Evaluating Accommodation situation in Urban poor in Dhaka

The Objectives and Method

The evaluation of housing situation for the urban poor has considerable potential for addressing the root problem of the shelter-less people. There has been strikingly limited research on this subject in the context of Bangladesh. The approaches, as deployed for this study, include the following:

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Evaluating Accommodation situation in Urban poor in Dhaka

The area has been developed on a private land near the Kamlapur Railway Station. Basic utility services are available in the locality. There are more earning members in a single family. About 60% of the residents are literate, although the general level of awareness about health, environment and sanitation conditions is low.

The area has been developed centring an industrial zone in sub-urban areas of Dhaka. The urban poor living here are mostly engaged in various formal and informal jobs in and around the industrial zone, and depict some degree of community feeling. The area houses a good number of apparel industrial units, originally established at the city centre (at Mahakhali) and subsequently shifted to Gazipur as a part of a decentralization process. Field observations suggest that this process works well if housing facilities for the low income group could  be established centring an industrial zone that ensures better livelihood.