how certain or sequence of
geographic phenomenon take place along with other
distributions in geographic space (Aldstadt et al.
2016).
There are numbers of critical factors cited in grey
literatures which play an important role in developing
industrial clusters in certain geographic space (Feser
and Bergman 2000; Mori and Smith 2015; Porter
2000).These factors are (a) distance to market, (b) dis-
tance to materials, (c) prevailing wage rate,
123

(A)
6%
8%
Garments 4%
Bricks 4%
Food
Machinary 11%
Metal
67%
Plastic
Fig. 2 a The proportion of each industry in Keraniganj.Gar-
ments and associated link industries are the largest share (67%)
in the study area followed by Brick and Metal manufacturing.
b Size of workforces in six broad manufacturing sectors. Brick
(d) productivity of workers, (e) availability of labor,
(f) adequacy of transportation, (g) closeness of
producers, (h) industrial climate, (i) taxes, (j) antici-
pation of market growth, (k) transportation costs,
(l) availability of land for future site expansions,
(m) cost and availability of utilities, (n) political
climate toward business, (o) population growth, and
(p) income levels of consumers (Drucker and Feser
2012; Fujishima 2013; Li et al. 2012). Owing to lack of
broad ranges of data and considering the objectives of
this study, six major categories of industries distribu-
tion are plotted in terms of two response variables
distance to river and distance to main road. The aim of
using such two-response variables is to explore if such
physical attributes were associated with industrial
agglomeration and expansion.
Results from the density curve show that machinery
and equipment industries are highly clustered in
proximity to the river. The highest peak in machinery
industries in Fig. 3 is observed between 20 and 100 m
distance to the river. Brickfields, garments and metal
industries also have a tendency to be clustered within
500 m distance to the river. Contrastingly, food and
plastic industries had a mixed pattern. Plastic indus-
tries have an observed highest peak at 500 m from the
river and later skewed to the end of the density plot.
123
GeoJournal
(B)
manufacturing has large labor size range between 150 and 200
because of it uses century old technology and highly labor
intensive manufacturing process
Food industries have the highest peak at 2000 m and
medium peak at 500 m, indicating dispersion rather
than clustering in relation to river distance. These
cluster patterns, however, were the opposite for brick
and machinery industries when plotted over road-
based distance. Brick manufacturing show a mixed
pattern with highest peak is observed at 200 m and 800
m distance from a road, and for machinery industries
there was a peak at 600 m distance from road. For
food, garments, metal and plastic industries, the
highest cluster was observed within 200 m of major
road networks in the study area (Fig. 4).
Analysis from Multi-Distance Spatial Cluster (Ri-
pley’s K-function) suggests that the observed K value
for the selected industries is larger than the expected K
value for the given distance, as shown in Fig. 5. As a
result, the distribution of all six types of industries are
measured as clustered rather than a random pattern. In
addition, the observed K values are also larger than the
High Confidence Envelop values, indicating spatial
clustering for that distance is statistically significant.
We can infer that all selected industries in the study
area are more clustered than expected by random
chance. As a result, the null hypothesis ‘‘Industries are
Complete Random Spatial patterns (CSR)’’ is rejected
and we conclude that there is no significant difference
GeoJournal

Fig. 3 Agglomeration trends of the major manufacturing industries in relation to proximity to river. X-axes in the plot represent
distance in meters while Y-axes represent the peaks of a density where values are concentrated over the interval

Fig. 4 Agglomeration trends of the major manufacturing industries in relation to proximity to road. X axes in the kernel density plot
represent the distance in meters, while Y axes represent the peaks of a density where values are concentrated over the interval

123

Fig. 5 Multi-distance spatial cluster (Ripley’s K-function).
The red line shows expected distribution with high and low
confidence band, while the black line indicates observed pattern.
between observed and expected distribution. There-
fore, industries location analysis is assessed as clus-
tered, more than those expected with random points.
Similarly, given a set of features and an associated
attribute, Global Moran’s-I measures whether the
pattern expressed is clustered, dispersed, or random
(Fu et al. 2014; Paradis 2018). If the Moran’s-I value is
close to 0, that indicates more random patterns, and
values closer to 1 indicate non-random patterns.
Generally, the result presented in Fig. 6, and given
the observed and expected value, indicates that there is
a tendency towards non-randomness in all manufac-
turing categories. Except brickfields, all other indus-
tries show a positive spatial autocorrelation up to a
distance of approximately 2000 m, whereas brick
tends to randomness after 3000 m distance. While
results derived from statistical analysis show all
I coefficients are positive and greater than the
expected coefficient (in Fig. 6). For example; brick
manufacturing observed coefficient was 0.09597662,
which is greater than expected 0.001481481. Simi-
larly, food, garments, machinery, metal and plastic
Moran’s-I observed coefficient was 0.01373838,
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GeoJournal
If observed pattern is higher than the expected distribution, then
the distribution is more cluster than random
0.04617557, 0.04482931, 0.05738526 and
0.03074845 respectively, which are higher than
expected value such as; 0.001481481, 0.001481481,
0.001481481, 0.001481481 and 0.001481481 respec-
tively, showing a positive spatial autocorrelation.
Such positive spatial autocorrelation values observed
in this study indicate that indeed, spatial autocorrela-
tion exists in the industrial locations examined here.
However, industrial locations are strongly dependent
on existing physical conditions, environmental condi-
tions, and other conditions (Rajkumar 2013; Roth and
Miller 1992; Viswanadham et al. 1996). Hence, using
multiple methods of pattern analysis allows for
detection of more subtle differences.
The spatial distribution of manufacturing concen-
tration measured by using Anselin Local Moran’s-I is
presented in Fig. 7. This result suggests that the
distribution of manufacturing by nature is clustered in
few locations. In other words, the regions with
relatively high industrial agglomeration are localized
close to other regions with relatively high industrial
density. It appears that four census units (Zinjira,
Kaliganj, Mirerbagh, and Chunkutia) are positively
GeoJournal
Fig. 6 Spatial autocorrelation global Moran’s-I values with confidence band for six manufacturing industries. X axis represent
distance and Y axis represent Moran’s-I coefficient
spatially autocorrelated because the statistics are
significant with p = 0.05 for each unit.
Discussion
The present study was aimed at exploring the spatial
patterns of six broad categories of manufacturing
industries in the southern periphery of Dhaka known
as Keraniganj. Due to cheap land, labor and close
proximity to traditional wholesale markets, industries
of various sizes have been appearing in the study area.
In Keraniganj, the variety of industry types produces
mainly consumer and machinery goods for the local
market, estimated at 71.03% for local sale, 19.70% for
export, and 1.06% for both local markets and export
(BBS 2013a). However, the industrial structure and
characteristics of the area have shown an under-
developed market economy. Most of the industries are
small and medium sized, self-owned and self-man-
aged. These industries are mainly involved in pro-
cessing locally produced raw materials and serving the
local consumer market. Three major locations Zinjira,
Aganagar and Kaliganj have been identified where the
most industries have developed. Aganagar and Kali-
ganj are specialized for garments and associated
industries, while Zinjira is recognized for metal and
machineries accessories. The garment industries at
Kaliganj area are said to produce high quality jeans,
jackets and other export quality clothing items.
Dockyard industries is another prospective and
promising sector which has shown to thrive at Char
Kaliganj, Char Mirerbagh, Char Khajur bagh, Katuail
Shilpa Elaka (Subhaday). Without any technical
assistance, these industries sprung up and producing
small and large size vessel serving across the water
channel of the country.
The location-specific environments for industrial
development in less developed economies like Ban-
gladesh is different from developed economies, due to
lack of physical infrastructure, transportation net-
works and government patrons. Managerial and tech-
nical skills are also poor. Amenities of modern life are
only available in large urban centers where most of the
country’s physical development efforts have been
concentrated. Infrastructure in the study area is
inadequate and poorly developed. Since a large part
of the area has very low elevation and is highly
123

Fig. 7 Local concentration of the total manufacturing sector
measured by local Moran’s I. Census units such as Zinjira,
Kaliganj, Mirerbagh, and Chunkutia having the highest
susceptible to annual flooding, industrial development
was shown to be agglomerated in places where
comparatively high and dry lands were available.
Although there has been a planned industrial estate
‘‘BASIC’’ in Ruhitpur Union on the bank of the
Dhaleshwari River, the field survey in 2008 revealed
that due to lack of gas supply and proper infrastruc-
ture, the estate did not function economically.
Although there has been increasing interest among
academics, stakeholders, planners, and entrepreneurs
for the use of geostatistical techniques to analyze
spatial process of industrial development to determine
better plant location sites, there has been no previous
study conducted on exploring such spatial process in
the area studied here. This study explains the charac-
teristics of manufacturing, plotted its distribution, and
analyzed location patterns using geostatistical analysis
tools. The results indicate that the three employed
methods in this study addressed slightly different
aspects of spatial patterns, but did not describe the
123
GeoJournal
industrial cluster with positive spatial autocorrelation at a
statistically significant 0.05 level
interactions with other neighborhood effects. Thus, the
results presented should be viewed as partial, and any
explanations need more robust statistical analysis to
account for regional policy making. Because of this
issue, a combination of spatial statistical methods
should be used, and any single method should not be
relied on. Further research should include a spatial
weighting factor to account for variation, including a
set of additional variables consisting of elevation,
topographic slope, capital, and labor qualities should
be included in future analysis.
Conclusion
In the competitive business arena with complicated
regional planning, policymakers require techniques
that could assist with policy formulation. There has
been an increasing interest among academics, stake-
holders, planners, and entrepreneurs for the use of
GeoJournal
geostatistical analysis techniques to decide improved
regional policy development, strategic decision-mak-
ing and business site management. This study exploits
the GIS techniques to analyzing the spatial pattern and
location of industries in Keraniganj. Results from the
employed methods in this study adequately docu-
mented the pattern and process of industries develop-
ment in the region with slightly different aspects.
However, the general trend is that all industries in the
study area are clustered more than those expected with
random patterns. As a result, the null hypothesis
‘‘Industries are Complete Random Spatial patterns
(CSR)’’ is rejected. Similar to other parts of Bangla-
desh, the industries in the study area found small and
medium sizes producing mainly consumers goods for
the local market. Entrepreneurs and laborers have less
formal education, and most manufacturing sectors
have grown up using local technologies without
following any environmental laws. As a result, various
garments factories and traders are occupying ecolog-
ically sensitive wetlands, rivers, and canals in the
study area. In addition, industrial waste from factories
are dumped and discharged to canals, resulting in
increasing pollution and ecological threats to the
surrounding environment. The study area Keranin-
ganj, however, has abundant potential to set up
planned industries due to labor, land and transporta-
tion, as well as proximity to the larger Dhaka
Metropolitan Area. Concerned authorities should take
appropriate measures to support local economic
growth, equipped with environmentally-friendly pol-
icy instruments, improving infrastructure, and other
associated facilities. With careful planning, industrial
development can help bring about poverty alleviation,
create further employment opportunities, improve
living standards, and achieve an overall prosperous
economy.
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