Urban policy must move from paper to action
Bangladesh needs coordinated action across government and society to turn the National Urban Policy 2025 into more liveable, inclusive and climate-resilient cities, speakers said on Thursday.
They made the call at a national dissemination workshop on the National Urban Policy 2025, jointly organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Local Government Division (LGD), with support from the UK Government, at BCFCC in Dhaka.
With more than one-third of Bangladesh’s population now living in urban areas and cities contributing nearly 65 percent of GDP, speakers stressed that effective implementation of the new policy is critical to the country’s future development.
The workshop brought together representatives from government ministries and agencies, local government institutions, development partners, academia, research organisations and the wider urban development community. The government has approved the country’s first National Urban Policy 2025 as a national framework for more planned, inclusive, sustainable and climate-resilient urban development.
Md Mahmud Ali, Director (Additional Secretary) of the Urban Development Directorate, said urban development could not be handled by a single ministry.
He called for coordination across sectors involving ministries, public and private institutions, development authorities, academia, professionals and urban residents.
Md Samsul Islam, Joint Secretary of the Local Government Division, said the immediate priority was to move from policy formulation to implementation.
“We want the National Urban Policy 2025 to go beyond being a policy document and become an effective tool for real change in urban planning, management, infrastructure development and service delivery,” he said.
Tanvir Mahmud, Senior Governance Specialist at UNDP Bangladesh, said the policy’s ultimate impact would depend on how effectively it was implemented at the local level.
“The real success of the National Urban Policy will depend on how effectively it is applied in our cities. National policy directions need to connect with local realities, local capacities and local priorities,” he said.
He said government ownership should remain at the centre of implementation, while development partners could support the process through technical knowledge, evidence, innovation, capacity development and partnerships.
The National Urban Policy 2025 was developed under the leadership of the Local Government Division, with contributions from an Inter-Ministerial Committee and relevant government institutions.
These included the Public Works Department, Ministry of Planning and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
UNDP provided technical support with support from the UK government.
Earlier, Professor Dr Shakil Akther of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology presented the National Urban Policy 2025.
An open discussion on its implementation followed the presentation.
Nathaniel Smith, Team Leader, Climate and Environment, British High Commission; Amit Datta Roy, Urban Specialist, Asian Development Bank; Dr Fawzia Farzana, Professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Khulna University; and Yugesh Pradhanang, UNDP, also spoke at the workshop.
