Speakers at a programme on Thursday said the process of urbanisation in Bangladesh has been going on without planning in the first place, making its sustainability vulnerable.
They also noted that the city corporations and the municipalities act as both regulator and service provider, which should not be the case. The service provider's role is to deliver services and the regulator's role is to ensure quality of services.
Their views came at the seventh plenary session on 'Improving Urban Service Delivery for Sustainable Development' on the second day of the two-day Bangladesh Development Forum (BDF) 2018 at a city hotel.
The session was chaired by Bangladesh Investment and Development Authority (BIDA) Executive Chairman Kazi Aminul Islam.
"Urbanisation is going on for infrastructure only, for which the government allocates money to the municipalities or the city corporations. Then they plan and invest the money. But planning should come first, and it should be long-term," said UN Habitat Programme Manager and Representative in Bangladesh Md Akhteruzzaman.
He said the city corporations or the municipalities act as service providers. There is no one to look into the quality of services.
As a result, after investment, it works for a few months, as nobody owns these services. That's why they collapse. There is a big question of sustainability.
"In this context ensuring sustainability is difficult unless we clearly understand the role of a regulator. The city corporations should play the role of regulator only, and then they can ensure quality of services."
Sustainability cannot be ensured by the government only, unless the city corporations play their role of regulator and citizens who are the beneficiaries of the services are not included in the planning process, he added.
Centre for Urban Studies (CUS) Chairman Prof Nazrul Islam said quality of urbanisation and services should be raised, as the role of urban sector is extremely important.
Urban sector contribution is over 65 per cent in the GDP. In Thailand it is 75 percent. Bangladesh will be 50 percent urbanised by 2045 or even 2041, he added.
"Transport system is an important aspect of urban service. But we have not been able to identify the right kind of transportation system. In Dhaka we are in a total mess while moving from one place to another. But congestion is not limited to Dhaka only."
Referring to flyover construction, he said it is a wrong approach to solve congestion. Flyover is not the solution, but management of transports is the solution. Future transportation will depend on mass transport and not on motorised vehicles.
He emphasised increased coordination among the agencies concerned as well as establishing good governance to ensure urban service delivery.
A S M Mahbub Alam, Director General of MIE under Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, presented the keynote paper.
He said 30 percent people of Bangladesh now live in urban areas, which will be 50 percent by 2050.
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