[reverse_swing]

BANGLADESH SANGBAD SANGSTHA, Dhaka
Dhaka will be the second largest city in the world by 2015, next to Tokyo, with a growth of urban population at a rate of 3.1 per cent per year, according to a report of the United Nations Population Division on agglomeration in the world cities.
Dhaka’s position in terms of population in 2001 was eighth among ten most densely populated cities and it will be the second with projected population of 2,11,19,000 in 2015 with its robust population growth similar to Lagos of Nigeria.
Dhaka will surpass Sao Paulo, Mumbai, New York, Mexico City, Kolkata in 2015 with inclusion of two more Asian cities Jakarta and Karachi in the list and exit of Los Angeles and Shanghai.
In 1950s, Dhaka’s total population was 4,17,000 and with 6.6 per cent growth rate it jumped to 21,73,000 in the next 25 years. The growth rate marked rise to 6.9 per cent, which raised the number of the city’s population to 1,23,17,000 in the last quarter of the twentieth century.
Dhaka along with Lagos were the only two cities during 1975-2000 with more than a million inhabitants among the 13 countries maintained an average annual growth rates above 5 per cent over the whole period.
Seoul, the capital of South Korea was the medium-sized city experiencing the highest growth rate during 1950-1975, averaging 7.6 per cent per year. At that rate, the population of Seoul doubled in every 9.1 years, passing from slightly over a million in 1950 to 6.8 million by 1975.
Lagos experienced a growth rate of 5.6 per cent per year over the last quarter of the last century, similar to Mexico City and Sao Paulo. But Dhaka maintained a growth rate of 6.9 per cent per year, higher even by smaller city standards.
By a factor of six, the population of Lagos quadrupled and that of Dhaka was multiplied by 2000, both had populations surpassing 10 million and had therefore joined the list of mega cities.
During 1975-2000, seven cities have attained the status of mega-cities. And, four of those mega-cities had growth rates above 4 per cent per year — Dhaka with 6.9 per cent; Lagos with 5.6 per cent; Hyderabad with 4.8 per cent and Karachi with 4.3 per cent.
Other three cities — Delhi, Mumbai and Istanbul — had growth rates averaging 3.9 per cent per year. Among those seven urban agglomerations, only Mumbai had a population that surpassed the 5 million in 1975.
Lagos, Dhaka, Karachi and Jakarta will likely grow at annual rates ranging from 3 per cent to 3.6 per cent till 2015, which considering the present mega-city status of the cities were termed as high.
Beijing, New York, Osaka and Shanghai and all of them had populations of at least 8 million. Tokyo, the largest urban agglomeration at present, grew at 1.2 per cent per year during 1975-2000 which are expected to show zero growth rate in the coming decades.


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-NewageBD

Edited on, January 18, 2005, 9:12 PM GMT, by reverse_swing.