HOUSING IN

BANGLADESH
INTRODUCTION
 Introduction
• CULTURE AND TRADITION
• SIMPLE ARCHITECTURE
- made with subtle building
materials
- natural (now labelled as
modern)
 Introduction (Climate)

• six seasons in a year: summer, monsoon, autumn, late

autumn, winter and spring
• the climatic condition vary after each two months
• warm humid – climate region
• Heavy rainfall take place in the summer and monsoon
seasons.
- flood prone areas, nearly one-third of the country’s low
lands.
• In the winter months, from November to February,
temperature may occasionally fall below 8 c.
 Introduction
(Local Resources)
• resource of fresh water
- rivers and rivulets
• ponds, tanks and reservoirs to supply
water
• Bamboo – from vast bamboo gardens
• Wood – from natural and manmade
cultivation forests
• Clay and mud – from rural highlands
- clay and pottery making
 HOUSING IN BANGLADESH
• existence of human settlements or
housing have been found as early as
prehistoric times
• style and pattern of housing- adapt to
environmental, economic and social
needs, guided by climatic and
geographical locations
• predominantly a rural country with over
70% of its population living in nearly 80
thousands villages and the rest in over
525 urban centers ranging in size from
small growth centers to the huge
HOUSING CHALLENGES/ ISSUES
 CITIES

• SKYROCKETING PRICES
• DYSFUNCTIONAL RENTAL MARKET
• LIMITED PUBLIC HOUSING

LOW-INCOME
COMMUNITIES
SLUMS with poor services and no tenure security
17.4 million people

DHAKA
- The world’s most crowded city
CHALLENGES/ ISSUES
• At least one in every three people live in informal
settlements.
• The government - 7 percent
• Relies heavily on the private sector
• Formal private housing supply is also limited
• On average, slum residents pay BDT 47 per square
foot
HOUSING MODELS/ SYSTEMS
 Housing Model (Partnership and Community-
Driven Cooperation Approach: The Gopalganj Model)

• In 2009, with UPPR’s support, Gopalganj

municipality undertook a housing program to
offer tenure security to 346 evicted families.
• Identified vacant government land in the
Pourashava for resettling them.
• In 2010, the Ministry of Land allocated 4.16
acres on a 99-year lease to the Gopalganj
Pourashava.
• They developed low-cost housing model through
rigorous consultative and participatory processes.
 Housing Systems (RURAL)
• Typical rural Bangladesh houses consist of
individual, independent small houses or “huts”
• Spaces and furniture -minimal and simple
- brings out the traditional simplicity to it
• made up of mud, bamboo mat, timber, steel
sheets, straw or red bricks
• houses or huts are made on a thick mud platform
in order to prevent flood water to enter inside
the house.
RURAL
BANGLADESH
VILLAGE
 Housing Systems (URBAN)
• Urban living in Bangladesh became prominent from the
colonial period.
• Development of small townships in ancient Bengal by
kings, maharajahs, zaminders, wealthy merchants and
landowners started the era of urban housing.
• In the Pakistan period (1947-71) modern structures were
built for the rich and powerful both in the public and private
sectors.
 Housing Systems (URBAN)
• Large tracts of lands - government bodies
developed these as planned residential areas
and new satellite towns in Dhaka and other
cities.
• Planned low-income high-density areas with
small single-storey pucca nucleus houses
were also built, such as the ones in Mirpur,
Dhaka.
• Housing in spontaneous urban poor
settlements (or slums and squatter areas)
consists of kutcha and semi- pucca
structures similar to rural settlements.
HOUSING POLICY, OBJECTIVES AND
OUTCOMES
Housing Policies
• THE NATIONAL HOUSING POLICY (2008)
- The Policy states that the Government recognizes the difficult situation in which
the poor live in slums and squatter settlements

• THE NATIONAL URBAN SECTOR POLICY (2010)

- envisions strengthening the beneficial aspects of urbanization and at the same
time effectively dealing with its negative consequences so as to achieve sustainable
urbanization

• THE NATIONAL LAND USE POLICY (2001)

- highlights the need, the importance and the modalities of land
zoning for integrated planning and management of land resources of the
country
Housing Objectives
• Ensuring housing for all with particular emphasis on the
disadvantaged, destitute, the shelter less poor and the low and
middle-income groups of people;
• Make available suitable land for housing at affordable price;
• Developing mechanisms to discharge formation of slums and squatter
settlements, unauthorized constructions and encroachments;
• Organization of resources for housing through personal savings and
financial institutions
SUCCESSFUL/ UNSUCCESSFUL HOUSING
INITIATIVES CASES
Unsuccessful Initiatives
The Bhashantek Rehabilitation Project
• The Government undertook the BDT 341 crore project in Mirpur,
Dhaka to build 7,560 flats for slum residents and low-income groups.
• The Government fixed flat prices at rates that families could pay off in
10 years in monthly installments.
• Yet, the project got mired in irregularities and mismanagement. The
private developer that won the construction contract sold of a section
of the flats at higher prices to an affluent group.
The Government eventually scrapped the costly project.
Successful Initiatives
ARBAN
• one of the first NGOs to pilot a low-income, urban
housing project in Bangladesh.
• ARBAN built an apartment complex for 42-member
households in Mirpur, Dhaka. The apartments were
handed over in 2012.

Jhenaidah Citywide Housing

Process
• Through this community-led initiative, people
identified their housing challenges, mapped out what
they wanted to see in their neighborhoods and
helped in the construction process.
Other Initiatives
NHA’s Low-Income Community Housing Project
• a USD 50 million project to develop housing for the urban poor by 2021
• 24,000 urban poor will directly benefit from this project. Using a
community-driven approach, to access infrastructure grants, and housing
loans to improve housing and living conditions.

Livelihoods Improvement of the Urban Poor Communities’

(NUPRP)
• 5000 new housing units for extremely poor families in secondary cities
with GoB and UNDP’s support.
• Another 15000 families will receive financial support to build their houses
through a housing finance facility that the project will help establish with
UK aid’s support
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
• The common factor in determining how a housing project will be successful is the
budget and proper management.
• Bangladesh faces problems in housing initiatives when public and private developers
makes uncoordinated decisions even with the national housing policy.
• Additionally, housing finance is limited, making allotments and procedures difficult.
• Bangladesh is one of the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change
and is set to become even more as a result of climate change. One of the most
catastrophic effects of climate change is climate displacement – the displacement of
persons from their homes and lands as a result of the effects of climate change.