Just Sustainability in the Global South: A Case Study of the Megacity of Dhaka

Abstract

Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, accommodates 18 million people and is one of the largest megacities in the world. A large share of its population is poor and lives in informal settlements which can be called slums. In addition to precarious and unhealthy living conditions, these slum dwellers lack formal land tenure rights and therefore are subject to government-supported evictions. Slum evictions due to various urban development pressures may bring short-term benefits to the urban real estate market but have adverse long-term effects on sustainability and livelihoods of the city’s poor residents. Using the conceptual lens of just sustainability (JS)—which facilitates an investigation of the normative and practical challenges of sustainability and environmental justice—the authors argue that urban development in Dhaka needs to ensure social justice and sustainability. While the geographic focus of this article is Dhaka, this study has direct relevance—in terms of policy and planning implications—for other cities in the Global South.

The Political Potential of Urban Informality in the Global North: A Rancièrian Perspective

“…Current imaginations of cities in the Global South as informal, deregulated, and mainly poor serve to set apart these cities from the more formalized, controled, and wealthier cities of the Global North. While these representations have generated a wealth of valuable information (see, for instance, Ahmed & Meenar, 2018; Milgram, 2011), urban scholars have demonstrated how cities of the South have been muted in terms of their own self-representation and have come to be known through foreign imaginations. The most dominant imagination of these cities suggests they are riddled with poverty, danger, exponential population growth, and general decline (Roy, 2011).…”

Global South Urbanisms and Urban Sustainability—Challenges and the Way Forward

“…The question of "sustainability for whom" is critical because many cities in the Global South use "slum clearance" as an urban development measure (Weinstein, 2014;Ahmed and Meener, 2018;UN-Habitat, 2020). Thus, it is essential for urban authorities and policymakers to adopt and apply the concept of just sustainability, to maintain a proper balance between urban development and the rights of slum-dwellers.…”

“…Thus, it is essential for urban authorities and policymakers to adopt and apply the concept of just sustainability, to maintain a proper balance between urban development and the rights of slum-dwellers. This concept prioritizes justice and equality without disregarding the importance of the environment or the surrounding ecological systems (Ahmed and Meener, 2018). The question then becomes: how can we achieve just sustainability in the Global South, where urban poverty, inequality, and marginalization have become the common outcomes of the urbanization process?…”

Responding to Social Disruptions and Urban Complexities in Post-Pandemic Dhaka Using Resilience Framework: Implications for Low-Income Urban Populations

“…Most of the planning and development interventions have been aimed at increasing economic growth. However, those interventions categorically overlook systemic social, economic, and spatial inequalities (Ahmed & Meenar, 2018); concepts of social justice and inclusive development have often been underprioritized. The needs and voices of low-income marginalized people have not been reflected in the decisionmaking process (Ahamad, 2020).…”