Measuring deprivations in the slums of Bangladesh: implications for achieving sustainable development goals

ABSTRACT

Approximately 880 million people, or one in four urban residents, live in slums today. While this enumeration is useful, it is not a trivial exercise to estimate slum population for a city, let alone globally, especially when the definition of a slum remains a debatable construct. To demonstrate this point empirically, we utilize a household survey from nine cities in Bangladesh and provide three different estimates of slum population based on three distinct definitions. We use a contextual definition that was adapted by the Government of Bangladesh, and two universal definitions that were adapted by the international development community. Two of the universal definitions were proposed to track progress on the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals, respectively. By applying these different definitions to the same data, we found that the Bangladeshi Government’s definition provides slum population estimates that are far lower compared to those when we apply the definitions provided by the international development community. Such underestimation could misguide policymakers who want to know the extent of the policy problem, influence what kind of policy solutions will be pursued, and directly affect how these solutions will be targeted to respective populations.

KEYWORDS:

• Sustainable development goals
• slums
• Bangladesh
• poverty
• housing

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. In Bangladesh, urban centers are organized in three levels: district (upazilla) headquarters, municipal cities and towns (paurashavas), and city corporations.

2. The slum identification criteria were i) minimum of 10 households; ii) high density (300 persons per acre/3 or more adults per room/37 sqft floor space per person/over 75 percent single room family occupancy); iii) Over 75 percent of the housing units are inadequate, kutcha or semi-pucca; iv) poor water and sanitation with high sharing and water stagnation prevalence; v) poor socio-economic conditions among at least 75 percent of residents. These criteria used by UHS 2013 are the same as in the Slums of Urban Areas: Mapping and Census 2005 (Note: kutcha and semi-pucca means temporary and semi-permanent structures respectively).

3. By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers. For MDG 7D, Bangladesh used the first 4 of the 5 household deprivation criteria to classify slum households.

4. Table No. H02 of the 2014 Slum Census reports the number of slum households disaggregated by city corporations. It also reports the total number of slum households in the municipalities and other urban areas.

5. The remaining 36.96% was split between Gazipur City Corporation (9.54%), which was still a Municipality in 2013, and other municipalities and towns (27.42%).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amit Patel

Amit Patel is Assistant Professor at University of Massachusetts Boston’s McCormack Graduate School for Policy and Global Studies. Amit’s research focuses on bottom-up approaches to improve socio-economic outcomes for urban poor. His main research projects funded by the National Science Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Urban Institute, and the World Bank focus on housing and health disparities concerning urban poor living in slums in the Global South. He regularly teaches courses on public policy theories, urban politics and policies, and advanced quantitative methods. Amit has a PhD in public policy from George Mason University and prior training in management, urban and regional planning, and architecture. When he is not in a slum or in front of a computer, you will find him behind his camera.

George Joseph

George Joseph is a Senior Economist in the Water Global Practice of the World Bank. His work at the World Bank involves analytical and advisory services, and economic inputs to lending operations. He is a behavioral and applied microeconomist and his research includes impact evaluation, water and sanitation, labor economics and behavioral economics. He has a PhD in economics from Rutgers University, NJ and a MPhil and MA from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Anne Shrestha

Anne Shrestha has been at  the World Bank Water Global Practice as a consultant for the past two years working on analytic and advisory services and applied research. Her specialization includes applied econometrics and her interests include behavioral economics and socio-economic issues at the intersection of urbanization, infrastructure and poverty. She holds a Master’s in Public Administration and International Development from Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Yaeli Foint

Yaeli Foint is a PhD Candidate in Organizations & Social Change at University of Massachusetts Boston's College of Management. Yaeli is an NSF IGERT Fellow and is passionate about systemic change and innovative solutions furthering access to life-sustaining resources. Yaeli's research interests include social entrepreneurship, sustainable development, and the water & sanitation sector.