future role of the government in the housing sector as a “facilitator” rather than a
“provider”. In order to increase the land, infrastructure, services and credits, and to ensure availability of building materials at reasonable prices, the government has promoted house building and finance institutions. As the government has just acted as a facilitator, the actual construction of housing is generally left to the private sector developers, the people themselves and the NGOs. The policy also has a special
consideration for the improvement of low-income settlements as well as the slums and squatters of the urban centers. The housing policy also recommended the formation of National Housing Council and a National Housing Authority in order to implement the policy objectives and programs of the government (MOHPW/GOB, 1993).
The poor in urban areas, especially their habitats in slums and squatter settlements, became a policy issue soon after the liberation of Bangladesh. The government adopted a program of resettlement of squatters in Dhaka, Chittagong, and Khulna in 1974 but only implemented it in Dhaka (in January 1975). The 1976 Habitat National Report, as well as
the survey report on squatters by the CUS (Centre for Urban Studies) made a detailed analysis of squatters and also proposed general recommendations to tackle with the problem of squatters and urban immigrants (CUS, 1976). The Second and the Third Five-Year Plans also provided some schemes and programs for resettlement of squatters.
However, the most serious attention on urban slums and squatter settlements was given through the formation of the Dhaka Mahanagari Bustee Samasya Niroshan Committee in August 1989 (Gono Shahajjo Shansta, 1995). In the Report of the committee, the problem of Dhaka’s slum and squatter dwellers is analyzed comprehensively and both short and long term recommendations were made for the problems. The Committee recommended to acknowledge the economic and social importance and the policy of integrating the poor to the urban setting mainly through (i) upgrading of existing slums and squatter settlements; and (ii) resettlement of squatters in and around the city (MOHPW/GOB, 1993).
Some of the policy implications were about the rapid increase in the housing stock and reduction in the standard of public housing to be consistent with the prevailing income levels. In design and construction, local materials and indigenous building methods should be used to decrease the cost of units and promote the local housing industry. In order to make public housing policy suited to low-income communities, priority should be given to the development of small plots instead of retaining the present trend of a meagre supply of high standard, costly, fully serviced dwellings and large serviced plot development. To make such schemes affordable for the target population, plot size and infrastructure requirements should be kept at a minimum (GOB, 1990).
Another important measure towards increasing the supply of land for the urban poor is the increased purchase of peripheral urban land in advance of urban growth.
Unfortunately, although the presence of the laws which enabled the compulsory
acquisition of land for public interest (often exercised by the development authorities), in practice these have been exercised mainly in the acquisition of land for private resale to either highest bidders or to the high income communities. It is therefore, suggested that the application of such laws be widened to include land for housing the poor (World Bank, 1985). Along with increasing the supply of housing for the poor, efforts should be made to increase the supply of housing units for middle-income communities. In
Bangladesh, the difference between lower middle and low-income groups are not distinct. A good number of middle-income people also reside in the urban slum and squatter areas. Therefore, as long as housing for the middle-income communities is in short supply, the competition for housing will drive the poor out, even from the slums and squatter settlements. To some extent, an adequate housing stock for middle-income communities will prevent the displacement of the poor through formal or informal market transactions.
Rent control is another effective measure for providing more shelter opportunity for the urban poor. Studies show (Mahbub-un-Nabi, and Nabi, 1983) that the rate of rent paid on a square meter basis is considerably higher on cheaper dwellings compared with the large and luxury dwellings. Increasing pressure by middle-income communities for cheaper dwellings made it more difficult for the low-income people to find housing.
United Nations (1987) recommended Third World countries to develop building
materials industry utilizing local raw materials. In accordance with this suggestion, the government policy is in favor of developing appropriate low cost technology to improve the quality with locally available materials like mud, bamboo and straw, for rural
housing. It also encourages the use of cement for high quality urban housing and the
official policy supports the import of selected building materials like white cement, mosaic chip, tile, teak, and even marble. Steel and aluminum materials and sanitary equipments are largely produced locally.
The role of culture is immense in the evolution and structuring of urban settlements in Bangladesh. The shape, form and layout design of a village or a city are as much evidences of culture as that of physical or other societal factors. The cultural and religious obligations also play an important role in the layout of the village homes. In addition the male and female domain and privacy of women create a number of semi-private and semi-public spaces in the dwellings of a rural house.
Figure 3.3. The Courtyard Space and the Male and Female Domain in Bangladeshi Traditional House (Source: Chowdhury, 1998: 344).
There is a big difference in residential pattern between rural and urban areas in
Bangladesh. Islam, Ali and Hossain (1980) have made an analysis of the layout pattern of rural housing and identified four different types where courtyards are essential and integral part of the rural homestead. The replication of such courtyard spaces can often
be seen in the low-income settlements within urban areas although the importance of such space has diminished long ago.
In one report by CUS (1992), it is stated that, the migrants are more oriented by their social and cultural backgrounds. As they mainly build their dwelling themselves by the help of craftsman, they try to build the familiar traditional plan types with the familiar construction systems under present conditions in squatter areas. However, Huq-Hussain (1996) argues that the traditional replication in squatter settlement is not often possible because of little access to residential land and lack of fund but given a chance they would copy the traditional housing.