The costs of urbanization
Sunday, 1 July 2007
Two reports released late last week highlighted the problem of fast urbanization in Bangladesh, one of the world's most densely populated countries. While releasing the State of the World Population 2007, the representative of the United Nations Population Fund in Dhaka said about 27 per cent of the total population of Bangladesh live in urban areas and urban population growth rate is projected to be 3.5 per cent up to 2010. He laid particular emphasis on the formulation of proper policy guidelines for land use in urban areas. Another survey report prepared by the World Bank (WB) said with the current pace of growth, the population of Dhaka would be 20 million by 2020. The WB report estimated that 0.3 to 0.4 million people enter the Dhaka city every year in search of employment opportunities. Both the reports mentioned the problems associated with fast urbanization, particularly growth of slums and the absence of basic urban facilities for the poor living in slums.
Actually, the problems being encountered by Dhaka are very much related to the fast pace of urbanization, a phenomenon very much common in most poor developing countries in Asia. But the fact remains that Dhaka is finding it hard to cope with its bulging population. As a result, a large part of its population is being forced to take shelter in slums that do not have basic civic amenities. Besides, the poor residents of these slums are very often subjected to eviction and harassment by various government agencies and law enforcers.
Most Dhakaites are finding the city of Dhaka uninhabitable because of its multifarious problems, including power and water crisis, poor drainage system, traffic congestion and high cost of living. What would then be the situation if its population is doubled by 2020? The city has expanded like anything in recent years and real estate builders are now filling up water bodies in and around the city endangering its drainage system. Already roads and pavements of Dhaka city remain crammed with people during busy hours. One can imagine the situation if the population of the city is doubled with physical facilities remaining the same or growing at a slow pace.
The ongoing process of urbanization is inevitable if seen in the context of population growth and consequent unemployment problem. But at what costs? Researchers have warned that there would be no land left to grow rice or other crops after 50 years if the current pace of urbanization goes on unabated. In that case, the country would be totally dependent on imported food items. It is hard to believe that a population four times bigger than that of today would be able to feed itself depending entirely on imports. But none is apparently taking the warning into cognizance and doing the needful to create employment opportunities in the rural areas to stop migration of the rural poor to the urban centres. The process of incessant migration of these people forces the urban centres to expand at the cost of valuable agricultural lands. However, it is expected of the government to address the problems of today and plan for the future. In doing so, the administration needs to improve physical facilities and try to reach the civic amenities to the poor slum dwellers in Dhaka city, side by side with sincere efforts to do something meaningful so that the rural poor do not have to leave their home and hearth in search of employment and land in urban slums.
Actually, the problems being encountered by Dhaka are very much related to the fast pace of urbanization, a phenomenon very much common in most poor developing countries in Asia. But the fact remains that Dhaka is finding it hard to cope with its bulging population. As a result, a large part of its population is being forced to take shelter in slums that do not have basic civic amenities. Besides, the poor residents of these slums are very often subjected to eviction and harassment by various government agencies and law enforcers.
Most Dhakaites are finding the city of Dhaka uninhabitable because of its multifarious problems, including power and water crisis, poor drainage system, traffic congestion and high cost of living. What would then be the situation if its population is doubled by 2020? The city has expanded like anything in recent years and real estate builders are now filling up water bodies in and around the city endangering its drainage system. Already roads and pavements of Dhaka city remain crammed with people during busy hours. One can imagine the situation if the population of the city is doubled with physical facilities remaining the same or growing at a slow pace.
The ongoing process of urbanization is inevitable if seen in the context of population growth and consequent unemployment problem. But at what costs? Researchers have warned that there would be no land left to grow rice or other crops after 50 years if the current pace of urbanization goes on unabated. In that case, the country would be totally dependent on imported food items. It is hard to believe that a population four times bigger than that of today would be able to feed itself depending entirely on imports. But none is apparently taking the warning into cognizance and doing the needful to create employment opportunities in the rural areas to stop migration of the rural poor to the urban centres. The process of incessant migration of these people forces the urban centres to expand at the cost of valuable agricultural lands. However, it is expected of the government to address the problems of today and plan for the future. In doing so, the administration needs to improve physical facilities and try to reach the civic amenities to the poor slum dwellers in Dhaka city, side by side with sincere efforts to do something meaningful so that the rural poor do not have to leave their home and hearth in search of employment and land in urban slums.