Internal migration highest in Bangladesh
Syed Ishtiaque Reza | Wednesday, 11 June 2008
RECENTLY speakers at a workshop said the rate of internal migration, mainly from villages to cities and towns of Bangladesh is one of the highest in South Asia. They attributed the rush of people from the villages to the towns to recent rapid urbanisation.
Urban concentration, metropolitanisation and primacy are the features of contemporary urbanisation across the developing world, the said, adding Bangladesh has been no exception.
According to a study of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) urbanisation in the developing countries was being caused not by industrialisation, but by a growth of tertiary and informal manufacturing sectors. The study found a positive correlation between development and urbanisation in Bangladesh.
Nearly 50 per cent of the national urban population is concentrated in the four metropolitan cities -- Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna and Rajshahi. Dhaka, the largest urban agglomeration of the country, is clearly ahead of other urban centres of the country.
Being the oldest, the largest, located in the centre of Bangladesh Dhaka enjoys a unique position. These factors cause the rush of people to Dhaka. Dhaka being better linked with the rest of the country also attracts more migration.
It attracts people from almost all the 64 districts and most of the 460 upazillas of the country. In addition, Dhaka also attracts thousands of daily commuters and circular migrants from the neighbouring districts. No wonder, Dhaka's population grew rapidly from 1.6 million in 1974 to over 15 million now -- with all the resultant urban problems.
Studies suggest that Bangladesh's consistent rate of urbanisation of over five per cent since 1974 is extremely high. And it reached seven per cent in some years. Migration contributed about 40 per cent to the growth of urban population in Bangladesh during 1974-81.
A CPD (Centre for Policy Dialogue) study identified population pressure, adverse person to land ratio, landlessness, poverty, natural calamities, law and order, and lack of social and cultural opportunities as the dominant push factor for the rural urban migration. On the other hand, job opportunities and higher wages were identified as the dominant pull factors.
The positive impacts of the urban growth due to migration was higher productivity, better income, marriage of higher age, and reduced fertility rates etc. It also benefited people socio-culturally by modernising them through better access to information and democratisation of the society, the study said.
On the other hand, the negative impacts were grouped as environmental consequences, encroachment of productive agricultural land and forests, extreme pressure on housing, growth of slums and the pressure on urban services. Slums income inequality and poverty, ill effects of globalisation.
The negative social consequences, were listed as increased violence, crime, and social degradation.
Entry of alien culture and loss of national cultural identity, were listed as among the cultural consequences.
Criminalisation of politics was listed as the political consequence.
Although aware of the rapid pace of urbanisation in the country and the associated physical, economic and social problems, the government could not yet adopt an explicit urban policy.
The National Habitat Report, submitted to the UN Habitat I conference held in Vancouver, Canada in 1976, recommended the identification of various planning regions and to choose a medium-sized town, in each region, as the focal point of regional growth in order to create spatially balanced urban development.
The experts underscored the need for guiding the progress of the country through a national human settlements policy, which will include policy on urbanisation and urban development.
Urban concentration, metropolitanisation and primacy are the features of contemporary urbanisation across the developing world, the said, adding Bangladesh has been no exception.
According to a study of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) urbanisation in the developing countries was being caused not by industrialisation, but by a growth of tertiary and informal manufacturing sectors. The study found a positive correlation between development and urbanisation in Bangladesh.
Nearly 50 per cent of the national urban population is concentrated in the four metropolitan cities -- Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna and Rajshahi. Dhaka, the largest urban agglomeration of the country, is clearly ahead of other urban centres of the country.
Being the oldest, the largest, located in the centre of Bangladesh Dhaka enjoys a unique position. These factors cause the rush of people to Dhaka. Dhaka being better linked with the rest of the country also attracts more migration.
It attracts people from almost all the 64 districts and most of the 460 upazillas of the country. In addition, Dhaka also attracts thousands of daily commuters and circular migrants from the neighbouring districts. No wonder, Dhaka's population grew rapidly from 1.6 million in 1974 to over 15 million now -- with all the resultant urban problems.
Studies suggest that Bangladesh's consistent rate of urbanisation of over five per cent since 1974 is extremely high. And it reached seven per cent in some years. Migration contributed about 40 per cent to the growth of urban population in Bangladesh during 1974-81.
A CPD (Centre for Policy Dialogue) study identified population pressure, adverse person to land ratio, landlessness, poverty, natural calamities, law and order, and lack of social and cultural opportunities as the dominant push factor for the rural urban migration. On the other hand, job opportunities and higher wages were identified as the dominant pull factors.
The positive impacts of the urban growth due to migration was higher productivity, better income, marriage of higher age, and reduced fertility rates etc. It also benefited people socio-culturally by modernising them through better access to information and democratisation of the society, the study said.
On the other hand, the negative impacts were grouped as environmental consequences, encroachment of productive agricultural land and forests, extreme pressure on housing, growth of slums and the pressure on urban services. Slums income inequality and poverty, ill effects of globalisation.
The negative social consequences, were listed as increased violence, crime, and social degradation.
Entry of alien culture and loss of national cultural identity, were listed as among the cultural consequences.
Criminalisation of politics was listed as the political consequence.
Although aware of the rapid pace of urbanisation in the country and the associated physical, economic and social problems, the government could not yet adopt an explicit urban policy.
The National Habitat Report, submitted to the UN Habitat I conference held in Vancouver, Canada in 1976, recommended the identification of various planning regions and to choose a medium-sized town, in each region, as the focal point of regional growth in order to create spatially balanced urban development.
The experts underscored the need for guiding the progress of the country through a national human settlements policy, which will include policy on urbanisation and urban development.