Dhaka surges to second-largest city amid growing urban crisis

Muhammad Ayub Ali :

Dhaka’s surging population is steadily undermining the city’s livability, with overcrowding, environmental pollution, and mounting pressure on public services worsening the situation.
Experts said that unplanned settlements and high population density have contaminated water and soil, while insufficient infrastructure creates obstacles for essential citizen services.

Urban planners note that roughly five lakh people migrate to Dhaka each year in search of better employment opportunities. Many others are forced into the city as climate refugees from coastal and other remote areas affected by floods, river erosion, and other environmental pressures.
Experts stress that unless this massive population influx is transformed into a productive public asset, a crisis is inevitable.

A recent United Nations report confirms Dhaka’s staggering growth. According to the UN’s World Urbanization Prospects 2025, Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, is now the world’s largest city, with 41.9 million residents.

Dhaka, however, has emerged as the second-largest city, housing 30.6million people, while Tokyo previously the world’s most populous metropolis has remained relatively stable at 33.4 million and slipped to third place. Dhaka has jumped from ninth to second and is projected to become the world’s largest city by 2050.

The report highlights Asia’s dominance in global urban expansion, with nine of the top ten megacities located on the continent. In addition to Jakarta, Dhaka, and Tokyo, the list includes New Delhi (30.2m), Shanghai (29.6m), Guangzhou (27.6m), Manila (24.7m), Kolkata (22.5m), and Seoul (22.5m). Cairo, with 32 million residents, is the only non-Asian city in the top tier.

Dhaka’s rapid growth has been fueled by both economic migration and climate-induced displacement, while Jakarta faces similar climate-related threats, including rising sea levels that could submerge a quarter of the city by 2050. Despite Indonesia’s ongoing construction of a new capital, Nusantara, Jakarta’s population is expected to keep rising, potentially adding another 10 million residents by mid-century.

The report also notes broader challenges associated with megacities. Globally, the number of cities with populations above 10 million has surged to 33, compared with just eight in 1975. Rapid urbanization has heightened concerns over inequality, affordability, and growing public dissatisfaction.

Severe water shortages in Tehran, where authorities have introduced rationing for its nine million residents, underscore the global scale of urban management challenges.

Dr Adil Mohammed Khan, professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Jahangirnagar University, said Dhaka’s viability has suffered due to inadequate planning and weak implementation of development initiatives.

“Although some plans have been proposed, poor execution and self-serving interests have undermined their effectiveness,” he said.

“At present, Dhaka’s population exceeds the city’s ideal capacity by more than fourfold, putting immense pressure on resources and infrastructure.”

The UN’s latest assessment also adopts a new global definition of cities, identifying them as contiguous areas with at least 1,500 people per square kilometre and a minimum population of 50,000, providing a standardized framework to monitor urban growth worldwide.

Without effective planning and investment, Dhaka’s explosive growth threatens to escalate into a full-scale urban crisis in the decades ahead.