There are a few lively cities in the world like Dhaka. The hustle and bustle of everyday life do not let the city sleep. Dhaka is a 400-year-old city. However, modern-day Dhaka is a relatively new phenomenon, a mere teenager in the sea of old-grumpy global cities. Dhaka is one of the top ten megacities in the world, with an ever-increasing population. However, the growth of Dhaka is always a topic of high contention. The growth-believers favor rapid but unplanned growth, and the so-called ‘growth-skeptic’ promotes the de-growth of Dhaka as the solution to all problems.
In a 2018 article, the Guardian called Dhaka “a dysfunctional megacity,” an undeniable fact that was true and still is, more or less. The ad hoc urbanization coupled with unplanned waste management and haphazard sewage makes the city unbearable during the monsoon season. Add air and sound pollution to it, and you get the seventh least liveable city in the world. Yet the city keeps growing. And no one can deny that.
Edward Glaeser, a Harvard University economist, believes this trend of ‘poor-country urbanization’ is caused by the proliferation of low-income megacities. To align with his hypothesis, if Dhaka wants to change its track from dysfunctional to functional, it needs to increase the income ratio of its population. Similar to the cases of China, Singapore, or South Korea, whose flight towards megacity was largely in line with their income growth. However, to ensure that Dhaka needs to attract private capital, either by foreign means or through the investment of local conglomerates. Moreover, it needs to create more opportunities for the urban poor through inclusive urbanization. Inclusive urbanization has led to higher economic growth in high-income countries like Japan or South Korea. But both urban inclusivity and capital accumulation will remain a theoretical concept if there is no sufficient public infrastructure to help the urban poor reap the opportunities.
There is a relation between mega development projects and the growth of megacities. They build more opportunities for employment, decrease transportation costs and time, increase connectivity, in short, create altogether an ecosystem that ensures the efficacy of megacities.
Currently, Bangladesh has completed or in the cusp of completing a few mega projects such as Padma Bridge, Dhaka Metrorail, Dhaka elevated expressway, etc. Each of them has a prospect of making Dhaka’s urbanization more inclusive and organized. For instance, Padma Bridge will play a significant role in connecting Dhaka with other suburban and rural areas. This new connectivity will help to transform Dhaka into a hub without creating the excess pressure of internal migration that it otherwise had to face. One of the crucial barriers for Dhaka is its unbearable traffic.
Metrorail is expected to reduce it. Moreover, Metrorail will help to offer the urban poor a more affordable transportation system. It is a big deal in a city like Dhaka, where most of the population is of middle-class background. An increase in transportation will also increase the overall cost of their social rights that they received as private services like education, medical treatment, etc. The Dhaka Elevated Expressway is also hoped to reduce chronic traffic congestion during peak hours. Overall, these three projects hoped to open new opportunities on the one hand and solve the existing dysfunctionality of Dhaka city by building an effective ecosystem on the other. This connectivity will also increase Dhaka’s global visibility. As a result, rapid commodification may occur. Branded shops may become interested in opening new outlets in Dhaka, and multi-national companies may look forward to exclusive investment. In short, Dhaka will eventually become more globalized, more commercial, and more futuristic, and mega-development projects are just the first step toward that.
Author – Nayeema Nusrat Arora
