Factors in building resilience in urban slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh

This paper examines the hazards that affect slum communities in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and explores the challenges and opportunities for building their resilience. Dhaka is a rapidly urbanising megacity in one of the world's most densely populated and poorest countries. Almost 30% of its more than 14 million population lives in slums characterised by tenure insecurity and evictions, and controlled by ganglords who charge exorbitant rates for basic services. Such a situation deters investments for improving living conditions. Poor quality housing is typical and basic public are non-existent or very limited. A combination of human and natural factors results in various urban hazards with serious impacts on the poor. Flooding and water-logging due to poor drainage are widespread; windstorms and urban fires cause havoc in slums because of the weak construction of houses; unplanned urbanisation and sub-standard building practices pose great risk in the event of a major earthquake; Bangladesh is severely threatened by climate change and erratic weather, increased flooding and temperature rise are evident. Bangladesh has a large number of development agencies, but most do not engage in cities. The Urban Partnerships for Poverty Reduction (UPPR) program is unique and is a very large program targeted for 3 million slum dwellers in 30 cities including Dhaka; WaterAid Bangladesh addresses water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) in slums; the Coalition for the Urban Poor (CUP) is a network of more than 40 NGOs and advocates for the rights of slum dwellers, and supports community-based organisations in slum settlements. The challenges of building resilience in slums are many, but there are also opportunities. Particularly recent government policies on urban development and climate change, as well as an emerging interest among agencies to address urban issues, offer potential for advocacy for building resilience in urban slums. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B. V.