Pro-poorness of planning policies in Bangladesh: the case of Khulna city

Abstract

Many governments in the global South are looking for new ways to safeguard the interests of the poor in urban areas and to tackle inequality. The neo-liberal development ideologies however adversely affected the interests of the urban poor. In cities of the fast urbanising South where the residents are predominately poor, it is of vital concern that planning plays an effective role to combat poverty. Within the context of a high concentration of the poor, this study investigates, through the case of Khulna city, the current planning challenges faced by Bangladeshi cities in engaging the poor to produce pro-poor urban plans. Findings reveal that participation of the poor is negligible in both problem identification and the decision making process which results in policies that fail to address the current poverty issues faced by the poor. In spite of firm central policy guidelines for participatory planning, the communication gap between the planning authority and the poor results in the dominance of a rational comprehensive 2 approach in practice. A lack of awareness and education among the poor, and the nonexistence of statutory laws regarding participation remain the main obstacles for propoor participation. Furthermore, a lack of a strong pro-active role for city authorities and urban planners in engaging the poor in decision-making hinders the path of propoor planning in Bangladesh.

Slow, small and shared voluntary relocations: Learning from the experience of migrants living on the urban fringes of Khulna, Bangladesh

“…Sowgat et al . () identified this absence of inclusiveness due to the illegal status of these informal settlers, leading to a lack of institutional channels for city managers to formalise or incentivise their presence.…”

Rank-size Distribution of Cities and Municipalities in Bangladesh

“…This uncontrolled and unrestricted expansion can be attributed to the lack of-or, at times, selective-enforcement of policies, inefficient allocation and distribution of resources, along with an inadequate urban planning strategy, which has largely stemmed from a lack of good governance [1]. There is a distinct need for equitable for physical infrastructure [120] and a targeted pro-poor strategy within the context of urbanization and urban development [121], to promote a current and future sustainable urban development that is in balance with the environment [120].…”

Urban citizenship in the global south: Critical reflections on the tactics and counter‐tactics of the urban poor

“…It is well established in the literature that rural migrants lack legal (civic) status (Bhan, 2016) due to their often-undocumented status and predominantly a lack of entitlement to urban lands, which force them to enter into precarious patron-client relations with urban elites to secure living (see Alam et al, 2020aAlam et al, , 2020b. Due to their seemingly illegal and often non-sedentary tenure in the city, state institutions often shy away from providing urban services (Sowgat et al, 2016). The migrants' 'state of exception' (Roy, 2005) has a flow-on effect on their settlements and sense of belonging in the city.…”