An appropriate action plan must be formulated to implement the National Housing Policy: IPD.
The housing crisis in the country’s urban areas is steadily intensifying. Opportunities for safe, quality, and affordable housing are extremely limited, particularly for low-income and lower-middle-income groups as well as the working class. Although the National Housing Policy of 2016 pledges to ensure affordable and safe housing for all, the state lacks an effective action plan for its implementation. To fully realize the theme of this year’s World Habitat Day—“Housing for All: A Better Urban Future”—the government should prioritize quality and safe housing for everyone, a press release said.
The Institute for Planning and Development (IPD) believes that the government must take effective and coordinated measures to ensure quality and affordable housing for all as part of its constitutional obligation, rather than leaving the sector entirely to market forces and the private sector.
Simultaneously, the state must play an active role by providing planning, land, financing, and policy support to ensure affordable housing for low-income and lower-middle-income populations.
The IPD holds the view that Bangladesh’s housing crisis is not limited to Dhaka; it is a crisis rooted in national urban and spatial planning. As the housing sector has become market-driven, housing has moved beyond the financial reach of low-income and lower-middle-income people. A sustainable solution to this crisis is impossible without state intervention. Due to the lack of planned housing infrastructure in most municipal areas—including divisional and district towns—housing expansion is occurring haphazardly, destroying agricultural land, wetlands, and natural drainage systems. This not only damages the environment and agricultural land but also leads to waterlogging, traffic congestion, and excessive strain on civic services in these cities.
Meanwhile, in industrial and employment hubs such as Dhaka, Chattogram, Gazipur, and Narayanganj, a vast number of working-class people are forced to live in slums and informal settlements due to the lack of formal housing options. Evicting slum dwellers will not solve the housing crisis; instead, appropriate initiatives involving the private sector are needed to increase the supply of affordable housing for low-income individuals.
To ensure universal housing and sustainable urbanization in urban areas across the country, the IPD puts forward the following recommendations:
Ensuring Affordable Housing: Mandatory Allocation of 10–15% of Land or Dwelling Units
It must be made mandatory to reserve a minimum of 10 to 15 percent of land or constructed flats/dwelling units for low-income and lower-middle-income groups in any housing project—whether public or private—undertaken by development authorities, city corporations, the Public Works Department, or other entities. Simultaneously, the state must ensure an adequate supply of land for low-income people through urban planning.
Upgrading Slums and Informal Settlements via the POPP Model
Evicting urban slums and informal settlements overnight without providing permanent alternatives is not a sustainable solution. Instead, the quality of slums and low-income areas should be improved through “on-site upgrading” to ensure access to light, air, safe water, sanitation, and proper walkways. Furthermore, a market-based, sustainable housing system for low-income groups can be established by adopting a Public-Private-Community Partnership (POPP) model. Under this model, the government would provide land and policy support, while the private sector would invest in constructing affordable housing for the public.
Equitable Distribution of Civic Amenities and Economic Decentralization
Excessive economic and administrative concentration centered on Dhaka is the primary cause of the undue pressure placed on the city. Implementing economic decentralization would reduce the influx of people toward Dhaka and establish a balanced and sustainable spatial equilibrium across the country.
National Spatial Planning and Regional Development: An integrated regional development plan must be formulated for the entire country under the National Spatial Planning Act. Each divisional and district town should be developed as an integrated ‘growth center’ for industry and housing, leveraging its specific geographical advantages. Accordingly, planned housing areas catering to various income groups must be created based on an analysis of housing demand.
Affordable Housing Fund and Special Financing: A ‘National Affordable Housing Fund’ must be established in alignment with the National Housing Policy. Opportunities for home construction through low-interest, long-term loans must be created for low-income and lower-middle-income groups.
Social and Rental Housing: The construction of government-led rental social housing must be ensured for workers in the informal sector within industrial zones (e.g., EPZs, Economic Zones) and major cities.
Empowerment of Local Urban Bodies: Housing-related planning and its effective implementation must be ensured across all city corporations and municipalities by formulating master plans through the engagement of skilled urban planners.
Environment-friendly and Sustainable Building Technologies: Sustainable housing must be developed while protecting wetlands and agricultural land, and the use of eco-friendly block bricks must be made mandatory.
It is impossible to resolve the housing crisis across Bangladesh through policies centered solely on Dhaka. The only path to building a sustainable and equitable urban Bangladesh is to ensure the equitable distribution of infrastructure, civic amenities, and affordable housing—extending from major cities like Dhaka and Chattogram to the country’s peripheral municipalities—through the effective implementation of the ‘National Housing Policy 2016.’ Housing needs to be brought under the government’s political priority agenda. IPD believes that the government must achieve a sustainable solution to the urban housing crisis through proper planning and effective implementation.
