Dynamics of urbanization : the case of Bangladesh

A of the dynamics of urbanization in contemporary Bangladesh is carried out based on the secondary analysis of population census data, governmental reports and published studies. The phenomenon of urbanization is examined principally as a process of population concentration and of social transformation. Urbanization in Bangladesh represents the process of population redistribution in response to areal differences in economic opportunities. The 'push-pull' model provides an explanatory framework for the study of rural to urban migration -- a phenomenon which has been largely responsible for rapid urban growth there in recent times. The  increasing impoverishment of rural Bangladesh -- under the conditions of infrastructural disequilibrium during the colonial period, population explosion and the resultant pressure on the rural natural resources, agricultural stagnation, and recurrent natural hazards — all combined to produce the push situation. The urban settlements are generally growing without properly absorbing the newly urbanizing migrants. In other words, industrialization has been insignificantly responsible for urbanization of Bangladesh. Nonetheless, the large urban settlements -- with their new roles in the post-independent period -- have generated profound social transformation beyond their physical boundaries. It is in this context that the process of urbanization seems to have far reaching consequences for the country as a whole.