Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, is currently the 11th largest urban agglomeration in the World. It is the main seat of trade, commerce, higher education, health facilities and employment. Consequently, it has had to absorb massive local migration, resulting in stress on residential and infrastructure services. As housing cannot keep pace with the population increase, the problems of shortage of accommodation and growth of squatter and slum settlements are acute. Thus there is an increasing need of utilizing lands more efficiently with appropriate housing type. Residential lands of Dhaka city are mostly occupied by the middle income group. The major problem for middle class housing is accessible and affordable land. Land for housing is in extremely short in supply. As a result, marginal lands can be developed at great cost. It is the necessity to consider the affordability issue of the urban majority to accommodate them within the city. The current trends of low density high rise apartment contribute less to solve the huge housing lack. This research study aims to validate the feasibility of high density walkup apartments in Dhaka. It urges with the principle that unless the general economy, technological state, affordability and life style of vast majority of the urban population are considered, high rise housing will not be a responsive housing scheme. The city dwellers of middle income group are considered for affordability analysis as the demand of housing concerns mostly the middle income group. It emphasized affordability by examining the issues from the viewpoint of living space, floor area ratio, height, density and cost. The rise in construction cost with the building height is prominent where construction is labor-intensive. The inclusion of the costs of developed land, render high rise housing solutions inaccessible even for households well above the median income. These figures prove that high-density walkup apartments are the feasible and sustainable alternative in Dhaka city.