'Dhaka can't be the lifeboat of 160m people'

What does urban resilience actually mean?It is about the ability of a densely populated city to respond the challenges faced by its dwellers. The challenges may be associated with climate change, poverty or economic development. It is about the system of a city that shapes how its people are supposed to rebound any challenge collectively.Do you think climate change is negatively triggering the resilience issue?I think climate change has helped bring the notion of urban resilience to the poor. Because during natural disasters like cyclones it is tough to manage the situation with the previous plannings. In case of climate change, the future scenario will be more complicated as most of the cities are not designed with the future threats.How is urban resilience relevant in Bangladesh?Bangladesh is a relatively small country in terms of territory and most of its territories are river dominated, which poses special problems for the inhabitants to use the land. And the large sea coast is vulnerable to cyclones and other weather events. Naturally the country is in the front-line of problems caused by anthropogenic climate changes. And I believe the cities are the solutions to those problems. Currently all the city base solutions are based on Dhaka. But you cannot rely on Dhaka because it can not be the lifeboat of 160 million people of Bangladesh.Do you think current adaptation measures in Bangladesh are enough to make the cities resilient, especially for the coastal people? I don't know all of the measures which has been taken in Bangladesh. But whatever is taken should be pragmatic and planned.Internal migration is growing in Bangladesh from the coastal districts to urban areas especially to Dhaka. Coastal people are losing their livelihoods due to sea level rise and salinity intrusion. How do you think we should accommodate all these people in the cities?The measures should betaken judiciously. You need to use the land judiciously across the country. Certainly Sea level rise is a problem, salt water intrusion is a problem. So careful analysis of the situation should be made to solve these problems.What should be the ideal measures to make a city sustainable?I think the cities should be evaluated objectively in terms of their competitiveness, within the country, and also globally. They can be evaluated in terms of their inclusiveness. City should be for everybody, not just for the poor or the rich. The plan for environmental and ecological protection of the cities should be included in the design. Then the city will be more resilient. But in the recent years, the cities had been developed in a way that goes against the environment.Does decentralisation work?Right now decentralisation means getting people out of Dhaka. To me, we have enough opportunity to think about territorial planning with Bangladesh. Setting up smaller cities around the capital will be a planning. Communication networks including rail, bus and fiber optic should be set up there to provide services for all. Then the pressure on the centre will easily be reduced. That’s why, I will say, you have to establish a city system rather than decentralise. This should happen around all the existing large cities.Do you mean a theme based city plan?Certainly, every large city should be set up based on their specialisation. People will go there for certain needs. Not everybody needs to go there. Some cities will be based on education, some based on natural resources, or some will be close to a market or port-based. Therefore the cost of living and labour forces will be different. And the suburb system will grow based on their needs.Who will pay and who will benefit?A lot of public policy is expensive to implement. You can say, we want to build the infrastructure, but who will pay for that? How do we pay for the infrastructure developments in a country? The payment should come from those who get the benefits. Paying taxes is the one of the mechanisms for that. City people have to play the role to pay the tax, and at the same time the government has to do the works properly.