MDMP 622: Urban Dynamics and Sustainable Development

A brief concept
On
Coping with Problems: A Case of korile Slumin Dhaka City
Date
April 09, 2013
Prepared by
Subrata Chowdhury, Nadim Rahman, Sulaiman and Rupam Chakma
Background
With an urban growth rate of more than four percent annually, Dhaka is one of the largest cities
in Southeast Asia. In fact, Dhaka is reportedly the 9th largest urban center in the world. Among
the megacities, the World Bank says that Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh with its current
population of some 15 million, bears the distinction of being the fastest-growing in the world.
The city bears 9% of the current total population of Bangladesh. The United Nations predictions
revealed that between 1990 and 2005, the city population doubled in size from 6 to 12 million.
By 2025, the UN predicts, Dhaka will be home to more than 20 million people larger than
Mexico City, Beijing or Shanghai.
In 2010, the population of the city of Dhaka has been projected at 17.6 million, with up to 60%
in the slums. We see the influx of hundreds of new people to the city of Dhaka every day. But
why do people come to Dhaka and other cities in Bangladesh? In simply there are two factors
behind it: a) pull factor and b) push factor. Bangladesh is urbanizing fast. People are moving to
places where there are or perceived to have jobs and opportunities. The cities are the new centers
of jobs and opportunities. The bigger the center, the stronger is the pool. Dhaka is the primate
city in Bangladesh according for over 30% of the total GDP. It is pulling rural migrants faster
and larger than any other cities in Bangladesh. Different findings showed that, 56% people
migrated to Dhaka city for economic reasons. There are also some push factors working in the
process of migration to the cities, especially to Dhaka city. Now-a-days maximum slum dwellers
are one kind of environmental migrants. The often natural disasters: flood, drought, cyclones,
riverbank erosion destroys the agricultural outcomes every year. While Bangladesh is an agro-
based country these disasters are much painful for the farmers and they are obliged to go to the
cities. The job sectors of rural areas are not much strong so people are pushed to the cities. And
for many other people demonstration effect is big enough to push them to the cities.
Slum-dogs can become millionaire in the movies, but in real world the scenario is totally
different. Indeed, they lead a very miserable life and suffer thousands of problems in their
everyday life. But who are the slum dwellers? According to the UN their residents are missing
at least some of the following: durable walls, a secure lease or title, adequate living space and
access to safe drinking waters and toilets. The slums of Dhaka city are no exception. In Dhaka
most of the urban slum settlements tend to be located in low-lying, flood-prone, poorly-drained
areas, having limited formal garbage disposal and minimal access to safe water and sanitation.
These areas are severely crowded, with fourfive people living in houses of just over 100 sq feet.
These conditions of high density of population and poor sanitation exacerbate the spread of
diseases. People living in these areas experience social, economic and political exclusion, which
bars them from society's basic resources. According to a research done by the Department for
International Development (DFID), at least 60,000 people were displaced due to the evictions
from 27 slums in Dhaka between 2006 and 2008. Despite some strategies adopted to ensure
better access to water and health, overall, the country does not have a comprehensive policy for
urban slum residents, and the situation remains bleak.
Objectives of this study
The objectives behind this study are to -
Identify major problems in Korile slum.
Discover the constraints that exacerbate vulnerability.
Identify survival strategies to cope up with the problems in Korile slum.
Methodology
The study will use two types of methods for data collection.
1. Primary data will be collected by focus group discussion and semi-structured interview of
randomly selected individual
2. Secondary data will be collected from different articles, journals and website.
Study place
The study will only cover one slum area due to lack of resources, though there are almost 5,000
slums in Dhaka. In Dhaka city Karail is the largest and longest-standing single slum. The slum
lies at the edge of the Gulshan and Banani areas, where some of the country's wealthiest families
live. The Korail slum in Dhaka sits on government land owned by the state-owned Bangladesh
Telecommunications Company Limited, the Public Works Department and the Ministry of
Information and Communication. The informal settlements at Karail started to develop during
late 80s on the vacant higher grounds. At present Karail covers an area of approximate 90 acres
with an estimated population of over 100,000 (CUS, 2005). We think this slum contains all
criteria of urban slum and hope it will fulfill our study and help us realize the real situation.
Conclusion
The situations of slums in Dhaka are very worse. There are a variety of problems in the slums
and people are struggling with those problems to survive. To ensure sustainable development, we
need to take affirmative action to solve the problems of slum. If we want to solve the problem at
first we must know the patterns of problem and also it is required to know that how the people
are coping with the problems. From this study we will be able to identify the real problems and
coping strategy of Korile slum in Dhaka city.
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