Sylhet world’s 5th most densely populated city

Sylhet has joined Dhaka to rank among the most densely populated cities in the world this year in the 17th annual edition of “Demographia World Urban Areas” released in June.

Bangladesh’s overcrowded capital city has featured regularly in the list over the last decade. But Sylhet is a new addition, ranking fifth with 30,116 people living per square kilometre (sqkm). 

For Sylhet, 49 sqkm was considered as built-up urban area when estimated. Built-up area means where the township has already grown and economic activity is going on.

Sylhet-centric development

It is the economic hub of Bangladesh’s northeast region and one of the most affluent cities in the country, thanks to its large diaspora in the United Kingdom.

Ahmed Nur, the editor of Sylhet Mirror, said that the remittance sent by the diaspora contributed to the purchasing capacity of the district’s residents. 

In 2019, Bangladeshi expatriates in the UK remitted $1.41 billion or 7.68 per cent of the total $18.355 billion in remittance that year, according to Bangladesh Bank data.

Apart from Sylhet, there are hardly any facilities built in its neighbouring districts – Moulvibazar, Sunamganj and Habiganj, Nur told The Business Post.

Sylhet city is an educational hub for the region, while the division’s only major healthcare service provider, MAG Osmani Medical College, is also located in the city.

In addition, Sylhet is the only district in the country’s northeast to have an international airport and is the only major Bangladeshi city with direct rail communications with Dhaka and Chattogram, the former Sylhet Press Club president pointed out. 

The district also shares border with India and is the gateway for trade with eastern Indian provinces. The region, blessed with abundant serene natural beauty, has seen a boom in tourism in the last decade, creating jobs for thousands.

Industrialisation factor

According to the pre-feasibility study of Sylhet Economic Zone, Sylhet is the most industrialised district in that region with a share of 50 per cent in small and medium scale industries and 85 per cent in the industries with high asset size (over Tk 100 million). 

Sylhet has heavy industries - power plants, fertiliser plants, cement plants, and liquefied petroleum gas plants. Other significant industries in the northeast region include ceramics, machinery and equipment, ready-made garments and pharmaceuticals.

Recently, electrical and electronics, and IT industry are also picking up in the district with special focus from Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority, the study says. 

Sylhet City Corporation Mayor Ariful Haque Choudhury said that there had been an enormous rise in population in the last decade.

He said that commercial banks and insurance branches in the city had increased rapidly, indicating that they are investing in different businesses and industries and creating employment.

“Employment increased in tourism hotel, motel and restaurant as Sylhet is becoming a popular tourist destination,” he told The Business Post.

“Road and transportation system have improved. And many high-rises were constructed in recent years. All these together contributed to population density.”

Other densely-populated cities

In 2012, Chattogram ranked fourth when more than 26,000 people lived per sqkm. This year, the port city ranked 13th with 23,370 people per sqkm.

For Chattogram,192 sqkm was considered as built-up urban area when estimated. With 17,053 people per sqkm, Rajshahi ranked 36th on the global list. Thirty-one sqkm of Rajshahi is considered as built-up urban area.  

With a density of 36,941 people per sqkm, Dhaka remained the most densely populated city on earth.

According to the 17th annual edition of “Demographia World Urban Areas”, 33 of the 50 most densely-populated cities are in South Asia, home to one-quarter of the world’s population.

Dhaka ranked top among 985 built-up urban areas with 5,00,000 or more population each, comprised of a total population of 2.27 billion – 51.4 per cent of the world’s urban population in 2021.

The ranking estimates the current year population from the base year population, adjusted by population projections made by United Nations or by national statistics authorities and satellite images.

Why is Dhaka so crowded?

People are moving to Dhaka every day to explore economic opportunities. Government estimates say around 1,400 people are being added to the population of Dhaka every day, with the current population at approximately 17 million. 

The rise in density is 9 per cent up from a year ago. Last year, 33,878 people were living per sqkm in Dhaka. However, Narayanganj was included in Dhaka when estimated, as 556 sqkm built-up urban area was taken for the estimation this year by the reporting authority – three sqkm more than the previous year.

Dhaka’s nearest competitor, Moradabad of India, has a population density of 34,151, while Kinshasa has 32,295. With 31,109 people per sqkm, Indian city Saharanpur ranked fourth.

According to a research of Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit of the University of Dhaka, the destinations of 80 per cent of internal migrants are Dhaka and Chattogram. 

A recent survey by New York-based Mercer identified Dhaka as the most expensive city for foreigners in terms of living expenses among 209 cities. It is costlier than Washington DC and Dubai.

Nayon Mollah, a rickshaw puller in Dhaka’s Mirpur, is one of the many thousands who migrated here looking for work. “There is no agricultural work in my locality in Shyamnagar, a coastal upazila of Satkhira, due to high salinity. And, there aren’t enough industries to get employed. So, I came to Dhaka,” he told The Business Post.

He said his daily income is around Tk 500 on average. Life’s hard here, but it is still better than being unemployed. 

Rising population trend to continue

Experts consider the rising trend in Dhaka’s population alarming. Due to the lack of employment facilities in other cities and rural areas, four major cities - Dhaka, Chattogram, Khulna and Sylhet – host most migrants. Decentralisation is a far cry.  

Akter Mahmud, an Urban and Regional Planning professor of Jahangirnagar University, said that built-up urban area is different from administrative area. The administrative area includes bare land and rural settlement.

“Thus, this estimation of the total population of the city and the population per square kilometre is different from any other estimation of urban population as another estimation is done based on the administrative boundary,” he explained. 

“If employment opportunities are not created across the country, the rising trend of population of big cities will continue. So, there is no alternative to decentralising government offices, industries and quality educational institutions,” he added.