With the share of agriculture in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) gradually falling, a large number of rural people today crowd urban centres for shelter as well as for livelihood. Bangladesh now has an urban population of about 35 million, or just over 25 per cent of its total population. Moreover, the urban population has been growing very rapidly at over 3.5 per cent annually.
According to a projection, Bangladesh is likely to have an urban population approaching 50 million by 2015.This rapid growth will be due primarily to migration by the rural poor, particularly to large metropolitan areas. On arrival, these poor migrants routinely turn to slums and squatter settlements for shelter. All major urban centres in Bangladesh have slums and squatter settlements, the largest concentrations being in Dhaka, followed by Chittagong, Khulna, and Rajshahi.
While the major thrust of poverty reduction schemes of the government and development agencies like the Grameen Bank (GB) and the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) is on rural areas, some development partners have also focused their attention on urban poverty.
Dhaka is the largest city in the country. It comprises 34 per cent of the overall national urban population and is unrivalled among Bangladeshi cities in terms of its economic, social and political opportunities. Dhaka has been growing very rapidly over the last five decades, particularly due to rural to urban migration and urbanisation.
The visiting regional director of UNDP has acclaimed Bangladesh's success in reducing urban poverty by 13 per cent during the last four years. Urban poverty in seven major cities and towns came down from 42 per cent to 29 per cent during the period, a UNDP report said. Behind such a success is Urban Partnership for Poverty Reduction Project (UPPR) of the UNDP, along with the governments of Bangladesh and the United Kingdom and the UN Habitat. The project aims to lift three million urban poor out of poverty.
The programme's unique feature is that it is participatory. More than 800,000 households have joined roughly 2,500 community development committees, mostly led by women. About 166,000 households are now accessing improved water sources while 143,000 households have new toilets. Over 90 per cent of households report being satisfied with such improvements.
On the other hand, more than 88,000 extremely poor women have been supported to set up their own businesses through small enterprise grants. Furthermore, 376,000 households now participate in savings and credit groups. The UPPR was instrumental in establishing the Bangladesh Urban Forum. This is the only forum where urban sector stakeholders can share their views and shape pro-poor urban policies in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh, through this project, has succeeded in alleviating poverty in the urban communities through community empowerment and capacity building for local government, non-government organisations (NGOs) and community-based bodies. This is being done with direct financial support for community-level basic services and infrastructure, skills training and group businesses. By the project's end, partner communities were healthier and more integrated into the social and economic networks of the urban areas.
Bangladesh is getting urbanised rapidly, yet this growth is not being matched by a corresponding growth in services. While poverty reduction efforts are making some progress and urbanisation rates are slowing down, the sheer number of the rural poor migrating to the cities and towns makes urban poverty an increasingly important issue. It is estimated that about 35 per cent of the population in the six largest cities live in slums, 20 and 23 per cent of whom are poor and extreme poor, respectively.
The strategy to cut down urban poverty needs to be well-thought-out. That is why any project aiming at improving the lot of urban poor needs to incorporate components that are relevant to building their capacity to manage and improve their own way of living. The UNDP project offers precious lessons for other agencies working to alleviate urban poverty in Bangladesh.
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