Urban futures for Dhaka and Bangladesh

IGC Bangladesh hosted a seminar with Professor Tony Venables on 20th July 2017 at the BRAC Centre, followed by a discussion amongst stakeholders working on issues related to urbanisation in Bangladesh.

Prof. Venables first talked about urban land use and associated rights and regulation. Issues related to land inevitably have direct implications on urban housing and its affordability.  Evidence from his work showed how coordinated public policy is essential in addressing interrelated constraints to affordable urban housing.  Similarly, poor land administration policies are responsible behind urban housing being prohibitive for low-income groups.

He also shared insights from his research on non-traditional approaches to public service delivery conducted with IGC, in collaboration with the World Bank and DFID.  He has been one of the first to draw serious attention to the existence of gaps in urban infrastructure and public service delivery that constrain the potential for South Asia to join the ranks of more developed countries.

Policymakers from the Access to Information (a2i) initiative from the Prime Minister’s Office attended as well as senior representatives from the World Bank, local researchers from think tanks, NGOs and universities.

For more information please contact the IGC Bangladesh team: [email protected].