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Dhaka as a city is imploding. Overpopulation has overwhelmed its civic amenities, while problem such as chronic traffic congestion, utility crises, environmental pollution, and other urban stresses continue to grow unchecked. Not long ago, it earned the distinction of being one of the least liveable cities in the world. One would expect the government to take determined and effective steps to gradually address this mess, improving living conditions for city dwellers and helping the city shed this negative image. Ironically, however, the situation appears to be getting worse, not better, by the day.
According to the UN's World Urbanization Prospects 2025 report, Dhaka has climbed seven positions to become the world's second most populous city, trailing only Jakarta. By 2050, it is projected to top the list as the world's most populous city with 52.1 million inhabitants. What consequences lie in store for the city if this projection comes true?
The runaway population growth already threatens sustainability. Today, around 82,000 people live per square kilometre in Dhaka. The authorities are struggling even to provide basic housing to this vast population. The city's environment is under severe threat; pollution is rising and water supply and sanitation systems are under severe stress. Parks, fields and open spaces have disappeared or are disappearing. Water bodies disappeared long ago, and now even the rivers are decaying due to pollution and rampant encroachment.
To make the city liveable, the first imperative is to curb the unchecked population growth. Every development plan has to contemplate a stable or foreseeable population; or else who can make a plan for a population that is continuously growing, a demographic base that is constantly shifting? Not only the jobless are migrating to Dhaka for supposed economic opportunity but the country's administrative structure is such that it will compel everyone to visit Dhaka for every purpose. All ministries, departments, state and private bodies are headquartered in Dhaka. Interestingly, even protesters from remote areas are nowadays coming to Dhaka to hold their rallies. This is due to the unitary structure of government. Can this not be altered? It is time for a drastic review.
Administrative, judicial, and civic services need to be decentralised and made accessible at the upazila, district and divisional levels. Advanced medical care, higher education, and essential public services should be expanded to districts and divisional cities so that people are not compelled to travel to Dhaka. Then, employment opportunities and SME-based economic activities must be broadened in rural areas through easy loans, alongside an expansion of agent banking so that each union has at least one authorised banking agent. Industries and factories should be relocated from Dhaka and other major cities to designated industrial zones. Once economic opportunities are made available in villages, the incentive to migrate to the city will naturally decrease.
So, for Dhaka's crisis, the solution does not lie within Dhaka itself but in the villages. If income is generated in villages, fewer people will choose to migrate to the city. As long as employment opportunities remain concentrated in Dhaka rather than in villages and upazila- and district-level towns, economic inequality will persist, and the relentless inflow of people into the city will continue unabated. Expanding the city, increasing building heights, or constructing more flyovers and expressways cannot provide a sustainable solution. Only decentralisation offers a long-term, viable path forward.