Bangladesh will face an unrecoverable situation, if the country does not devise a proper plan to accommodate its growing population, said speakers in a round-table seminar held at Buet yesterday.
They said: “Compact township is a new idea in Bangladesh, which will be able to solve its housing crisis.”
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Buet, organised the programme with Professor Salim Rashid, former professor of Economics at the University of Illinois, as the keynote speaker.
Prof Salim said: “Compact township is an agglomeration of houses, hospitals, schools, markets, rural industries and local governmental units that provide all basic services to a population of about 20000. Eventually this will become the basic rural landscape of Bangladesh.”
“Bangladesh has a population of over 160 million and it's expected to increase to 240-280 million within 2050. So we need a better plan such as compact township to accommodate the additional people,” Prof Salim added.
However, Akbar Ali Khan, former advisor to the caretaker government, raised a question about who would build such compact townships. He said: “Government will not able to do so due to their bureaucratic system and the corruption. Secondly, the private sector will be able to do this but they will face issues with legal assistance.”
Nevertheless, he emphasized on doing something to combat the challenges of the future.
Dr Sarwar Jahan, a professor at Buet said: “It will begin as a pilot project, with the help of government and non-government cooperation. If it proves to be effective, it will be expanded.”
Prof Ishrat Islam, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Buet, moderated the seminar.
