Dhaka:The Housing and Public Works Minister, Zakaria Taher, announced that the government is working towards decentralised, balanced urban and regional development rather than centralised urbanisation.
According to United News of Bangladesh, the minister shared this information during a seminar titled "Introducing a Uniform Spatial Planning System in Bangladesh," organised by the Urban Development Directorate (UDD) at Segunbagicha in the city in celebration of World Town Planning Day 2026.
The seminar highlighted that master plans are being developed for every city corporation and district to ensure sustainable urbanisation. This includes plans to develop secondary townships around Dhaka. The UDD has introduced a 10-year plan to be expanded gradually from metropolitan cities to the upazila level. The Spatial Planning Act, 2026, prioritises sustainable development, economic growth, biodiversity conservation, climate resilience, and the protection of agriculture and the environment.
The keynote paper at the seminar noted that agencies like RAJUK, CDA, KDA, RDA, CoxDA, LGED, city corporations, and the UDD are preparing spatial plans under their own legal frameworks, resulting in differing final outputs. This has complicated the integration of planning data into the SDG tracker and led to overlapping mandates at various government levels.
To address these issues, the UDD has proposed a "Uniform Spatial Planning System" to standardise survey methods, data standards, map scales, land-use classifications, and approval procedures across agencies. The UDD aims to prepare spatial plans for the entire country and all districts by 2035, recommending the preparation of terms of reference, a rate schedule, and the adoption of uniform planning standards and map schemes.