Urban Issues and ChallengesDeep Dive

Case Study 2: Dhaka, Bangladesh (LIC)

Part of Urban Sustainability and Megacities — GCSE Geography

This deep dive covers Case Study 2: Dhaka, Bangladesh (LIC) within Urban Sustainability and Megacities for GCSE Geography. Revise Urban Sustainability and Megacities in Urban Issues and Challenges for GCSE Geography with 15 exam-style questions and 20 flashcards. This is a high-frequency topic, so it is worth revising until the explanation feels precise and repeatable. It is section 5 of 14 in this topic. Use this deep dive to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.

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🇧🇩 Case Study 2: Dhaka, Bangladesh (LIC)

Dhaka is one of the most densely populated cities on Earth and one of the fastest growing. With a population of approximately 22.5 million in 2024 and a growth rate of around 300,000 new residents per year, Dhaka faces every urban challenge in its most extreme form. It sits in a nation that is simultaneously one of the world's most climatically vulnerable countries — 70% of Bangladesh is less than 6 metres above sea level, and the country sits on the confluence of three major rivers: the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, and the Meghna.

Bangladesh is classified as a Low Income Country (LIC), with a GNI per capita of approximately $2,800. This means the resources available to manage Dhaka's explosive growth are a fraction of what Mumbai can draw on — and Mumbai's resources are already severely strained.

The Garment Industry: Bangladesh's Economic Engine

Dhaka's growth is inseparable from Bangladesh's garment industry. Bangladesh is the world's second largest clothing exporter (after China), generating approximately $47 billion in annual export revenue — over 80% of the country's total export earnings. The industry employs roughly 4 million workers, of whom approximately 80% are women. For millions of young women from rural Bangladesh, factory work in Dhaka represents economic independence, a wage, and an escape from early marriage — life choices that farming could not offer.

"The garment industry has been transformative for Bangladeshi women. It gave millions of them an income, agency, and a reason to delay marriage. But it also concentrated them in dangerous buildings, paying wages set to keep Bangladesh competitive."

— Development economics perspective on Bangladesh's garment sector

The dark side of that dependency was exposed catastrophically on 24 April 2013. The Rana Plaza building in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, was an eight-storey commercial building containing five garment factories producing clothes for international brands. Cracks had been spotted in the building the day before, and the banks and shops on the ground floor had closed. The garment workers on the upper floors were told to return or lose their pay. The building collapsed during the morning shift, killing 1,134 people — the deadliest garment industry accident in history. It triggered an international reckoning with the working conditions behind fast fashion, and led to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety, a legally binding agreement between brands and unions that has since improved conditions in thousands of Bangladeshi factories.

Dhaka's Urban Challenges

Informal settlements (bastis): Approximately 40% of Dhaka's population lives in informal settlements known locally as bastis. These areas typically lack piped water, sewage systems, formal waste collection, and legal land tenure. The largest basti, Korail, houses over 100,000 people in an area less than 1 km².

Extreme flood risk: Dhaka sits at the meeting point of three major rivers and the Bengal delta. Approximately 70% of the city is less than 6 metres above sea level. Each monsoon season brings flooding that inundates low-lying bastis for weeks; streets become rivers; waterborne disease increases sharply. Climate change is making these floods more severe and less predictable.

Traffic congestion: Dhaka's average vehicle speed is approximately 7 km/h — widely cited as the worst congestion of any megacity in the world. The city has a road network covering just 7% of its area (the global standard for major cities is 25%). Congestion costs Bangladesh an estimated 3% of GDP annually in lost productivity.

Water and sanitation: Safe drinking water is unavailable to large parts of the population, particularly basti residents. Arsenic contamination of groundwater is a significant health risk in Bangladesh — the WHO has described it as the largest mass poisoning in history, affecting an estimated 30–35 million people across the country.

Solid waste: Dhaka generates approximately 35,000 tonnes of solid waste per day. There is no formal waste collection for most basti residents. Waste is dumped in rivers and waterways, contributing to flooding by blocking drainage channels and to waterborne disease by contaminating water sources.

Unemployment and the informal economy: Many migrants from rural Bangladesh cannot find formal employment. They enter the informal economy as rickshaw drivers, street vendors, domestic workers, or day labourers. The informal economy provides income but without legal protections, minimum wages, or sick pay — making workers entirely vulnerable to economic shocks.

Dhaka's Responses

ADB-funded flood embankments: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has funded the construction of embankments around flood-vulnerable parts of Dhaka, along with drainage pump stations capable of removing floodwater from the city during monsoon season. These are top-down, infrastructure-heavy solutions that protect formal areas of the city but often do not extend to informal settlements.

BRAC (Building Resources Across Communities): BRAC is the world's largest NGO, founded in Bangladesh. It operates an extraordinary range of bottom-up programmes: microfinance loans to allow basti women to start small businesses; schools in informal settlements; health clinics with trained community health workers; and sanitation facilities. BRAC has reached over 100 million people across Bangladesh, demonstrating that community-level intervention can achieve at scale what government infrastructure programmes cannot.

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT): Bangladesh is planning a BRT network for Dhaka — dedicated lanes for express buses that can move large numbers of passengers more efficiently than private cars. The first corridor is under construction, though delays due to land acquisition and funding challenges have pushed back the timeline repeatedly.

Dutch water management collaboration: The Netherlands — a country that has managed flood risk for centuries — has worked with Bangladesh on advanced flood management techniques, including floating homes, permeable paving, and water retention basins designed to absorb monsoon rainfall before it overwhelms drainage systems.

Quick Check: Name one top-down and one bottom-up response to urban challenges in Dhaka. Explain why both types of response are needed.

Case Study 2: Dhaka, Bangladesh (LIC)

🇧🇩 Case Study 2: Dhaka, Bangladesh (LIC)

The Garment Industry: Bangladesh's Economic Engine

Dhaka's Urban Challenges

Dhaka's Responses

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