Neglect, opt-out and exclusion: Political realities for poor urban people in Bangladesh

The growing number of poor people in cities of developing countries should be understood within development not as an “urban problem” but rather, as their legitimate response to where economic opportunities concentrate. Finding solutions to the challenges facing poor urban people thus deserve a political priority but hardly done in practice. This paper examines the adverse political realities experienced by poor urban people in Bangladesh at the national as well as the city level. At the national level, based on Banks et al (2010), it reveals how urban poor is neglected in policy and action on poverty reduction. The city level analysis contrasts between two common types of settlement– squatters built on public land and privately rented settlements. In squatter settlements, it reveals how a culture of aid-dependency in and political opt-outs by elected representative are being created through projects such as the Urban Partnerships of Poverty Reduction (UPPR) project. Contrastingly, it reveals how dwellers of private settlement suffer from political exclusion, marked by not being included in the voter list and the political apathy created as a consequence. The paper argues that Bangladesh, facing the prospect of a greater number of poor people living in urban than rural areas by the middle of this century, needs to craft strategies for increased political recognition of poor people and their institutions.