MDMP 622: Urban Dynamics and Sustainable Development

A brief conceptOn

Coping with Problems: A Case of korile Slum in Dhaka City

DateApril 09, 2013

Prepared bySubrata 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 four–five 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 80’s 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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