🏙️-inclusive-cities-what-urban-development-should-look-like-in-bangladesh

“Cities are not just buildings and roads—they are people, communities, and dreams interwoven into concrete and soil.”
— Serene Planet Youth Contributor

📌 Introduction

Bangladesh is rapidly urbanizing. With over 36% of its population now living in cities and towns, the country is experiencing a transformation like never before. Yet, as glass towers rise and expressways expand, millions living in informal settlements, low-income areas, and underserved urban communities are left out of the narrative.

At Serene Planet, we believe that development should include everyone—especially the people at the margins. This blog dives deep into what truly inclusive urban development should look like in Bangladesh, and how youth can drive that transformation forward.

🌆 The Urban Reality in Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s cities are buzzing with potential, innovation, and growth. Dhaka, Chittagong, and Rajshahi are expanding at record speed. However, the speed of development is outpacing social planning, environmental balance, and human equity.

Here are some of the major urban challenges:

Housing Crisis: Over 3.5 million people in Dhaka live in slums and informal settlements.
Traffic & Pollution: Urban air pollution in major cities contributes to 122,000 premature deaths annually (World Bank, 2023).
Inequity in Services: Access to clean water, sanitation, education, and healthcare is vastly uneven across city zones.
Youth Disempowerment: Young people often have no voice in city planning or governance.

This is where inclusive development becomes not just an idea—but an urgent necessity.

🧭 What is Inclusive Urban Development?

Inclusive urban development means building cities that serve everyone—regardless of income, gender, ability, or origin. It means that:

Every child has a safe path to school
Every woman feels secure on the street at night
Every person with a disability can access public spaces
Every youth has a voice in shaping their future city

It’s about participation, equity, and dignity in the built environment.

🌿 Key Principles for Inclusive Cities

To build inclusive cities in Bangladesh, we need to adopt and localize these 6 principles:

1. 🏘️ Affordable & Adequate Housing for All

Millions live in overcrowded settlements without proper drainage, electricity, or legal ownership. Affordable housing must be treated as a human right, not a luxury.

What We Need:

Legal recognition and upgrading of informal settlements
Government-private-NGO partnerships for social housing
Inclusive housing designs for the elderly and disabled
Community-led housing cooperatives

Serene Planet’s Take:
In Chittagong, we’re engaging with slum youth and supporting after-school programs for children in housing-insecure families. But systemic change requires policy and participation.

2. 🚰 Access to Basic Services & Infrastructure

No city is livable without access to clean water, waste disposal, transport, and healthcare.

Key Actions:

Invest in localized water and sanitation solutions
Build gender-sensitive, safe public toilets and transit
Ensure infrastructure reaches low-income and minority communities
Use tech (GIS, SMS-based reporting) for service accountability

Serene Planet’s Contribution:
Our volunteers in Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar work with local authorities to raise awareness on hygiene, waste segregation, and access to safe drinking water.

3. 🌳 Safe & Green Public Spaces

Parks, walkways, libraries, and community centers are not luxuries—they are necessities for mental health, leisure, and social inclusion.

Recommendations:

Convert vacant lands into green zones and gardens
Design gender-inclusive and child-safe recreational spaces
Prioritize accessibility for persons with disabilities
Protect rivers, wetlands, and canals in urban planning

Youth Power in Action:
In Rajshahi, Serene Planet youth planted over 500 trees along a neglected canal-side to create a “Green Corridor” for local children and families.

4. 👩‍🦽 Designing with Disability Inclusion

Too often, city designs ignore the needs of people with disabilities. From inaccessible sidewalks to buses without ramps—exclusion is built into our environments.

Inclusion Strategies:

Ramps, tactile paving, Braille signage in public buildings
Disability-inclusive urban planning policies
Inclusive disaster planning for urban emergencies
Encouraging youth advocates with disabilities to consult on design

Example:
One of our youth ambassadors in Manikganj, who uses a wheelchair, led a local campaign to build a ramp in the local library. It became a symbol of change.

5. 🧠 Youth Engagement in Urban Governance

Urban decisions today will affect our lives tomorrow. Yet, youth—who make up over 30% of the population—are rarely consulted.

Let’s Make It Right:

Establish youth councils in city corporations
Host participatory design workshops with students and urban planners
Provide youth training in civic technology and smart city tools
Integrate urban studies in secondary and university education

Our Vision:
Serene Planet is developing a “Youth & Urbanism” Fellowship to train student leaders in urban justice, sustainable development, and participatory planning.

6. 🕊️ Inclusive Policy & Representation

If policies don’t reflect the voices of the excluded, they only reinforce exclusion. We need city leadership that looks like the people it serves.

How We Get There:

Ensure women, religious minorities, ethnic communities, and slum residents have representation
Create urban ombudspersons for accountability
Use disaggregated data in policy formulation
Decentralize urban development decisions to local levels

Why It Matters:
When residents of informal areas are included in policy talks, solutions become more practical, cost-effective, and community-owned.

🔧 How Can We Start Building Inclusive Cities Today?

Even small changes can spark inclusive transformation. Here’s how youth, NGOs, and policymakers can take action now:

For Youth & Students:

✅ Join urban awareness campaigns
✅ Map your neighborhood’s challenges using digital tools
✅ Volunteer in inclusive design or climate projects
✅ Advocate for safe routes to school and gender-sensitive public transit

For Local Government:

✅ Consult slum dwellers before relocation
✅ Include youth representatives in urban advisory boards
✅ Build data systems that map service access inequalities
✅ Invest in low-carbon, inclusive urban transport systems

For NGOs & Partners:

✅ Partner with local youth groups
✅ Design inclusive programs with direct community input
✅ Promote urban research focused on inequality
✅ Amplify voices of women, disabled persons, and minorities in planning

🏁 Conclusion: The Future is Ours to Build

Cities can be the beating heart of opportunity—or they can become landscapes of exclusion. It all depends on how we build, who we listen to, and who we include.

At Serene Planet, we believe that young people can lead this transformation. With creativity, compassion, and courage, we can create inclusive cities that uplift every citizen—not just the privileged few.

Let’s shape cities where everyone belongs.