Does infrastructural development cause underdevelopment of the third world peripheral states like Bangladesh? Can flyover project overcome traffic congestion? Does it create vulnerabilities for the common people? This paper is an attempt to answer all the above questions. Depending on the qualitative research design, this study was conducted on the two selected flyover projects in Dhaka, Bangladesh named Mayor Hanif Flyover and Khilgaon Flyover. Theoretical arguments of development and underdevelopment on modernization and dependency school were incorporated for critically examining this research. Hence, the researcher followed conflict approaches given by Dahrendorf (1959), later used Coser (1956) and Guangshe Jia, et al.'s (2011) arguments to understand how mega projects like flyover operate through different channels in third world countries. The study then reveals that although these mega projects benefited communication system, it literally failed to fulfill public core demands and interests by making people marginalized and vulnerable. Besides, this study explored that mega projects like flyover are an outcome of bureaucratic decision in which social and environmental impact assessment was ignored.
The urban poor experience serious discontents, harassment, eviction, police repression and local goons threatening when using urban space for living and livelihood purposes. This study pursues to understand the poor people’s negotiation strategies with different powerful agents who occupy money, muscleman and political affiliation. Following a mixed method approach, this study investigates the two biggest slums in Dhaka as case studies. Findings show that urban poor have to build different social-contract relations with various local agents as survival mechanisms while economic activities using urban space are considered to be illegal in Bangladesh. The role of the state is somewhat ambiguous in this regard. On the one hand, the state is not evicting the poor permanently from the city but it is repatriating them on other grounds and, on the other hand, it permits hundreds of informal intermediary agents to work for sustaining informal urban settlements for the poor people. We argue that these distinctive socio-structural arrangements in Dhaka city is hindering poor people from getting united and claiming their rights to the city while also not providing them proper opportunities to fully appropriate the urban space. These socio-economic relations need to be considered in order to make a just city for all, from the RTC perspective.
Due to rapid urbanization and the influence of neoliberal development policies, slum dwellers frequently encounter marginalization, inadequate living conditions, limited access to urban resources and spaces, and limited political representation throughout the world. Bangladesh is not an exception. This study investigates the right to appropriate and political participation of the urban poor in Bangladesh within the context of neoliberal development. In addition, the study critically evaluates the role of the state and various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society organizations in mobilizing the urban poor in Bangladesh. The study, therefore, implements a mixed-methods approach, including surveys, interviews, and community consultations, to obtain answers to these questions from two slums in Dhaka, Bangladesh, named Sattola and Pallabi. The findings show that the urban poor in these informal settlements confront significant challenges in claiming urban spaces due to local legislation, regulations, and development plans. As a result, they must negotiate with various formal and informal stakeholders to exercise their rights over urban spaces. The study also emphasizes that the urban poor face social and institutional barriers that limit their ability to participate effectively in decision-making, such as exclusion from formal political processes, limited access to information, and a lack of awareness of their rights. These difficulties exacerbate their marginalization from conventional urban development planning. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that due to the authoritarian state’s control over them, NGOs and other civil society organizations cannot assist the urban poor in mobilizing their right to the city. As a result, this study underlines the importance of a democratic government in Bangladesh for recognizing and defending the rights of the urban poor. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of policy reforms and partnerships among government institutions, civil society organizations, and international actors to achieve inclusive and sustainable urban development that prioritizes the rights and well-being of the urban poor.
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