Dhaka now stands on the cusp of collapse, steadily becoming an unlivable city in the foreseeable future. According to the United Nations' 'World Urbanization Prospects 2025', Dhaka's population has surged to an astonishing 3.66 crore, far exceeding earlier national estimates. In comparison, the 2022 national census recorded just over 1 crore people within the Dhaka North and South City Corporations.
What is even more worrying is that if population growth continues at this pace, Dhaka is projected to become the world's largest city within the next 25 years. With more than 100,000 people squeezed into every square kilometre, the capital has already become the world's second most populous megacity, surpassing Tokyo and New Delhi and trailing only Jakarta.
While planned urban areas typically accommodate around 120 people per acre, Dhaka holds more than double that-250 per acre-and even reaches 400 per acre in parts of old Dhaka. Such extreme densities intensify every existing disaster risk. A major earthquake would result in catastrophic devastation, not simply because of natural forces but due to decades of infrastructural neglect and unregulated urbanisation.
Dhaka's air pollution and environmental degradation have likewise worsened at an alarming rate. As a result, rapid, unplanned expansion has pushed the 400-year-old city to the brink of dysfunction.
Ideally, cities require at least 60 percent of their land to be devoted to roads, water bodies, greenery, and public spaces. In Dhaka's case, that figure has shrunk to just 24 percent. Congestion and suffocating pollution are the inevitable consequences of such urban imbalance.
Dhaka remains one of the world's most polluted cities year-round, with toxic air causing thousands of premature deaths. Noise pollution routinely exceeds global safety standards, damaging both mental and physical health. Its rivers-the Buriganga, Turag, Balu, and Shitalakshya-have turned into toxic channels contaminated by industrial waste, sewage and plastic.
Behind the city's population boom lies relentless migration from distant regions. Every day, about 2,500 new arrivals-from climate-affected families to jobseekers-are absorbed into the city. This happens because rural Bangladesh continues to offer limited livelihoods, inadequate services and minimal safety nets.
Many who once returned to villages have been compelled to come back to Dhaka as unemployment, inflation and rising living costs eroded their resilience. Higher courts, hospitals, universities, government offices, and recruitment centres also pull hundreds of thousands into the capital daily, placing immense pressure on infrastructure.
Against this backdrop, decentralisation stands out as the only viable solution. The Padma Bridge has already opened pathways for shifting people and services toward the southwest-similar to models used successfully in cities like Delhi. RAJUK's Detailed Area Plan and the development of satellite towns offer hope, but only if implemented coherently and without delay.
The time has come to prioritise decentralisation and sustainable planning to make Dhaka a city that can breathe again.
