Towards sustainable cities and communities in Bangladesh

The government should take up low-income housing loan programme for providing collective credit offering loans through community organisations for collective housing development

Sustainable communities have a strong sense of place. They have a vision that is embraced and actively promoted by all of the key sectors of society, including businesses, disadvantaged groups, environmentalists, civic associations, government agencies, and religious organizations. Sustainable cities always focus on the inclusiveness of all level of people and development activities. But the slum and squatters are one of the major hindrances to achieve sustainable and inclusive cities and communities in Bangladesh. Slum is a word, a name that reflects the miseries of deprived people who have to struggle with poverty to survive in this beautiful world. Usually poor people migrated from village and very poor people in urban areas live in slum. Most of those who relocate to cities to earn their livelihood after losing their land and houses to river erosion or other reasons take shelter in unhealthy and densely populated slums. Lack of adequate housing for Bangladesh’s large urban population is obviously a key problem in all of the cities and secondary towns in Bangladesh. Shortage of buildable land and high land price has made it almost impossible for most of the urban population to own a piece of land for constructing a detached or semi-detached house. The affordability issue is another serious aspect of housing problems. Real estate market is obviously working by the interaction of supply and demand. Market rarely pays attention to the needs unless it is supported with the ability to pay. Naturally, the private developers are focusing on providing somewhat luxurious housing for the higher income classes. Ever increasing land price has also contributed to the deterioration of housing situation in urban areas. The situation is particularly worse for the lower income group and the poor who live on marginal settlements built by small land developers or by the occupants themselves without any security of tenure. Housing is the most immediate need for the migrants in the city. As most migrants belong to the disadvantaged group of the society they live in low cost dilapidated and shanty houses. As a result large slums and squatters have developed in the city. About 3.5 million low income people are living in 4000 slums and squatters in Dhaka city. The prevalence of slum households varies dramatically across cities of the developing world. In some cities, a relatively small percentage of households experience shelter deprivations, or many experience only one barrier to adequate housing. In other cities, a majority of dwellings suffer from two or more shelter deprivations, threatening the health, safety and wellbeing of their inhabitants. UN-HABITAT defines any specific place, whether a whole city or a neighborhood, as a slum area if half or more of all households lack improved water, improved sanitation, sufficient living area, durable housing, secure tenure, or combinations thereof. Bangladesh, like several Asian countries, has a high general prevalence of slum households: slum prevalence in capital Dhaka and other large cities is higher than the small cities and towns. Both public and private sectors are playing apathetic role in addressing the housing needs of the low income city dwellers. Despite recommendations in several plans and reports, no reasonable measures were evolved by the public sector housing agencies to provide adequate housing to the urban poor, so housing need of a large section of the urban dwellers remains unfulfilled. This is evident from increasing slums and exorbitant rise in the house rent in the cities and towns in Bangladesh. After  the  independence  of  Bangladesh, the  urban  areas  of  the  country  have  experienced  massive population growth associated with urban opportunities and rural calamities. Big cities like Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna and Rajshahi were confronted with the problems of a sudden influx of rootless, landless, poor and unemployed people from across the country in search of their livelihood, new job opportunities, higher services etc. As migrants continue to arrive, they often end up in illegal settlements on precarious lands with major environmental concerns. The poor quality of housing is a direct indicator of slum and squatter settlements. Bangladesh National Housing Policy acknowledges the right of these people to proper housing, and outlines several strategies to cope with the problem. However, in reality, the slums and squatter population is constantly subject to eviction, while most provisions in public housing end up with the upper income groups. With this context, policy makers will need to address land and housing as a top priority.    

A change in policy must begin with a change in attitude and understanding. Society as a whole, and particularly those with the power to make changes, must recognize the contribution the urban poor make and respect the rights of the powerless. A feasible policy alternative is to focus efforts on nurturing the livelihoods of the urban poor, providing slum dwellers with access to essential services and the foundation of skills, assets and rights that is necessary to enable families to engineer their own exit from extreme poverty and the slum environment. The National Housing Policy (2008) describes the role of the government in the housing sector as that of a “facilitator” or “enabler” rather than as a “provider.” This means its role is to increase access to land, infrastructure services and credit; to ensure availability of building materials at a reasonable price especially for the low and middle income groups; and to create and promote housing finance institutions. Actual construction of housing is to be left to private sector developers, private individuals, and NGOs. The policy calls for special consideration for improvement of low income settlements and slums and squatters. It has clear recommendations in support of ensuring proper rehabilitation in cases of slum eviction. But the policies are too generalized and the specific implementation methods are not described in detail. Moreover the implementation rate of existing housing related policies is very low and often neglected. UN-Habitat describes that the concept of housing requires a new understanding to effectively and synergistically address the pressing issues of slums prevention, the urban divide, economic and human development, and climate change. In many developing contexts, the so-called pro-poor housing programs often provide accommodation of poor standards, in remote locations, with little consideration to the residents’ lifestyle and livelihood strategies. It also advocates a more holistic approach, which recognizes the multiple functions of housing – as both a physical and social system – and which seeks to enhance and harmonize the environmental, social, cultural, and economic dimensions of housing sustainability. Thus, along with the solutions for the built environment (resource and energy efficiency, environmental, ecological and health safety, resilience to natural disasters), sustainable housing policies should deal with the affordability, social justice, cultural and economic impacts of housing, and contribute to making healthy residential neighborhoods and sustainable cities. UN-Habitat suggests five of the key alternative approaches to solving urban housing problems, which have been applied with varying degrees of success. The options are: 1.On-site upgrading, 2.Resettlement, 3.Government-built new public housing, 4.Sites-and-services improvement schemes, and 5.City-wide housing strategies.

The modern town planning approach to eradicate the problems of slums is to adopt the policy regarding in-situ slum upgrading which consists of physical, social, economic, organizational and environmental improvements undertaken cooperatively and locally among citizens, community groups, businesses and local authorities. Actions typically include: Installing or improving basic infrastructure, e.g., water reticulation, sanitation/waste collection, rehabilitation of circulation, storm drainage and flood prevention, electricity, security lighting, and public telephones; removal or mitigation of environmental hazards, providing incentives for community management and maintenance; constructing or rehabilitating community facilities such as nurseries, health posts, community open space; regularizing security of tenure, home improvement, relocation/compensation for the small number of residents dislocated by the improvements; enhancement of income-earning opportunities through training and micro-credit and building social capital and the institutional framework to sustain improvements.

Easing access to basic services to land and housing used by the urban poor is also a major strategic goal of the 7th five year plan (2016-2020). But the major problems lie with the non-implementation of the policies. In view of the sustainable development goal to ensure environmental sustainability by achieving significant improvement in lives of the slum/squatter dwellers by 2030, there is a need to change attitude towards slum settlements. It should be recognized that slums/squatters are an integral part of urban areas and contribute significantly to their economy both through their labor market contributions and informal production activities. An approach based on positive attitude and seeking to improve the lives of the slum/squatter dwellers through slum upgrading/improvement should be pursued to meet the sustainable development goal. Even where slum clearance is considered essential in public interest, the slum dwellers are entitled to receive basic minimum services until proper relocation and resettlement provisions have been made.

The local authority should draw up elaborate resettlement guidelines so as to reduce the impacts on and sufficiently compensate the livelihoods of the affected people. The guidelines should also address issues of alternative resettlement sites, service provisions, transportation facilities to workplaces, gender concerns etc. All relocation/resettlement of dwellers of untenable slums/informal settlements should be implemented in accordance with the plans. The government should take up low-income housing loan program for providing collective credit offering loans through community organizations for collective housing development. Development of rental housing, which caters for the needs of the majority of the low-income households, should be encouraged. It is necessary to undertake programs for physical improvement of the slum/informal settlements through preparing community action plan that will greatly facilitate the integration of the settlements with the wider urban area and also improve quality of life of their residents. It is very imperative to critically evaluate the plans as well as the urban and regional planning approach of development authorities whether they are capable of fulfilling the actual needs of the urban poor.

    

    The writer is an urban planner

 

Towards sustainable cities and communities in Bangladesh

The government should take up low-income housing loan programme for providing collective credit offering loans through community organisations for collective housing development

Sustainable communities have a strong sense of place. They have a vision that is embraced and actively promoted by all of the key sectors of society, including businesses, disadvantaged groups, environmentalists, civic associations, government agencies, and religious organizations. Sustainable cities always focus on the inclusiveness of all level of people and development activities. But the slum and squatters are one of the major hindrances to achieve sustainable and inclusive cities and communities in Bangladesh. Slum is a word, a name that reflects the miseries of deprived people who have to struggle with poverty to survive in this beautiful world. Usually poor people migrated from village and very poor people in urban areas live in slum. Most of those who relocate to cities to earn their livelihood after losing their land and houses to river erosion or other reasons take shelter in unhealthy and densely populated slums. Lack of adequate housing for Bangladeshs large urban population is obviously a key problem in all of the cities and secondary towns in Bangladesh. Shortage of buildable land and high land price has made it almost impossible for most of the urban population to own a piece of land for constructing a detached or semi-detached house. The affordability issue is another serious aspect of housing problems. Real estate market is obviously working by the interaction of supply and demand. Market rarely pays attention to the needs unless it is supported with the ability to pay. Naturally, the private developers are focusing on providing somewhat luxurious housing for the higher income classes. Ever increasing land price has also contributed to the deterioration of housing situation in urban areas. The situation is particularly worse for the lower income group and the poor who live on marginal settlements built by small land developers or by the occupants themselves without any security of tenure. Housing is the most immediate need for the migrants in the city. As most migrants belong to the disadvantaged group of the society they live in low cost dilapidated and shanty houses. As a result large slums and squatters have developed in the city. About 3.5 million low income people are living in 4000 slums and squatters in Dhaka city. The prevalence of slum households varies dramatically across cities of the developing world. In some cities, a relatively small percentage of households experience shelter deprivations, or many experience only one barrier to adequate housing. In other cities, a majority of dwellings suffer from two or more shelter deprivations, threatening the health, safety and wellbeing of their inhabitants. UN-HABITAT defines any specific place, whether a whole city or a neighborhood, as a slum area if half or more of all households lack improved water, improved sanitation, sufficient living area, durable housing, secure tenure, or combinations thereof. Bangladesh, like several Asian countries, has a high general prevalence of slum households: slum prevalence in capital Dhaka and other large cities is higher than the small cities and towns. Both public and private sectors are playing apathetic role in addressing the housing needs of the low income city dwellers. Despite recommendations in several plans and reports, no reasonable measures were evolved by the public sector housing agencies to provide adequate housing to the urban poor, so housing need of a large section of the urban dwellers remains unfulfilled. This is evident from increasing slums and exorbitant rise in the house rent in the cities and towns in Bangladesh. After the independence of Bangladesh, the urban areas of the country have experienced massive population growth associated with urban opportunities and rural calamities. Big cities like Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna and Rajshahi were confronted with the problems of a sudden influx of rootless, landless, poor and unemployed people from across the country in search of their livelihood, new job opportunities, higher services etc. As migrants continue to arrive, they often end up in illegal settlements on precarious lands with major environmental concerns. The poor quality of housing is a direct indicator of slum and squatter settlements. Bangladesh National Housing Policy acknowledges the right of these people to proper housing, and outlines several strategies to cope with the problem. However, in reality, the slums and squatter population is constantly subject to eviction, while most provisions in public housing end up with the upper income groups. With this context, policy makers will need to address land and housing as a top priority. A change in policy must begin with a change in attitude and understanding. Society as a whole, and particularly those with the power to make changes, must recognize the contribution the urban poor make and respect the rights of the powerless. A feasible policy alternative is to focus efforts on nurturing the livelihoods of the urban poor, providing slum dwellers with access to essential services and the foundation of skills, assets and rights that is necessary to enable families to engineer their own exit from extreme poverty and the slum environment. The National Housing Policy (2008) describes the role of the government in the housing sector as that of a facilitator or enabler rather than as a provider. This means its role is to increase access to land, infrastructure services and credit; to ensure availability of building materials at a reasonable price especially for the low and middle income groups; and to create and promote housing finance institutions. Actual construction of housing is to be left to private sector developers, private individuals, and NGOs. The policy calls for special consideration for improvement of low income settlements and slums and squatters. It has clear recommendations in support of ensuring proper rehabilitation in cases of slum eviction. But the policies are too generalized and the specific implementation methods are not described in detail. Moreover the implementation rate of existing housing related policies is very low and often neglected. UN-Habitat describes that the concept of housing requires a new understanding to effectively and synergistically address the pressing issues of slums prevention, the urban divide, economic and human development, and climate change. In many developing contexts, the so-called pro-poor housing programs often provide accommodation of poor standards, in remote locations, with little consideration to the residents lifestyle and livelihood strategies. It also advocates a more holistic approach, which recognizes the multiple functions of housing as both a physical and social system and which seeks to enhance and harmonize the environmental, social, cultural, and economic dimensions of housing sustainability. Thus, along with the solutions for the built environment (resource and energy efficiency, environmental, ecological and health safety, resilience to natural disasters), sustainable housing policies should deal with the affordability, social justice, cultural and economic impacts of housing, and contribute to making healthy residential neighborhoods and sustainable cities. UN-Habitat suggests five of the key alternative approaches to solving urban housing problems, which have been applied with varying degrees of success. The options are: 1.On-site upgrading, 2.Resettlement, 3.Government-built new public housing, 4.Sites-and-services improvement schemes, and 5.City-wide housing strategies. The modern town planning approach to eradicate the problems of slums is to adopt the policy regarding in-situ slum upgrading which consists of physical, social, economic, organizational and environmental improvements undertaken cooperatively and locally among citizens, community groups, businesses and local authorities. Actions typically include: Installing or improving basic infrastructure, e.g., water reticulation, sanitation/waste collection, rehabilitation of circulation, storm drainage and flood prevention, electricity, security lighting, and public telephones; removal or mitigation of environmental hazards, providing incentives for community management and maintenance; constructing or rehabilitating community facilities such as nurseries, health posts, community open space; regularizing security of tenure, home improvement, relocation/compensation for the small number of residents dislocated by the improvements; enhancement of income-earning opportunities through training and micro-credit and building social capital and the institutional framework to sustain improvements. Easing access to basic services to land and housing used by the urban poor is also a major strategic goal of the 7th five year plan (2016-2020). But the major problems lie with the non-implementation of the policies. In view of the sustainable development goal to ensure environmental sustainability by achieving significant improvement in lives of the slum/squatter dwellers by 2030, there is a need to change attitude towards slum settlements. It should be recognized that slums/squatters are an integral part of urban areas and contribute significantly to their economy both through their labor market contributions and informal production activities. An approach based on positive attitude and seeking to improve the lives of the slum/squatter dwellers through slum upgrading/improvement should be pursued to meet the sustainable development goal. Even where slum clearance is considered essential in public interest, the slum dwellers are entitled to receive basic minimum services until proper relocation and resettlement provisions have been made. The local authority should draw up elaborate resettlement guidelines so as to reduce the impacts on and sufficiently compensate the livelihoods of the affected people. The guidelines should also address issues of alternative resettlement sites, service provisions, transportation facilities to workplaces, gender concerns etc. All relocation/resettlement of dwellers of untenable slums/informal settlements should be implemented in accordance with the plans. The government should take up low-income housing loan program for providing collective credit offering loans through community organizations for collective housing development. Development of rental housing, which caters for the needs of the majority of the low-income households, should be encouraged. It is necessary to undertake programs for physical improvement of the slum/informal settlements through preparing community action plan that will greatly facilitate the integration of the settlements with the wider urban area and also improve quality of life of their residents. It is very imperative to critically evaluate the plans as well as the urban and regional planning approach of development authorities whether they are capable of fulfilling the actual needs of the urban poor. The writer is an urban planner