ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the development of Dhaka and the gap between formal and informal governance. It discusses the urbanization of Dhaka and how the city has been transformed by government practices. I set the scene by discussing some of the features of Bangladesh’s pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial periods. This chapter also discusses the power relations between central and local governments and the problems arising from the gap between the two in providing services to citizens. This chapter reviews national policies to see how policymakers have treated the urban poor. The focus of this chapter is to understand how policies and actions exclude or include the urban poor. This chapter is divided into four sections. The first section discusses the history of Dhaka’s governance to provide a background to the present-day city administration and how the city’s structure transformed administrative policies and practices. The second section will present the growth patterns of Dhaka, where I discuss the central and local governance systems. The third section will present central government planning for urban growth. It will also discuss policy-making organizations and their inclusion and exclusion of the urban poor.
