Bangladeshi cities need to be planned in a more sustainable manner so that the rapidly urbanizing parts of the country have the necessary infrastructure and services to make them good places to live in, said speakers at an international conference yesterday. “Cities are engines of growth. But, rapid, unplanned urbanization prevents them from realizing their full potential,” said Qimiao Fan, country director of the World Bank (WB) for Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal, while addressing the audience at the inaugural session of the international conference on ‘Cities forum—sustainable urban development in Bangladesh’.

Speaker of the parliament, Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, and Dhaka South mayor Sayeed Khokon spoke at the inaugural session, which was chaired by the president of the Municipal Association of Bangladesh, Md Abdul Baten.

Fan said, “To become an upper-middle-income country by its 50th birthday, Bangladesh must manage its urbanization sustainably. As Bangladesh’s long-term development partner, we look forward to working together to improve the livability, competitiveness, and sustainability of cities in Bangladesh.”

The WB organized the conference in partnership with the Municipal Association of Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Institute of Planners, the Institute of Architects Bangladesh, and the Institution of Engineers Bangladesh with financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

The WB country director said, “Today, around 54 million Bangladeshis live in cities and the number will more than double in the next 35 years. Yet, a fifth of urban dwellers live in poverty.”

Dr Chowdhury said most of the cities and municipalities in Bangladesh offer inadequate infrastructure and low levels of urban services. “Bangladesh needs to increase the spending on the local infrastructure,” she noted.

Sayeed Khokon said the share of the local spending compared to the total public expenditure in Bangladesh is about three per cent, one of the lowest globally.

To meet the challenges of rapid urbanization, the conference introduced a Centre of Excellence for Urban Development, a platform to exchange knowledge and build the capacity of the municipalities to improve the livability of cities.

The centre is in the process of piloting a Young Professional Internship Programme, aimed at planners, architects, and engineers, in 11 urban local governments.

The two-day conference forged partnerships for knowledge exchange on the best global practices and city leadership. On the last day of the conference, the Centre of Excellence will announce the winners of the

national Champion City Awards Programme, which aims to recognize good practices and innovative solutions. This programme is the first of its kind in the country.

Several comments were made on how the country needs to better manage its city planning, as more than 300 mayors from all over the country, as well as many from other countries, urban planners, and other professionals participated in the conference to discuss the challenges and the ways to improve cities in Bangladesh.