UrbanizationResearch Ideas

Dhaka June, 2015

Bangladesh PrioritiesWORKING WITH 30-50 economists including Nobel Laureates, 100+ sector experts engaging major development organizations, NGOs, government, businesses, youths, rural and urban Bangladeshis to identify, analyze and prioritize interventions that will deliver greater benefit per taka spent, helping move Bangladesh towards Vision 2021 and a more prosperous long term future.

In cooperation with the Research and Evaluation Division of BRAC,

Copenhagen Consensus Center organized roundtable discussions with

an aim to figure out smarter solutions to the most problematic issues facing

Bangladesh.

These roundtables are one of several sources

for research ideas.

Sourcing ideas and solutions

Smarter solutions for Bangladesh

Complete set of papers on 30-50 solutions

PRIORITIZATION

Government NGOs

Academia Pvt sector

Think tanks Developmentorganizations

Eminent Panel Assessment

Government and donor seminars

Rural polls Newspaper pollsamong readers

Youth forums across the

countryPrivate sector

meetings

Social, economic and environmental benefit-cost

research by top Bangladeshi, and

international economistsExtensive peer review by

sector experts and academics

100+ ideas on policies & investments

2016

2015

Continuous engagement

with the public via electronic,

print and social media

Working with civil society, government and sector

experts

Widely advocating results of

prioritization exercises

OUTREACH

Research Ideas

Urbanization;(1 of 6)

• Provide new type of financing for low-cost housing (in between micro-credit and traditional loans).

• Build more east-west roads in Dhaka.• Establish satellite townships around Dhaka.• Establish and improve transport to satellite suburbs

around Dhaka.• Limit immigration to the Capital.• Develop a distinct financial district in Dhaka.• Create a high-powered body to holistically plan and

oversee development in Dhaka (fewer standalone projects).

Urbanization;(2 of 6)

• Provide education and healthcare services found in the Capital to rural areas.

• Establish infrastructure to facilitate RMG factories relocation outside major metropolitan cities.

• Tax new, free-standing housing (encourage high density housing).

• Improve drainage system of cities.• Establish health centers in slums.• Improve infrastructure resilience against natural disasters

and earthquakes.• Congestion tax or regulate number of cars in Dhaka.• More public transport in Dhaka.

Urbanization; (3 of 6)

• Increase autonomy of local bodies for accelerated service delivery.

• Ensure a competitive but regulated market in land, housing finance and building materials.

• Improve road safety for pedestrian traffic.• Relocation of urban poor to city’s outskirts. • Investing in R&D for improving infrastructure

management system. • Set up public-private-partnership (PPP) for establishment

of low-cost housing facilities.• Set up a separate ministry to deal with urbanization.• Conduct regular land settlement mapping.

Urbanization; (4 of 6)

• Strengthen municipality and city corporation bodies. • Engage communities in projects related to tackling

urban poverty.• Assess the impact of climate change on urban water

and sanitation facilities.• Encourage agricultural activities in city and fringe

areas. • Promote use of unused land by the poor within the city

or fringe areas of Dhaka for cultivation of fruits, vegetables and flowers.

• Improve sanitation facilities.

Urbanization; (5 of 6)

• Ensure urban poor’s rights to basic services i.e., housing, water and sanitation.

• Legalize illegal slum settlements.• Establish affordable health facilities in urban areas. • Enhance urban poor’s access to low cost fruits and

vegetables.• Strengthen community clinics to reduce dependency on

Dhaka’s specialized hospitals.• Regulate traffic flows in Dhaka following the Kolkata

model (one-way street system in the morning and evening).

Urbanization; (6 of 6)

• Scale up UNDP’s Urban Partnerships for Poverty Reduction (UPPR) project.

• Community level savings and credit schemes for community housing development.

• Relocate offices, private schools and hospitals from residential areas.

Full List of Attendees and IntervieweesSarder Shafiqul Alam, Coordinator, International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD).Alayne M.Adams.PhD, Senior Social Scientist, Centre for Equity and Health System.MD.Asif Rahman, Lecturer, BRAC University.Tazrina Habib Ananya, Research Associate, C3ER, BRAC University.S.A.Mamun, Programme Specialist, UNICEF.Dr.Margub Aref Jahangir, Health Officer, UNICEF.Kazi Nazrul Fattah, Program Head, BRAC Urban Program.Sara Bumsted, Gender Policy Advisor, UNDP.Palash Das, ACD, UNDP.Jay Malette, JPC, UNDP.Nabeera Rahman, UNV,UNDP.

Suhel Ahmed Choudhury, Former Commerce Secretary & Former Chairman, Janata Bank.Reasat Kamal, Manager, BRAC Urban Program.Shamim Hossain, RA, BUDP.Dilruba Haider, Program Coordinator, UN Women.Rechal Lorenz, Senior Infrastructure Adviser, UNPOS.Ferdou Jahan, PhD. Professor, Public Administration.