Urban Governance in Bangladesh: The Post-Independence Scenario

Urbanization worldwide has been found to be an effective engine of economic growth and socio-cultural development. In pure economic terms, urbanization contributes significantly to the national economy. Although the developing world is less than 40 percent urban, its urban sector contributes to more than 65 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Even in Bangladesh (with less than 28 percent of population urban), this sector contributed to more than 60 percent of the GDP in 2009 (Choe and Roberts, 2011, p. 120). This has grown from as low as 25 percent in 1972-73. This obviously may lead one to conclude that urbanization on a macro-scale would be beneficial to the economy of Bangladesh. Urbanization also causes social development in terms of higher literacy rate, improvement in the quality of education, and better health indicators. With greater urbanization, there are also benefits in cultural and political development. Just as urbanization brings along economic and social benefits, it also has some negative effects especially when it takes place at a pace as rapid as in Bangladesh. The negative consequences are manifested in physical environmental degradation, social inequities, persisting poverty, inadequate provision of basic utilities, educational and health services, and increasing incidence of crime and violence. While technical and financial resources are strong factor determining the sustainability of cities, the more critical factor is considered to be the nature and quality of governance. The paper discuses the nature of urban governance in the post independence period with special reference to a number of key elements of governance.