Save Dhaka from becoming a virtual city of slums

Not long ago, the United Nations observed that population growth and urbanisation are creating earth a virtual planet of slums.

Their rapid growth with substandard living conditions is especially true for the world’s developing part, especially in countries like Bangladesh.

The rural people are migrating to cities here for a better life but they are, in fact, making themselves vulnerable to unhygienic living conditions, joblessness and various kinds of natural disasters.

According to statistics, the urban population in the developing world is set to double by 2030, and as the slums choking the cities are expanding with increasing numbers of people each week, countries are facing the prospect of having their urban population double its 2000 level.

The growth of Dhaka City is a classic example of this unplanned development.

Not surprisingly, it is often notoriously described as the world’s ‘worst’ livable city with its present population more than 23 millions.

Each day people from the rural areas arrive in this city and the vulnerability of people is increasing more and more.

As a great portion of Dhaka inhabitants do not have durable housing, sufficient living area, secure tenure and access to clean water and sanitation, that is, living in slums, the relevant policy makers must address this serious issue and plan for Dhaka City to grow as a sustainable city.

This phenomenon warrants managing urbanisation as it occurs rather than fixing the problem later when the problem is compounded manifold.

Urbanisation is an inevitable fact and no country can enjoy economic growth without it and if we do not make the right decisions now, the result will simply be chaos. In fact, it is already so.

There is, however, no single model to manage rapid urbanisation but the example of cities like Seoul, Singapore, Istanbul, etc. can offer some valuable guidance.

South Korea, strengthening institutions for valuing and pricing land, has supported high rise residential buildings and multiple transport modes including highways, rail networks and subway lines that help connect people with employment opportunities within and among cities.

Similarly, Singapore and Japan have used public transport as a crucial aspect of land-use plans.

It is interesting to note that the world’s one of the richest countries, Japan, made it difficult to own a car making it costlier and inspired the commuters to use public transport.

Contrarily, everyday new vehicles including private cars are hitting the streets of Dhaka.