Home ›› 03 Dec 2021 ›› Front
With the digital evolution transpiring, urbanisation is also taking place at the same rate while a cross-section of rural diaspora is still moving to the new settlements for employment, better life and opportunities.
The tendency got underway since the country achieved independence in 1971, and is still in practice.
The rush to the cities for better pay is hard to restrain while the consequences are easy to realise – more crowd, more gridlock and a compromised living.
Statistics says over 39 per cent of total population in Bangladesh is living in urban areas, which was only 7.59 per cent during the Liberation War in 1971.
According to the urban planners and researchers, citification started soon after independence when people migrated from villages to cities in search of livelihoods, and that gathered pace in the 90s when the country was clawing its way into industrialisation centring the capital.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics identified a total of 570 urban centres including 12 cities and 332 municipalities.
The urban areas cover only 7 per cent of the entire country but became home to 39.2 per cent people who contribute 60 per cent of the total GDP, which was less than 10 per cent in the post-liberation period.
In an account of the World Bank, in 1970, the number of urban denizens was 4.87 million making up 7.59 per cent of total population.
As the birth rate began to increase, so was the rate of transfer of people from villages to cities.
The urban population rose up by a whopping 11.82 million in 1980 and 20.43 million in 1990.
It shot up to 30.11 million in 2000, 44.95 million in 2010 and 62.87 million in 2020, as per the WB data. Among the population, nearly half live in the capital.
Studies suggest that half the total population of the country will end up in urban living by 2040.
Sharing his view with The Business Post, Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB) president Mubasshar Hussain said there was no building in the capital above six stories during independence but now sky is the limit, thanks to freedom, which is also adding to rapid urbanisation.
“Independence is the highest achievement for any nation, so is it for Bangladesh which has opened the door of our dream – dream to excel in our ambition and come out of the common periphery of rural life,” he went on to say.
Moving towards the cities prior to independence was somewhat disinclination on the part of the internal migrants while it was welcoming after the country was liberated from the clutch of the West Pakistan.
Centre for Urban Studies (CUS) Chairman and urbanisation specialist Prof Nazrul Islam viewed that before 1971 population growth in urban areas was between 2.5 and 3 per cent that became on average 8 per cent after the war.
“Mainly livelihood drew most people to urban life,” he observed.
According to Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkho officials, now there are six buildings above 30 stories including the highest City Centre which is 37 stories built in the capital’s Motijheel in independent Bangladesh.
Rural economy took a dip following the liberation war which compelled many to leave their villages for livelihoods, they recalled.
Immediately after the Liberation War Dhaka and the port city Chattogram became the heartlands for urbanity. Most of the poor who were mainly agricultural workers turned to city areas causing a paradigm shift to their professions.
In order to accommodate a huge number of internal migrants, the governments took up many plans but all of them ended up in smoke because of implementation gap which continues till today.
Experts suggest that if the government can ensure a balanced development in all urban areas including suburbs and exurbs, people might reap benefits of urban revolution which is a must in a contemporary society.
Bangladesh Institute of Planners president Prof Akter Mahmud of Jahangirnagar University told The Business Post till the British period Dhaka spread from Sadarghat to Farmgate which was not even that much extended during Pakistan period but after the liberation extension got a spike.
After 1980s, citification stretched across the outskirts of the capital for industrial growth which was ballooning between 1990 and 2010.
The academician pointed out that if the government can ensure urban facilities in rural areas, the country will witness brilliant progress.
The urban planner argued that people suffer acutely for want of infrastructure facilities as roads, schools, hospitals and open spaces remain undeveloped which are necessary for sustainable development.
“A national plan for development comprising villages and urban areas is a must for a comfortable life in Bangladesh,” he said, adding that if it is done, people’s rush towards cities could be restrained.
In papers Dhaka, the central urban areas and capital, came under different plans at different times but none of them got implemented which is the main cause of public sufferings.
