Unhealthy, uneven urbanisation

Bangladesh is experiencing an unbalanced regional urbanisation with its western cities and towns witnessing low or minus growth in contrast to those in the eastern part, including Dhaka city, says a study by the United Nations Population Fund.

The population of Khulna city declined by 11 percent and Pabna town by 10 percent between 2001 and 2011, according to the study “Urbanisation and Migration in Bangladesh” released yesterday.

“Overall, in the eastern part of the country, 34 percent of the population lives in urban areas, compared with 17 percent in the western areas,” mentions the study based on the 2011 Census.

The eastern and western regions are divided by the Jamuna, the Padma and the Meghna rivers.

Experts say urbanisation is a development phenomenon, and it can have negative impacts on economy and environment for lack of proper planning.

The filling up of lowlands in the capital and its peripheries would make it very difficult for the authorities to keep the city's environment clean and run the water supply and drainage systems properly, said AQM Mahbub, an author of the study.

The study was presented at a programme organised by the UNFPA at the Planning Commission auditorium in the capital. 

According to the study, the population of Dhaka city rose by 46 percent between 2001 and 2011, while that of other eastern cities and towns such as Sylhet, Cox's Bazar, Gazipur, Savar, Chandpur, Noakhali and Feni grew between 57 and 331 percent.

The growth of urban population in regional cities and towns such as Rangpur, Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Sirajganj, Satkhira, Jhenidah, Jessore and Kushtia grew between 4.5 and 29 percent.  However, only Bogra in the western region saw rise of urban population by 91 percent.

“A key factor in slow urban growth in the western region is the poor socio-economic condition of the hinterland of its urban centres. The region also has poor transportation connectivity with the more dynamic eastern part of the country,” it says.

Dhaka city consists of only one percent (1371 square km) of the country's land but it has more than 10 percent of the total population, said Prof Gavin Jones, co-author of the study.

The study found that Bangladesh's urbanisation is heavily focused on Dhaka city having a population of 16.2 million. The second largest urban centre -- Chittagong city -- has a population of 3.2 million, while Khulna city, the third largest urban centre, has a population of only one million, he said.

On the other hand, Pakistan has nine major cities with Karachi having a population of 22.8 million. Karachi is followed by Lahore with a population of 10.4 million, Faisalabad with 3.7 million and Rawalpindi with 2.6 million, said Gavin Jones, professor of the Australian National University.

AQM Mahbub, professor of geography and environment at Dhaka University, said minus growth of urban population in Khulna might have been caused by closure of major industrial units, including jute mills, more than a decade ago.

Northern cities and towns, except for Bogra, have not seen establishment of that many industrial units and related urban facilities, he said.

Besides, construction of the Bangabandhu Bridge over the Jamuna resulted in a large-scale migration to Dhaka from the north and north-western region.

Dhaka has become the ultimate urban centre for people from across the country, and some 40 percent of GDP is generated from here. But this large-scale migration has created huge problems for the city's water and drainage systems and its environment, mentioned Mahbub.

The study says, “Such economies may fail to materialise when supplies of electricity and water are unreliable, and when the urban transport system is poorly managed, congested and chaotic, as it is in Dhaka.”

Mahbub said part of the problem is weak city governance, as there are many organisations that lack coordination among them.

Nurul Islam Nazem, professor of geography and environment at the DU, said, “Over the last 50 years, Dhaka has been growing without any planning. How can we expect it to be a liveable city?”

He suggested that the government purchase lowlands around the capital to protect those.

The study recommended developing secondary towns, creating employment facilities and quality health and education facilities outside Dhaka, developing commuter train or other transport systems connecting Dhaka city to rural areas, and empowering local governments.

Argentina Matavel Piccin, UNFPA representative in Bangladesh, said that as the Sustainable Development Goals now have a motto of inclusive development, the study would help understand the status of population and help authorities plan accordingly.

Shamsul Alam, member of General Economics Division (GED) of the Planning Commission, Naquib bin Mahbub, chief of the GED, and Abdusattor Esoev, senior programme manager of International Organisation for Migration in Bangladesh, also spoke.