Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. Photo: Collected
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has said that the government is determined to ensure safe, sustainable and dignified housing for all citizens. He said that it is the demand of the hour to not only provide citizens with a place to live, but also to make it safe and sustainable.
He said this at a discussion meeting organized on the occasion of World Habitat Day-2026 at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Center in the capital on Monday (October 5).
The Prime Minister said that World Habitat Day is not just about a house, but many other things are directly related to it. Sustainable housing generally means safe water and uninterrupted power supply, improved sanitation system, public transport and improved road management, education and health facilities, and adequate employment. Above all, a safe environment is needed for a dignified life.
He said, “Ensuring a safe and sustainable home for all citizens is not as easy as it is for the developed world, but it is not as easy in a populous country like Bangladesh. Still, to survive with honor in a competitive world, we have to keep pace with the world and face every challenge head on.”
Tarique Rahman said, “The number of people living in cities, ports and towns of Bangladesh is constantly increasing. There is no denying that the capital Dhaka is currently overpopulated. The situation is almost the same in other cities of the country. There are several times more people living in urban areas than usual.”
The Prime Minister said that in such a reality, the concept of ‘Universal Housing, Sustainable Urbanization’ is certainly important. It is important to ensure safe, quality and affordable housing for all people in cities, as well as to build environmentally friendly and well-planned cities.
However, the Prime Minister also mentioned that while these issues are easy to say, their implementation is equally difficult in the existing reality of the country. He said that the current government has taken all possible steps to ensure ‘universal housing, sustainable urbanization’.
He further said that livable, affordable, environmentally friendly, safe, and basic service-equipped housing, i.e. universal housing, is a fundamental constitutional right of citizens. The current government is determined to ensure and secure this right.
Stating that the current government’s goal is to build a planned, safe, environmentally friendly and inclusive city, the Prime Minister said that at the same time, the government’s plan also includes a system of livable, safe and dignified housing for low and lower-middle income people. Ensuring planned urbanization and housing and providing housing facilities for people with limited income is one of the main election promises of the current government.
He said, the Ministry of Housing and Public Works is working relentlessly towards that goal. Master plans are being formulated in each city corporation and district for planned urbanization. In the meantime, Sylhet, Mymensingh, Barisal, Comilla, Rangpur and Narayanganj Development Authorities have been formed.
As a result, on the one hand, it will be easier to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 by building inclusive, safe, tolerant and sustainable cities, he said.
Stating that the government is also working on all possible plans to reduce the pressure of people in urban areas, the Prime Minister said, “The government considers the plan to reduce the pressure of people in urban areas by increasing civic amenities in rural areas as an effective alternative, along with making the communication system with cities across the country, including the capital Dhaka, faster, more affordable and safer. The current government has started implementing various steps to implement that plan.”
He said, “In the current urbanization situation of the country, the current government has taken various steps to include every region of the country in the mainstream of national development, going beyond the centralized development of the capital and a few big cities. The current government’s goal is not centralized urbanization but decentralized, balanced urban and regional development.”
He also said that the government has already taken a plan to formulate a spatial plan for the entire country and develop secondary townships around Dhaka under the supervision of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works.
She also mentioned that protecting the environment is important to the government in creating habitable housing. The Prime Minister said that planned housing is being developed in divisional cities, districts and upazila cities through the National Housing Authority and Development Authority, giving importance to nature and environment.
He said, “The recent global political and economic situation is confronting us with both challenges and opportunities. Even in this changing situation, the government has continued its sincere efforts to implement various measures quickly and transparently to address the crisis in urban areas, especially to ensure universal housing.”
Noting that it is difficult for the government to address the housing crisis in the country’s urban areas alone, for good reason, the Prime Minister said that the coordinated participation of stakeholders, including private entrepreneurs involved in the housing sector, can play an effective and important role in addressing the situation.
Tarique Rahman said, “Living, affordable, environmentally friendly, safe, and basic service-equipped housing, or universal housing, for all is one of the fundamental rights of citizens. In order to implement the fundamental rights of citizens, efforts are ongoing to encourage block-based housing, establish area-based parks, playgrounds, and develop industrial areas in designated zones.”
The Prime Minister said, ‘I believe that if the government is able to implement all the plans adopted in phases, ‘safe housing for all’ will become an existing reality before the citizens of the country.’