Urban resilience in Bangladesh: Integrating local and national planning processes

The document highlights the critical role of local governments in achieving Bangladesh's national and international climate commitments, noting that while national policies like the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 exist, they often lack alignment with local realities. It identifies significant gaps in vertical coordination, technical capacity, and dedicated climate financing for municipalities. The brief recommends the use of resilience planning tools, the establishment of national knowledge management 'cells', and the inclusion of local governments in national consultation processes to ensure budgets and policies are responsive to on-the-ground urban vulnerabilities.

• Bangladesh faces severe economic impacts from climate change, with annual GDP losses of 0.5% to 1% over the last 40 years and an estimated $36 billion total decline in agricultural GDP between 2005 and 2050.
• National policies such as the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan 2009, the NDC, and the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 support resilience, but often fail to reflect local needs or on-the-ground realities.
• There is a significant lack of vertical integration; local government staff in cities like Rajshahi and Narayanganj are often unaware of national policy goals, and cities are rarely consulted during the preparation of national climate or development plans.
• Climate financing is a major hurdle, as no municipality currently has separate budget lines for climate action, and the national budget allocation for environment and climate change decreased by approximately 0.03 percent in the 2020-2021 fiscal year.
• Local governments suffer from a lack of technical capacity and human resources, with municipal planners in towns like Kushtia, Singra, and Mongla possessing limited knowledge of climate change implications for urban development.
• The document recommends establishing national knowledge management 'cells' to provide climate finance information and technical training to local governments to improve resource allocation and inter-government coordination.
• Current project approval processes by the Planning Commission require Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) but do not include specific assessments of climate impacts.

APA

Rashid, M. J., Sadhukhan, B., & Rashid, N. (2021). Urban resilience in Bangladesh: Integrating local and national planning processes. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Urban-Resilience-Planning-in-Bangladesh_Final.pdf

Chicago

Rashid, Md. Jubaer, Bedoshruti Sadhukhan, and Najiba Rashid. Urban resilience in Bangladesh: Integrating local and national planning processes. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2021. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Urban-Resilience-Planning-in-Bangladesh_Final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Rashid |first1=Md. Jubaer |last2=Sadhukhan |first2=Bedoshruti |last3=Rashid |first3=Najiba |title=Urban resilience in Bangladesh: Integrating local and national planning processes |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=1 March 2021 |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Urban-Resilience-Planning-in-Bangladesh_Final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rashid2021urban, author = {Rashid, Md. Jubaer and Sadhukhan, Bedoshruti and Rashid, Najiba}, title = {{Urban resilience in Bangladesh: Integrating local and national planning processes}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2021}, month = mar, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Urban-Resilience-Planning-in-Bangladesh_Final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }