The government is reportedly working on a new urban development policy that would look to decentralise the densely populated cities and steer away large investments from megacities.
As part of a proposed National Urban Policy 2015, the Local Government Division (LGD) wants to impose a fresh tax on the owners of land and buildings if they delay developing their work-in-progress on new establishments, sources told the Dhaka Tribune.
The government is also considering to discourage large scale investment in megacities, as part of an effort to spread out resources and develop areas with lower populations.
If the proposal is passed, more restrictions would be placed against projects that pose threats to environmentally sensitive areas.
Headed by city mayors, separate coordination committees – which would include women, private sector members, and representatives from the specially-abled people and the low-income group – will work on developing their respective areas.
The city corporations’ investment plans will be formulated with the participation of city dwellers, according to the proposal.
Sources at the LGD said a draft national urbanisation policy was prepared a decade ago and later placed before the cabinet in 2010. However, it was sent back for further scrutiny.
The implementation of the draft failed to gather any more momentum, reportedly because of an inter-ministerial tug-of-war, while the Local Government and Engineering Department (LGED) and the Urban Development Directorate (UDD) also reportedly disagreed on some points over the policy’s area of coverage.
However, in a renewed initiative, the LGD last week sought opinions from seven ministries on a national urban policy, asking them to submit their observations by the end of this month.
Abdul Malek, secretary of Local Government Division, said: “There is a long way to go before finalising the national urban policy, and the implementation of the policy is subject to approval by the cabinet.”
If the proposed policy is passed, it will prioritise a 23-point target that includes reducing urban poverty, developing city slums and ensuring law and order.
City and town authorities would take measures to ensure the supply of lands for the poor people, while the land management system will be digitalised.
The policy, if passed, will ensure the maximum use of densely populated areas to allow construction of office and residential buildings. Community planning would decide on setting up parks, playgrounds, rivers, canals, local wetland and waste management system.
According to the proposed policy, the government would identify megacities as large cities with over one crore population; metropolitan cities as ones with population between five lakh and one crore; district towns with population between 50,000 and five lakh; upazila towns with population between 20,000 and 50,000; growth centres with population of 20,000; and upazila city centres having less than 20,000 residents.
An LGD official, who requested anonymity, said an absence of a guideline had led to unplanned urbanisation that is causing a wide range of troubles to both city dwellers and the government.
As a result, Dhaka was now among the 10 least liveable cities across the global, he added.
The Global Liveability Index, published by the intelligence unit of The Economist last August, named Dhaka as the second least liveable city on the planet, with only Damascus in war-torn Syria remaining in a worse position.
