ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the problems created due to the fast growth of Dhaka and how people in poor neighborhoods were excluded from the benefits of city life and urban growth. Therefore, how people struggled to be included in the city was an important question. This chapter introduced the key research questions. The primary research question concerns how political inclusion and exclusion affect the patterns of interaction between poor neighborhood residents and the authorities in Dhaka city. To answer this question, I had to understand patterns of inclusion and exclusion and the nature of political power and relationships that the urban poor have with each other and more powerful actors. To explore inclusion and exclusion, I asked to what extent city authorities considered the urban poor as citizens, to what extent they were integrated into the economic, social, and political life of the city, to what extent they had access to housing, basic utilities, and services. Are people included by ‘prescribed inclusionary processes’ from above or do they have their own strategies that help them to be included? By “political power,” I refer to the capacity of the people to employ political strategies and actions, e.g., organizing protests, controlling neighborhoods, engaging in party politics, networking with political leaders, and voting. There is a section which concerns methodology. This section provides further information on the research design and the historical and socio-economic background of two research sites, BRP and Korail, and discusses the different powerful urban actors, including national and local leaders, bureaucrats, police, INGOs and NGOs, CBOs, and civil society.
