Growth in Dhaka

Essay by tarana October 2014

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A megacity is defined as a metropolitan area with a total population in excess of ten million people.

Located on the banks of the Buriganga River lies Dhaka; the capital city of Bangladesh. As per the

definition of a megacity, it is the 7th largest populous city in the world and in accordance with the

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, it has an estimated population of 15 million and is likely to

continue to increase. It is expected to reach a staggering population of 25 million by 2025. The

main cause for the rapid population increase is due to in-migration. The reasons associated with

this main factor are that there are better employment opportunities, thus, giving people a chance to

escape from the poverty cycle. However, this lands up causing extreme inequality between the

higher and lower income families, which eventually results in higher housing prices as well as poor

infrastructure. !

! Dhaka's rapid population growth is caused by various factors, however, the main cause is in-

migration. The common misconception is that the source of the rapid population growth which

happens to be 1.6% is due to high fertility rates. However, this is most definitely not the case

because the fertility rate of Dhaka happens to be 2.45 children born/woman (2014 est.), which is

quite similar to other MEDCs. In-migration is the true reasoning behind the sudden inclination in

population within the capital city. 70% of the rural lower income families migrate due to

environmental factors which result in citizens not being able to earn a living, and in turn, places the

them in absolute poverty. Coastal flooding and river erosions tend to occur quite often and thus, it

destroys crops and rice fields that sustain villagers as saline water pushes further inland. Ferocious

storms demolish homes...