Pro-poorness of planning policies in Bangladesh: the case of Khulna city

The numbers of urban poor are increasing in the cities of Bangladesh. Formal urban planning approaches derived from experience in the global North have largely failed to tackle the consequent poverty challenges in the global South. This study provides new policy directions for pro-poor planning in Bangladesh through a case study of Khulna city. The study analyses secondary data on urban poverty in the city and interviews representatives of the urban poor, politicians, city administrators, academics, and planning professionals to gain a deeper and more nuanced understanding about the pro-poorness of current planning policies. The Khulna case reveals a continued poverty crisis in Bangladeshi cities, manifested by the limited access to income opportunities for the poor, lack of access to decent housing and urban services for the poor and spatial exclusion of the poverty-stricken areas in cities. Existing planning policies in the city fail to tackle poverty issues. Thus, to be pro-poor, planning policies should limit the over-emphasis on economic growth, and explicitly focus upon addressing the needs of the poor rather than over-concentrating on citywide demands. At the same time, planning practice should emphasize the needs of the poor and recognize the contribution of the informal economic and housing sectors.