Unplanned urbanisation in Bangladesh is likely to pose a challenge to the nation’s goal of becoming a developed country by 2041. According to a data presented at a seminar of the Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP), 38 per cent of the country’s total population currently lives in cities. It was 28 per cent in 2011. If this trend continues, 58 per cent of population will be living in cities by 2050.
Thus, the consequences of urbanisation in the current pattern heavily centered on the capital city and without any strategic vision are not encouraging signs. This is also evident in the poor living condition of the city dwellers. Indeed, urbanisation in the country has proceeded haphazardly. There were little efforts for decentralisation of administration and establishment of an accountable city governance systems.
Unemployment is shown as the main reason behind the influx of people to cities. There is hardly much employment opportunities in the villages other than agriculture and so people flock to the cities. Natural disasters, river bank erosion and some other reasons also contribute to this. But the issue of whether the cities can meet the minimum needs of these people has always been neglected. And good initiatives like the Detailed Area Plan (DAP) are not being implemented. The interests of vested quarters are being protected in the name of the amendment of plans.
It is possible to determine in advance how many residential buildings, commercial buildings, office buildings, roads, water bodies, and playgrounds a city will have in proportion to its population. Urban infrastructure is built accordingly. A mega plan for Dhaka was taken up during the Pakistan period. Various governments also took up piecemeal plans after independence, but those were never implemented completely. As a result, ideal urban and suburban townships have turned into concrete jungles.
We hope that the government will take sustainable measures to erase the bad reputation of Dhaka as a “non-livable city” by taking various development initiatives into consideration. The tendency to centralise everything must be stopped for proper and smooth urbanisation.
