Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has said Bangladesh must move forward by overcoming every challenge and keeping pace with the world to survive with dignity in an increasingly competitive global environment.
He said World Habitat Day was not merely about providing a house; it was directly linked to many other aspects of life. Sustainable housing, he said, means access to safe water and uninterrupted electricity, improved sanitation, public transport and road infrastructure, education and healthcare facilities, adequate employment and, above all, a safe environment for a dignified life.
The Prime Minister made the remarks at a discussion organised at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Dhaka on Monday to mark World Habitat Day 2026.
He said ensuring safe and sustainable housing for all citizens was relatively easier for developed countries but far more challenging for a densely populated country like Bangladesh.
“Yet, to survive with dignity in a competitive world, we must move forward by keeping pace with the world and overcoming every challenge,” Tarique said. “Ensuring not only housing for citizens but also making it safe and sustainable is now a pressing necessity.”
He said settlements and populations were continuing to grow in Bangladesh’s cities and urban areas. “There is no denying that Dhaka is currently overpopulated. The situation is almost the same in other cities of the country, where urban populations are several times higher than normal capacity,” he said.
Against this backdrop, he said, the concept of “universal housing and sustainable urbanisation” had become particularly important. Ensuring safe, quality and affordable housing for all in cities, alongside developing environmentally friendly and well-planned urban areas, was essential.
However, he said, while these objectives might be easy to articulate, implementing them was much more difficult under the country’s existing circumstances.
The Prime Minister said the government had taken all possible measures to ensure “universal housing and sustainable urbanisation”. Providing all citizens with liveable, affordable, environment-friendly and safe housing equipped with basic services was a fundamental constitutional right, he said, adding that the government was firmly committed to ensuring that right.
Tarique said building planned, safe, environment-friendly and inclusive cities was a key goal of the government. At the same time, ensuring liveable, safe and dignified housing for low- and lower-middle-income people was receiving priority in government plans.
“Ensuring planned urbanisation and housing facilities, as well as providing accommodation for people with limited incomes, is one of the government’s major electoral pledges,” he said.
The Ministry of Housing and Public Works was working relentlessly towards this goal, he said. Master plans were being prepared for every city corporation and district to ensure planned urbanisation.
Development authorities have already been established in Sylhet, Mymensingh, Barishal, Cumilla, Rangpur and Narayanganj, he said. Such initiatives would facilitate the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 11 by creating inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities, he added.
The Prime Minister said the government was also working on various plans to ease population pressure on urban areas. Improving faster, safer and more affordable connectivity between Dhaka and other cities and the rest of the country, while expanding civic amenities in rural areas, could provide an effective alternative to reduce pressure on urban centres, he said.
He said the government had already begun implementing various measures towards that end.
Tarique said the government was moving beyond the existing pattern of development concentrated in Dhaka and a few major cities and had taken various initiatives to bring every region of the country into the mainstream of national development.
“The government’s goal is not concentrated urbanisation but decentralised and balanced urban and regional development,” he said.
The government has already undertaken plans to prepare a spatial plan for the entire country under the supervision of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works and to develop secondary townships around Dhaka, he said.
Tarique said environmental protection was an important consideration in developing liveable housing. Planned housing was being developed in divisional, district and upazila towns through the National Housing Authority and development authorities, with due importance given to nature and the environment, he said.
“The recent global political and economic situation is presenting us with both various challenges and opportunities,” the Prime Minister said. “Even amid this changing situation, the government is continuing its sincere efforts to implement various measures swiftly and transparently to address the challenges in urban areas, particularly to ensure universal housing.”
He said addressing the housing crisis in the country’s urban areas was understandably somewhat difficult for the government alone. In this regard, the coordinated participation of private entrepreneurs involved in the housing sector and other stakeholders could play an effective and important role in tackling the situation, he said.
Tarique reiterated that liveable, affordable, environment-friendly and safe housing equipped with basic services was one of citizens’ fundamental rights.
He said efforts were continuing to encourage block-based housing, establish parks and playgrounds in different areas and develop industrial zones in designated areas as part of initiatives to ensure citizens’ fundamental rights.
“I believe that if the government can implement all the plans it has undertaken in phases, ‘safe housing for all’ will become a reality for the citizens of this country, InshaAllah,” the Prime Minister said.
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