Mapping initially started while I was in Birmingham, AL. I acquired satellite images of Dhaka City from Digital Globe that I used to create vectorized (lines, shapes/polygons and points) data of some roads. In fact, I believe any mapping must start from some geo-rectified (geographically correct) base in order to create digitally sound maps. Modern technology provides high-resolution geo-rectified satellite images (thanks to Digital Globe, NASA and NAVTEQ and others) that have tremendously improved the way we can capture geo-referenced information and process them for wider audience.
So far we have been able to capture major arteries and parts of Dhaka. Also, my helping hand was Donald Katz a Fulbright exchange student from North Carolina State University, who took GPS handheld in exploring the city areas. From this picture you will get an idea of how much area we have covered. Some roads are outside of our satellite shot which is in the outskirts of Dhaka metro-area. My students are yet to get the GPS since they are busy learning about information management and GIS in general. Their project starts next week after their mid-term exam. I have used this base map with my Trimble ProXT GPS and Handheld GPS (Trimble Recon) device to capture the data.