Urban Governance in Bangladesh
Introduction
Mahabubul Alom
July 10, 2025
Urban Governance
Governance as the manner in which power is exercised in the management of the
economic and social resources for development (World Bank, 1993)
Urban governance stems from a definition of governance have been difficult to find
(McCarney, 1996), She considers that existing usage seems to fall into two traps;
• First – governance is simply equated with government
• Second – governance often focuses on the state, concentrating on accountability,
transparency and management, and thereby ignoring the role groups in civil society in
the governing relationship
McCarney, Halfni and Rodriguez (1995) examined the dimensions of urban governance as
defined governance as;
Governance, as distinct from government, refers to the relationship between civil society
and the state, between the rulers and the ruled, the government and the governed.
Urban Governance (Cont.)
Urban governance can be defined as management of urban affairs to function the
city in promoting quality of life of its citizens (Shohag, 2005)
McCarney (1996) Clarifies the notions of urban governance making three points
1. In the first place, it calls for understanding of the role of the city in process of
national development and the need to address the implications of the defined
of the defined role in terms of morphology and operation
2. In the second place, governance requires capturing an integrated profile of the
city in terms of parts, as well as its actors and activities operating within total
complex
3. In the third instance, governance involves transcending the formal bureaucratic
institutions and forging linkages with agencies of civil society.
Urbanization
Urban is a statistical concept defined by a country`s government. Urban area is a
geographical area constituting a city or town. But the term “urban area” is typically
used as a synonym for “city” though the two are not same. All cities are urban
areas, but not urban areas are cities. As a general term, the word “town” can also
be used for urban areas including cities.
According to UN people live in a territory more than (….
20,000 ˂ Urban
100,000 ˂ City
5 million ˂ Big city
10 million ˂ Mega city
20 million ˂ Meta city
Urbanization (Cont.)
Urbanization is the gradual shift of relative populations from rural to urban areas.
Levels of urbanization are measured crudely by the percentage of population
residing in urban areas, and the rate of urbanization as the percentage increase in
urban population (UN, 2014)
Urbanization is the process by which there is an increase in the proportion of the
people living in urban areas
How do we measure growth?
Urbanization (Cont.)
a) Level of urbanization: The proportion live in an urban area as
opposed to rural area
b) Rate of urbanization: The percentage increase in urban population
over a given year
c) Tempo of urbanization: The difference between the rate of growth of
urban population and that of the rural population. It will give you a
picture of how quickly the mix between rural and urban in changing
Elements of Urban Growth
Determinants of urban growth can be grouped into three categories
a) Natural increase of urban population: natural increase is rate at which
population within your city is growing.
• You can calculate the natural increase by subtracting the death rate per 1000
population from the birth rate per 1000 population.
• Natural increase = birth rate – death rate
Elements of Urban Growth (Cont.)
b) Migration
Migration is a rational economic choice reflecting differences in wages between
rural and urban areas.
▪ Net migration: to work out what percentage of your urban population growth is
actually down to migration as opposed to natural increase you can use the
following formula;
100*urban growth rate – national growth rate
urban growth rate
Elements of Urban Growth (Cont.)
▪ Push factor/pull factor
Pushing people out
• Shortage of land, food or work in rural areas
• Freedom from traditional societies
• War, natural disasters, climate change
Pulling people in
• Bright lights of the city, greater income generating opportunities
• Urban biasness in state and private sector investment in economic sector as well
as welfare provision
• Greater access to government and NGOs in face of disaster
Elements of Urban Growth (Cont.)
c) Boundary changes
Changes of boundary can be a vital reason in the case of urban growth. Either it can
be the extension of the territory or the changes of certain territory of any city or
town.
Urban areas
In Bangladesh the urban areas have been classified into five categories according to
their functions and sizes (Rahman, 2008);
a) Megacity
b) Statistical Metropolitan Area (SMA). It is densely populated urban core and
surrounded less populated area and economic ties throughout the area for
instance, DCC, Savar, Keraniganj, Gazipur, Narayanganj. SMAs are not legally
incorporated as cities or towns, nor are they administrative divisions like
counties.
c) City corporation (12)
d) Municipality/Paurashava (330)
e) Upazila Headquarters (495)
f) Other urban areas
Urban areas (Cont.)
Megacity: City having more than 10 million inhabitants has been defined as
megacity. Dhaka the capital city is the only megacity of Bangladesh. Dhaka megacity
comprises Dhaka south city and north city corporation, Dhaka metropolitan areas
along with the extended city areas.
Statistical metropolitan area: If any adjacent areas had a high degree of economic
and societal integration with urbanized area, then those areas could also be
included in the SMA area. The degree of economic and social integration was
measured by patterns, which are district/region based. The five outlying divisional
headquarters (except Dhaka megacity) namely Chottogram, Khulna, Rajshahi,
Barishal and Sylhet are termed as SMA.
Urban areas (Cont.)
City corporation: Under the “Local Government (City corporation) Act 2009”
currently there are 12 city corporations in Bangladesh;
• Dhaka south city corporation • Narayanganj city corporation
• Dhaka north city corporation • Khulna city corporation
• Barishal city corporation • Mymensingh city corporation
• Chottogram city corporation • Rajshahi city corporation
• Comilla city corporation • Rangpur city corporation
• Gazipur city corporation • Sylhet city corporation
Urban areas (Cont.)
Municipality: Municipality means areas designated as such under Municipality
Ordinance 1977. Municipality is a statutory town including Zila towns also.
Upazila headquarters: Mauzaz contains the thana/upazila and adjoining urban and
sub-urban areas constitute thana/upazila headquarters, development center and
thana police headqeuarters.
Other urban areas: These are non-municipal towns which conform more or less to
the urban characteristics by definition. Usually these are places of commercial,
industrial, educational and tourist importance.
Importance of Urban Governance
Managing cities and urban growth is one of the defining challenges of the twenty first
century. If managed well, cities can act as engines of growth and provide inhabitants with
better job opportunities and improved healthcare, housing, safety and social development.
Further, cities can contribute to national growth through increased revenue generation and
policy stability, as well as playing a role in post-conflict reconciliation. Conversely, cities that
are poorly planned, managed and governed can become centers of poverty, inequality and
conflict.
According to slack and cote (2014:7), urban governance:
• Plays a critical role in shaping the physical and social character of urban regions
• Influences the quantities and quality of local services and efficiency of delivery
• Determines the sharing of costs and distribution of resources among different groups
• Affects residents` ability to access local government and engage indecision-making,
influencing local government accountability and responsiveness to citizen demands.
Importance of Urban Governance (Cont.)
Maximizing the potential of urban areas requires institutionalizing mechanism of
coordination, planning and accountability among diverse stakeholders (Fox &
Goodfellow, 2016). Three key messages emerge that underline why urban
governance matters (Venables, 2015):
▪ The scale and high population density of city enables economic and social
interaction to occur more frequently and effectively.
▪ To unlock this potential, key issues surrounding land, transport, public finance
and regulation need to addressed. Making the city work requires investment in
redinential, commercial and industrial structure supported by a combination of
effective land markets, appropriate regulation, good public services, adequate
public finance and transparent and accountable city level political systems
▪ Urbanization requires smart policy and hard work, and the implications of failure
are ling term.
Actors & Institution of Urban Governance
a) State governance
• Formal national & regional government
• City government
• Formal legal systems
• Informal political practices
• Utilities and services
b) Local governance
• Traditional authorities
• Tiers of local government
• Professional expertise
Actors & Institution of Urban Governance (Cont.)
c) Civil society
• NGOs
• Civil society organizations
• Community bases organizations (CBOs)
• Households & Individuals
d) Private sector:
• Businesses international
• Local businesses
• Informal sectors/enterprises
Elements of effective Urban Governance
Effective urban governance depends on four core elements (Rahman, 2008)
a) City-national interface: Not only depends on local institutions but also on the
framework set by the national government.
b) Municipal capacity: Expanding municipal capacity to plan, manage and finance
urban growth is a fundamental component of effective urban governance.
c) Role of private sector: Private sector is a key stakeholder in both urban and
economic development. In addition to providing jobs, it can also be engaged in the
design, construction and maintenance of infrastructure and in service provision.
d) Political system & institution: It is profoundly political, influenced by the
creation and operation of political institutions, additionally key political economy
constraints in urban areas include the governance framework.
Thank you