Urban Poverty in Bangladesh: Trends, Determinants, and Policy Issues

The cities of Bangladesh face an overwhelming problem of population growth and extreme poverty. Urban poverty in Bangladesh, however, must be viewed within the context of a predominantly agrarian economy characterized by extreme conditions of generally low living standards, low productivity and widespread unemployment. The country is still mainly rural, with only about 15 per cent of the population living in urban areas. The urban population is estimated to have grown at around 6 per cent annually over the last three decades, compared with the national population growth rate of 2.5 per cent per annum in the 1960s, 2.7 per cent in the 1970s and about 2 per cent in the 1980s. The urban population is expected to increase rapidly because of continued rural-to-urban migration and the territorial extension of existing urban areas. In physical terms, the growth of the cities is taking place both in the densely built-up core areas and in peripheral areas. In the latest population census of 1991, the population of the capital city, Dhaka, was estimated to be about 3.6 million; but the greater Dhaka area including the adjacent urban settlements accounted for more than 6 million of the country’s total population of about 110 million. With increasing urbanization especially centered around bigger cities, the problem of providing employment, shelter and basic services to the urban population has become an important policy concern…