UNB, Dhaka :
Some 69 percent of the country’s urban population are concentrated in its eastern part comprising three
divisions-Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet which shows a regionally imbalanced urbanisation, according to a study.
Cities and towns in the western part comprising four divisions- Barisal, Khulna, Rajshahi and Rangpur-are not only smaller but also growing more slowly than those in the eastern part, said the study commissioned by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) based on the 2011 population census.
The findings of the study titled ‘Urbanisation and Migration in Bangladesh’ were disseminated at an event jointly arranged by UNFPA and General Economic Division (GED) of the Planning Commission at the NEC conference room on Wednesday. Australian university Professor Gavin Jones and Dhaka University’s Geography Professor AQM Mahbub jointly presented the report. According to the report, 34 percent of the population of the eastern part live in urban areas, compared to 17 percent in the western part.
Compared to the western region, the eastern part is much better having certain vital urban facilities such as natural gas, electricity, transport,
credit and markets, it said. Among the country’s four largest metropolitan areas, Khulna and Rajshahi may actually have lost population over the decade between 2001 and 2011, the report added. The proportion of the population living in urban areas was only 9 percent in 1974, which stood at 28 percent in 2011. Bangladesh’s population is projected to increase by some 39-53 million over the next 30 years till 2046, the report said.
Some 69 percent of the country’s urban population are concentrated in its eastern part comprising three
divisions-Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet which shows a regionally imbalanced urbanisation, according to a study.
Cities and towns in the western part comprising four divisions- Barisal, Khulna, Rajshahi and Rangpur-are not only smaller but also growing more slowly than those in the eastern part, said the study commissioned by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) based on the 2011 population census.
The findings of the study titled ‘Urbanisation and Migration in Bangladesh’ were disseminated at an event jointly arranged by UNFPA and General Economic Division (GED) of the Planning Commission at the NEC conference room on Wednesday. Australian university Professor Gavin Jones and Dhaka University’s Geography Professor AQM Mahbub jointly presented the report. According to the report, 34 percent of the population of the eastern part live in urban areas, compared to 17 percent in the western part.
Compared to the western region, the eastern part is much better having certain vital urban facilities such as natural gas, electricity, transport,
credit and markets, it said. Among the country’s four largest metropolitan areas, Khulna and Rajshahi may actually have lost population over the decade between 2001 and 2011, the report added. The proportion of the population living in urban areas was only 9 percent in 1974, which stood at 28 percent in 2011. Bangladesh’s population is projected to increase by some 39-53 million over the next 30 years till 2046, the report said.
