Cities 48 (2015) 31–41

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Cities
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City profile

Chittagong, Bangladesh
Md Aslam Mia a,⇑, Shamima Nasrin a, Miao Zhang a,b, Rajah Rasiah a
a
Department of Development Studies, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
b
Institute of China Studies, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Located in the southeast, metropolitan Chittagong is the second largest city in Bangladesh. Its strategic
Received 3 December 2014 location as the busiest seaport in the region has made it a major economic hub attracting strong inflows
Received in revised form 18 May 2015 of foreign investment into the production of apparel, ship breaking and oil refinery activities. The city
Accepted 25 May 2015
boasts a deep harbor that supports strongly commerce, business and industrial activities. However,
despite its rich scenic and natural endowments, population growth and poor planning has caused serious
social, infrastructure and environmental problems so that about a third of its population live in slums.
Keywords:
This profile captures the historical origin, and socio-economic and spatial development of Chittagong city.
Spatial development
Urbanization
It also discusses the growing infrastructure and environmental challenges facing the city and the need for
Environmental challenges the introduction of an integrated multidimensional framework to make the city more livable than its pre-
Chittagong sent situation.
Bangladesh Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction With production accounting for over 40% of national industrial

A number of cities in South Asia have been profiled before.
Examples include Chennai and Delhi in India (Ahmad, Balaban,
Doll, & Dreyfus, 2013; Rashmi & Desouza, 2015), Rangoon in
Myanmar (Morley, 2013), Kathmandu in Nepal (Thapa,
Murayama, & Ale, 2008), Thimphu in Bhutan (Walcott, 2009) and
Colombo in Sri Lanka (van Horen, 2002). A similar profiling of
Chittagong from Bangladesh will be useful to expand our under-
standing of cities in the sub-continent.
Located in the southeast of Bangladesh (22°130 N–22°270 N and
91°400 E–91°530 E) and facing the Bay of Bengal, Chittagong is
well-known as the commercial capital and the busiest seaport city
in the country. With a land area of 157 km2 Chittagong is the sec-
ond largest city in Bangladesh. Inheriting its traditional role as an
important harbor for seafaring spice trade between Europe and
the East in history, Chittagong stands out with its strategic location
and friendly business environment, which makes it a national eco-
nomic hub of hundreds of the oldest and largest industries in
Bangladesh (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2013b). Being a major
contributor toward national exports and imports, Chittagong has
become a thriving city with strong linkages to the domestic
economy.
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: mdaslam.mia@siswa.um.edu.my (M.A. Mia), shamimanas-
rin@siswa.um.edu.my (S. Nasrin), miaomiao@siswa.um.edu.my, septem-
ber870922@hotmail.com (M. Zhang), rajah@um.edu.my (R. Rasiah).
output in 2012, the Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ),
which employed over 150,000 employees, contributed more than
50% of Bangladesh’s tax revenue earnings and Chittagong con-
tributed 11% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Muzzini &
Aparicio, 2013). Rapid growth has helped to attract a growing
number of national and international investors into the city’s man-
ufacturing sector, which is poised to become the ‘regional manu-
facturing hub’ in the future. CEPZ was already ranked fourth and
third respectively in the categories of best economic potential
and best cost competitiveness in 2010/2011, while metropolitan
Chittagong region was ranked as the tenth fastest growing city in
the world in 2010 (FDI, 2011; The Telegraph, 2010). In addition,
the port city is very much crucial for the regional development of
South Asian land-locked countries like Nepal, Bhutan and parts of
Southern China, Northeast India and Myanmar (Ahmed, 2013;
Rasiah, Al-Amin, & Tin, 2012).
Despite its immense potential, Chittagong faces great chal-
lenges because of high population growth, scattered industrial
locations and poor infrastructure, which have reduced its charm
as a desirable city to live in South Asia (Herrmann & Svarin,
2009; Hossain, 2001; Mahmood, 2011; Uddin & Firoj, 2013).
Hence, this paper aims to contribute to the growing literature
on cities by highlighting the evolution of Chittagong from a small
port to the region’s main engine of economic growth, as well as,
to highlight its socio-economic and environmental issues, which
will have ramifications for its future planning and growth. The rest
of the paper is organized as follows. We start the discussion by

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2015.05.011
0264-2751/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
32 M.A. Mia et al. / Cities 48 (2015) 31–41
focusing on the historical development of Chittagong followed by
its socio economic conditions. We subsequently discuss the prob-
lems and challenges facing the city, including transportation,
infrastructure and environmental issues. Next, we evaluate the
spatial planning and master plan of Chittagong city followed by
the concluding remarks.
2. Historical development
According to a Burmese chronicle, Chittagong was ruled by a
long line kings founded in the city of Visali and known as
Chandra Dynasty in the 8th to 9th centuries (Yunus, 1994).
During 10th century, Chittagong was ruled by the Buddhist king,
Gopichandra, who made his capital in the place where
Chittagong is now located. According to Tibetan tradition
Chittagong was the birthplace of one of the Buddhist tantric,
Tilayogi who lived and worked in Chittagong in 10th century
(Ahmed, 2013).
Although Chittagong was mostly ruled by Buddhist rulers
before the 10th Century, the arrival of Islam from in the Middle
East intensified its influence over the Indian sub-continent, includ-
ing Chittagong (Sissener, 2008). Consequently, Arab merchants
from Baghdad and Basrah frequently visited the city to trade and
preach. The transmission of religious messages increased tremen-
dously after the conquest of Bengal by Bakhtiyar Khalji in 1204,
which stimulated huge inflows of Muslim migrants. Except for a
short period between 1538 and 1666 when the Arakanese regained
power with the help of Portuguese pirates, Chittagong was domi-
nated by Islamic culture until the mid-18th century (Eaton,
1993). Chittagong was renamed ‘‘Porte Grande” during
Portuguese colonialism, but Portuguese influence diminished
when the British made Calcutta (India) as the capital of the East
India Company over the 18th and 19th centuries.
Chittagong was made a major military base by the British dur-
ing World War II. The first aerodrome was subsequently set up in
Patenga (Fig. 1). Porte Grande was renamed as Islamabad by the
Mughals who captured the city from the Arakanese in 1666
(Rizvi, 1970). Chittagong got its name back in the mid-18th century
when the British began colonizing India. The name Chittagong has
remained unchanged since. The name Chittagong was derived from
Arabic word Shat (delta) and prefixed to Ganga (Ganges), which
means the ‘city at the mouth of the Ganges’ (Sissener, 2008).
However, the development of Chittagong was interrupted by
Japanese invasion during World War II when the whole city was
badly destroyed from two days heavy bombardment in 1942
(Corporation, 2007). The tragic incident disabled the functioning
of the city administration and set the city in the dark for a long per-
iod. Its basic infrastructure was heavily damaged, which resulted in
the relocation of all commercial activities to the nearby districts.
The war brought not only sufferings to the local community, but
also The Great Famine of 1943. The revolt of the East Bengal
Regiment against the Pakistani army in 1971 brought Chittagong
into military spotlight again. Major Ziaur Rahman declared the
independence of Bangladesh under the leadership of Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman (who was detained by the Pakistani army after
he had won the election to form the government in then undivided
Pakistan) (Zahed, 2013), which gave birth to Bangladesh.
After the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, migration
between India and Pakistan accelerated the expansion of
Chittagong as most of the migrants from India to East Pakistan
(Bangladesh) resettled in the cities and towns (Nazem, 2013).
The city flourished with the gradual resettlement and business
expansion attracting further migrants from neighboring areas.
Meanwhile, the synergy from its trading port helped expand the
commercial and industrial sectors, which stimulated strong
growth in employment in the city. Growing initially from small
settlements in the northwest of Karnaphuli River in 1948 to an
extended region along the west of the riverbank in 1992, the sur-
face geometry of the city of Chittagong has changed remarkably
over the last fifty years (Chittagong Development Authority, 2008).
3. Socio-economic conditions
3.1. Administrative structure and population
The city is administrated by a self-governed organization called
Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) which is divided into 41 wards.
As the smallest administrative division within the city, a ward is
governed by an elected ward commissioner. The mayor of the city
is elected as the head of City Corporation by vote every five years.
Each of the ward elects a commissioner and they are the represen-
tative for wellbeing of the city dwellers. The City Corporation has
several departments, such as engineering, environment, account-
ing, health, education, different local affairs and headed by an exec-
utive officer deputed by central government. Being responsible to
city Mayor, executive officer is the highest administrative official
of CCC in charge of local affairs and reports to Ministry of Local
Government, Rural Development and Co-operative of central gov-
ernment (Hashemi, 2006). Although the sources of local revenue
includes various channels such as taxation, licensing and estate
management (housing, leasing, etc.), local authority has difficulties
to meet the financial target. For example, while the estimated CCC
income in 2013 was targeted at 364.03 crore (approximately US
$56 million), CCC was only able to achieve 35.4% of the targeted
amount (129.02 crore, approximately US$19.85 million)
(Chittagong City Corporation, 2015a).
The population of metropolitan Chittagong was 4,009,423 in
2011, which had grown on average by 3.6% per annum between
1991 and 2001 (Table 1). Although the average growth rate of
2.3% per year in 2001–2011 is lower than previous years, it still
exceeded national population growth, which was 1.2% over the
same period (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2013b). Males
(54.4%) slightly outnumbered females (46.6%) in 2011. While
Kotwali is the most populated and urbanized part of Chittagong
and is characterized by major high rising buildings, the least pop-
ulated Patenga in the south facing the Bay of Bengal houses the
industrial area where the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) and Shah
Amanat International Airport are located (Muzzini & Aparicio,
2013).
The sex ratio between male and female in Chittagong revealed
that there are on average 122 men for every 100 women with a
breakdown of 39% of age 18 and above (39%) followed by 36% of
age 10 and below and the remaining 25% of age 11–17. Thus, to
support a high dependency ratio of 61:39, the city faces a huge
burden to finance education, nutrition, health and other social ser-
vices, which inevitably explains why it lacks adequate urban ser-
vices, including health and education (Werna & Harpham, 1996)
(see Table 2).
The majority of the population of Chittagong constitutes of
Bengalis and Muslims. The other ethnic groups include the
Chakma and Marma. Table 3 shows the population of Chittagong
by religion in year 2011. The literacy rate in Chittagong has gradu-
ally increased over the years from 44.6% in 1981 to 58.2% in 1991,
64.3% in 2001 and 68.8% in 2011 respectively (Bangladesh Bureau
of Statistics, 2013a). Although Bangla is the official language of
Bangladesh, a dialect known as Chittagonian, which is a mixture
of Bengali and Assamese is widely spoken by the natives. In addition
to Bengali, most ethnic groups speak their own language, such as,
Chakma, Arakanese and Urdu. Urdu is commonly spoken by the
Biharis, Firingis (descendant of Portuguese settlers) and Aryans
 M.A. Mia et al. / Cities 48 (2015) 31–41
Fig. 1. Location of Chittagong. Source: Chittagong Development Authority (2008).
(Indo-Iranian) who have inhabited the city of Chittagong for
centuries.
As shown in Table 4 the growth of migration into Chittagong
has increased in trend terms in the period 1975–2005. It is
expected to rise faster from 2005 until 2015 before it slows down
thereafter till 2025. This might be due to the economic uprising of
other cities in the region (e.g. Khulna, Barisal). Immigrants are
expected to flow these nearby cities that are taking huge economic
expansion and development plans and likely to decelerate the
migration in Chittagong. The same trend is depicted with out-
migration from the city. With higher numbers of in-migration over
out-migration the population of the city is expected to continue to
grow.
3.2. Economic development
The city’s local economy is mainly driven by industrial and
manufacturing production with apparel manufacturing being the
major employment generator. Given its abundant human and nat-
ural resources, Chittagong produces not only significant percentage
33
of national apparel exports but also various industrial products,
such as cement, fertilizers and chemical (Muzzini & Aparicio,
2013). Total exports from Chittagong EPZ amounted to US$1.67 bil-
lion in 2011, placing it the highest contributor to exports among all
the eight EPZs in Bangladesh (Ministry of Finance, 2014). Despite
the fact that Chittagong’s population is only 3% of the total popula-
tion, it exports constituted over 11% of the national GDP in 2011.
Situated on the mouth of Karnaphuli river and facing the Bay of
Bengal, Chittagong has the only official fishery harbor in the
country-Monoharkhali Fishery Ghat, which accounts for more than
90% of all fish landed annually in Chittagong generating livelihood
for over half a million people (Rahman, 1994). In addition, the ship
breaking industry generates over 200,000 jobs annually. However,
this industry has caused serious environmental pollution, which
has created a major challenge to the city administration
(Abdullah, Mahboob, Banu, & Seker, 2013).
The only oil refinery plant in the country, and 161 manufactur-
ing industries are located in the EPZ of Chittagong (Bangladesh
Economic Review, 2011), which has attracted 41.4% of national
investment totaling US$801 million to provide 54.9% of national
34 M.A. Mia et al. / Cities 48 (2015) 31–41

Table 1 program, which was introduced by the Nobel Laureate

Population of Chittagong, 1991, 2001 and 2011 (numbers). Source: Bangladesh Bureau Muhammad Yunus in the mid of 1970s. This micro-credit program
of Statistics (2013a) and City Population (2015).
has been rapidly expanded across the country and showed its
Area Status 1991 2001 2011 potentiality as a means to alleviate poverty (Mia & Chandran,
Bairag Union Councila 21,176 11,066 30,545 2015; Mia, Nasrin, & Cheng, 2015).
Bakalia City Districtb 113,446 196,877 262,703 Additionally, the scenic and panoramic natural beauty of
Bayejid City District 121,827 168,051 211,355 Chittagong has made it the ‘tourism capital’ of Bangladesh. Due
Bostami
Chandgaon City District 111,210 178,390 256,411
to the various scenic beauty (e.g. Chittagong) and budget friendly
Chittagong City District 108,816 213,598 208,260 environment, Bangladesh has been named as number one ‘Lonely
Port Planet Best Value Destinations-2011’ in the world (Hassan, 2012).
Double City District 222,165 259,181 361,154 It also remains one of the most documented cities in Bangladesh,
Mooring
which was described by the Chinese poet, Huen Tsang, as ‘a sleep-
Halishahar City District 73,993 125,255 151,515
Hathazari Sub-districtc 294,515 403,788 431,748 ing beauty that emerges from mist and water’ (Shamsuddoha &
Khulshi City District 152,657 243,351 278,623 Chowdhury, 2009). Its reputation has increased significantly after
Kotwali City District 201,175 282,975 319,972 several international events were successfully held in the city,
Pahartali City District 95,618 127,243 190,637 including the 2011 Cricket World Cup (Prabir, 2011). The diversi-
Panchlaish City District 113,127 148,120 219,132
fied regions and culture of the city, including the site of many mos-
Paschim Union Council 28,249 33,893 38,739
Gomdandi ques and temples, has made the city a popular attraction for
Patenga City District 78,924 80,448 132,677 Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus (Fig. 2). Tourism as a whole in
Patiya (part) Sub-district 398,836 458,037 528,120 Bangladesh recorded an average annual growth rate of 3.8% rising
Sitakunda Sub-district 274,903 335,178 387,832
from BDT 148 billion in 2004 to BDT 207.8 billion in 2013, and is
Chittagong Statistical 2,410,637 3,265,451 4,009,423 expected to reach BDT 434.7 billion in 2024 (World Travel &
Metropolitan Area
Tourism Council, 2014). Chittagong is likely to play an important
a
Union Council – the smallest rural administrative and local governments of role in achieving this tourism revenue target (Das & Chakraborty,
Bangladesh. 2012).
b
City District – simply known as Thana in South Asian countries, which repre-
sents the police station that controls the specific geographical location in the
district.
c
Sub-district – The district is divided into several sub-districts, also known as
4. Infrastructure development and environmental challenges
Upazillas (in local language), which is referred to as counties in western countries.
4.1. Infrastructure and utility

employment in 2010 (Table 5). The Chittagong port attracts a large
number of logistics operators and trade companies from not only
abroad but also inland. To further foster the development of the
port and its EPZ, a series of preferential policies were introduced,
such as, tax exemption, fee reduction, 100% foreign ownership
and friendly migration policies. This helped increase the cargo
capacity of Chittagong to 49 million tons in 2011, which recorded
on average a growth rate of around 10% annually from 30 million
tons in 2006 (Table 6).
The estimated labor participation rate in 2012 in Chittagong
was 56.2%, which is slightly higher than the capital city of Dhaka
(55.2%) and the other major cities like Khulna (54.1%)
(Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2013b). The dynamic economic
sector, which is dominated by hundreds of industrial firms provide
strong employment opportunities in Chittagong (Bangladesh
Bureau of Statistics, 2013b). The apparel industry provided the lar-
gest labor demand, which accounts for around two thirds of
Chittagong’s total employment (Muzzini & Aparicio, 2013). With
a dynamic local economy based on natural resources, sea port
advantages, diverse economic activities and high employment
absorption capacity, Chittagong enjoyed the lowest poverty rate
of 26.2% in the country compared to other major cities, such as
Barisal (39.4%), Rangpur (35.7%), Khulna (32.1%), and Dhaka
(30.5%) in 2010 (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2011). The
‘Chittagong Stock Exchange’ is the country’s second largest stock
market. It is also the birth place (Jobra village) of the microcredit
Chittagong enjoys good transportation access through highway,
railway, waterway and airway. Known as the Grand Trunk Road,
the Dhaka–Chittagong highway connecting the Ganges Valley
through Dhaka and Chittagong was the main artery of the country
in the early sixteenth century. The national highway of southern
Chittagong extends as far as 700 km to the most northern district
of Panchagarh that makes Chittagong easily accessible to any place
in the country. The future planning for the extension of the city is
now given prime importance by the government. Thus, further
improvements to the national highway networks have been pro-
posed by the City Corporation and Planning Authority to better
manage traffic flow in and around the city, including the construc-
tion of the Bahaddarhat and Muradpur (ongoing) flyovers. While
roads are important for goods transported from the north to the
south, waterway is used for transporting bulk goods between the
seaport and other cities. The Chittagong Shah Amanat
International Airport, situated in Patenga, provides domestic and
international access to the outside world.
However, the drainage system has remained the most neglected
component of city planning in Bangladesh, which has caused havoc
in the country. The inability of the drainage system to handle the
discharge of excess water as a consequence of a trend increase in
rainfall and rapid urbanization has sometimes left almost a third
of Chittagong city under water for a few days during the monsoon
seasons (Ashraf & Chowdhury, 2009). Being a coastal city,
Chittagong is exposed to greater risks from cyclones and other

Table 2
Population by age group, Chittagong (city corporation area), 1998. Source: Chittagong City Corporation (2015b).

Age group Male (M) %M Female (F) %F Total Total (M&F) Sex ratio (M/F)
Age 10 and below 568,030 0.52 529,577 0.48 1,097,785 0.36 1.07
Age between 11 and 17 385,327 0.51 375,279 0.49 760,606 0.25 1.03
Age 18 and above 710,319 0.61 452,905 0.39 1,163,224 0.39 1.57
Grand total 1,663,676 1,357,761 3,021,615 1 1.22
 M.A. Mia et al. / Cities 48 (2015) 31–41 35

Table 3 from sustainable sources is one of the most pressing challenges

Population by religion, Chittagong (city corporation area), 2011. Source: Bangladesh facing CWASA in its efforts to improve the living condition of urban
Bureau of Statistics (2013a).
dwellers in Chittagong.
Religion % of population Rapid urbanization has also caused severe shortage in power
Islam 87.6 supply facing both residential and industrial consumers (Saleque,
Hinduism 10.6 2013). Export oriented industries face serious problems from
Buddhism 1.5 power shortages, which has reduced their capacity utilization rate
Christianity 0.2
Others 0.1
to 60% (Dey, 2014; Nur, 2014). Although most of the electricity
production units are gas based, only 120/130 Mega-watt (MW)
are supplied with a total demand of 218 MW, which has forced
the authorities to carry out load shedding in the city
storms. It is believed that all the 16 major canals that are supposed
(Jamaluddin, 2014). This ‘forced shedding’ is especially severe in
to flush out the excess surface water have been abused by powerful
summer when many places in the city witness load shedding up
lawbreakers. Since land is scarce as a consequence of rapid expan-
to 6 h a day (Barua, 2012). The growing shortfall in demand–supply
sion in the population, a number of the canals are illegally occu-
of gas and electricity has caused political and social unrest in the
pied and used for physical infrastructure development (e.g.
country. Although the problem of power shortage cannot be solved
houses and shops), while poor land use practices have led to severe
overnight, adequate long term planning is needed for the sustain-
silting, which has disrupted the normal flow of water from the city
able growth of industrial and commercial production, and a better
to Karnaphuli River and the Bay of Bengal (Ahmed, 2011). Hence,
livelihood for the urban dwellers in Bangladesh.
flooding has become a serious problem. In addition, the lack of a
well-knit underground drainage system across the city has wors-
ened flooding (Ashraf & Chowdhury, 2009). The reclamation of 4.2. Environmental issue
the canals from illegal occupiers will help to ease water-logging
and restore the normal flow of water to the Bay. Natural disasters, such as cyclones, tornados, land erosion and
Rapid expansion has also placed heavy pressure on the infras- landslides, often happen as Chittagong is situated in the coastal
tructure and civic facilities in Chittagong. One third of the urban area. The increasing annual rainfall has aggravated the occurrence
dwellers in Chittagong city live in unplanned slums and congested of landslides and causalities, which killed 140 people, injured thou-
areas with limited access to basic amenities, such as clean water, sands and destroyed considerable amount of property between
drainage, gas and electricity (Nahar & Rahman, 2013). Water sup- 2007 and 2008 (Khan, Lateh, Baten, & Kamil, 2012). The deadliest
ply to city dwellers dropped to around 3–12% of demand in cyclones with 10.6 m and 6.1 m sea tidal waves took away
1990–2008 (Dahiya, 2012). The Chittagong City Water Supply 300,000 and 138,000 lives respectively in 1970 and 1991 (Karim
and Sewerage Authority (CWASA) reported that the maximum & Mimura, 2008). Ravaged by at least seven severe cyclones in
amount of water that they can supply, which is 220 million liters the past five decades, Chittagong has recorded the highest inci-
per day, is not enough to meet the total demand of 550 million dence of cyclones in the country (Ali, 1999).
liters per day for residential, industrial and commercial users Furthermore, air, water and noise pollution continues to pose
(Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, 2014). While demand for clean serious challenges to Chittagong. The most serious air pollution
water across the city can hardly be met by extracting ground water is caused by automobile emissions as the number of registered
and surface water from Halda River, seeking reliable clean water vehicles in Chittagong city reached 84,391 in 2010, which does
not include several thousands of non-registered vehicles
(Shamsher & Abdullah, 2012). There is then the pollution from
brick kilns and industrial emissions, such as from the ship breaking
Table 4
In-migration and out-migration, Chittagong City, 1975–2015 (in thousand). Source: industry (Sujauddin et al., 2014), which releases the pollutants of
Adapted from Hashemi (2006). asbestos and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) (Islam & Hossain,
1986). Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM), sulfur dioxide (SO2)
Year In- Out- Population changes by Total
migration migration migration population and nitrogen oxides (NOx) are the three major components of air
pollution with SPM being the most concentrated (429.00 lg/m3)
1975 40 20 (1.33%) +20 1500
(2.67%)
(Table 7). The annual monsoon season has worsened the situation
1980 50 30 (1.67%) +20 1800 as shifting wind directions from northern and northeastern
(2.78%)
1985 60 40 (2.00%) +20 2000
(3.00%) Table 5
1990 80 50 (2.28%) +30 2200 Manufacturing statistics, export processing zone, Bangladesh, 2010. Source:
(3.64%) Bangladesh Economic Review (2011).
1995 100 60 (2.31%) +40 2600 EPZ No. of Investment Export Employment
(3.85%) firms (million US$) (million US$)
2000 120 65 (1.91%) +55 3400
(3.53%) Chittagong 161 801.86 (41.42%) 12384.12 155,121
2004 150 70 (1.94%) +80 3600 (45.87%) (52.59%) (54.93%)
(4.17%) Dhaka 98 738.41 (38.14%) 10259.24 78,985
2005 160 75 (1.89%) +85 4000 (27.92%) (43.57%) (27.97%)
(4.00%) Comilla 26 122.33 (6.32%) 497.18 (2.11%) 9040 (3.2%)
2010a 200 90 (2.00%) +110 4500 (7.41%)
(4.44%) Mongla 6 (1.71%) 2.66 (0.14%) 65.09 (0.28%) 152 (0.05%)
2015a 250 100 +150 5100 Uttara 8 (2.28%) 10.19 (0.53%) 5.68 (0.02%) 4023 (1.42%)
(5.56%) (1.96%) Ishwardi 8 (2.28%) 31.09 (1.61%) 27.08 (0.11%) 4407 (1.56%)
2020a 300 110 +190 5700 Adamjee 21 110.98 (5.73%) 143.35 (0.61%) 14,163
(5.23%) (1.93%) (5.98%) (5.02%)
2025 a
350 120 +230 6800 Karnaphuli 23 118.34 (6.11%) 166.97 (0.71%) 16,501
(5.15%) (1.77%) (6.55%) (5.84%)

a Total 351 1935.86 23548.71 282,392

Projected figures.
36 M.A. Mia et al. / Cities 48 (2015) 31–41

Table 6
Cargo Handling, Port of Chittagong, 2006–2011 (tons). Source: Chittagong Port Authority (2015).

Year Import Export Inland ICDa Total Growth rate (%)

2006 23,936,103 3,089,550 2,633,565 480,439 30,139,657
2007 24,236,261 3,392,974 2,677,509 492,644 30,799,388 2.19
2008 24,492,707 3,704,862 2,518,564 434,628 31,150,761 1.14
2009 30,886,680 3,957,894 2,830,025 494,525 38,169,124 22.53
2010 36,670,356 4,512,439 3,730,829 483,039 45,396,663 18.93
2011 38,266,480 4,873,562 5,577,114 556,781 49,273,937 8.54
a
Note: ICD – Inland Container Depot.

1 2 3

4 5 6
Fig. 2. Tourism Attraction of Chittagong. (1) Foy’s lake is a man-made lake, which was built in 1924. (2) Batali Hill is the highest hill in Chittagong. (3) Patenga sea beach is
located near the mouth of Karnaphuli river, which is the best place for stunning sunsets and sunrises. (4) M.A. Aziz Stadium is one of the multipurpose stadiums built for
cricket, football and other games, which can accommodate up to 30,000 people. (5) Shrine of Bayazid Bostami is a famous Sufi from Bostam, Iran, which was discovered in
1831. (6) Chandranath temple is located on top of Chandranath hill, is considered as one of the holiest places visited by Hindu pilgrims. Source: Compiled by authors (2014)
from wikipedia.

Table 7
Average concentration of SPM, CO2 and NOx,a Chittagong, 1996–2003. Source: Adapted Being the largest seaport and the commercial capital of
from Sattar and Nazim (2005). Bangladesh, Chittagong has to tackle the problem of noise pollu-
Year SPM SO2 NOx
tion. Traffic noise pollution of 83.22 dB significantly exceeded the
allowable limit of 65 dB in 2012–2013 (Table 8). Meanwhile, the
1996 381.92 19.07 14.00
1997 393.05 45.67 48.83
highest traffic noise level was recorded in GEC circle (90.12 dB)
1999 433.98 54.87 60.42 which is the main point of the city and is surrounded by residential
2001 403.27 67.91 72.71 areas, railway stations and several wet markets. To surmount this
2002 441.57 69.86 75.95 problem, the city corporation and development authority should
2003 520.23 81.22 87.63
focus on mitigating noise pollution caused by heavy traffic with
Average 429.00 56.43 59.91 better policy planning and implementation to reallocate industries
a
Note: The unit used for estimating the pollutant concentrate is lg/m3. from residential areas and upgrade the public transportation
system.
Additionally, due to high rural–urban migration and areal
Bangladesh carries pollutants over downtown Chittagong from expansion in Chittagong, waste management has become a serious
Fouzdarhat, Nasirabad and Kalurghat industrial areas over the problem that has damaged its environment (Majumder, Hossain,
months from November to January (Fig. 3). Islam, & Sarwar, 2007; Sujauddin, Huda, & Hoque, 2008). It is quite
 M.A. Mia et al. / Cities 48 (2015) 31–41 37

Fig. 3. (a) Existing industrial location in the city and (b) map of Chittagong port and CEPZ. Source: Adapted from Hashemi (2006).

Table 8 the seaport. As most of the workers initially settled down near the
Present and future traffic noise levels, selected locations, Chittagong, 2012–2013. port residential and commercial areas started to evolve around the
Source: Adapted from Muhit and Chowdhury (2013).
dock area, which helped shaped downtown of Chittagong. Most
Station location Present level L10(18 h), dB Future level L10(18 h), dB dwelling houses were built in the form of squatter settlements
(A) (A) with limited access to water, electricity and gas facilities. Bazars
Kaptai Rastar 77.81 79.71 (markets) emerged illegally that attracted hawkers who then occu-
Matha pied streets to aggravate traffic congestion. In addition to the rising
Bahaddarhat Circle 87.89 90.52
rent, a growing number of firms chose to locate their production to
2 No. Gate 90.01 92.63
GEC Circle 90.12 92.73 the city’s north as road networks were available for logistics. While
WASA Circle 81.19 83.83 the industrial area has expanded toward the city’s northern hilly
Tiger-pass Circle 84.44 87.04 space, the development has been scattered on the suburb and
Agrabad Circle 87.67 90.28 peripheral region. In other words, the city’s actual expansion and
Barek Building 81.10 83.73
growth did not follow the pattern envisaged by the first Master
Circle
Bissho Road Matha 75.29 77.92 Plan of Metropolitan Chittagong 1961, as especially the location
Boropol 76.00 78.63 of industrial area in the north has not been properly planned
A.K. Khan Circle 84.99 87.63 (Ashraf & Chowdhury, 2009).
City Gate 82.09 84.71
The City Master Plan of 1999 addressed the spatial development
Average 83.22 85.78 of the city over 20 years from 1995 to 2015 through five major
components, namely, structure plan (1995–2015), detailed area
plan (up to 2015), urban development plan (1995–2005), traffic
and transportation plan (1995–2015) and drainage master plan
common to see household and industrial waste dumped on the
(1995–2015) (Chittagong Development Authority, 2015). The mas-
roadside, and in rivers and drainages (Sujauddin et al., 2008).
ter plan aimed to extend the water and gas pipeline to remote
Furthermore, the bulk of solid wasted are disposed as unsanitary
areas, improve road condition, upgrade the drainage and sewerage
fillings on land and through open disposals, which should be sub-
system and provide affordable housing to address the challenges
stituted through systematic recovery and recycling of the solid
posed by rapid urbanization.
waste (Chowdhury, Sujauddin, Murakami, Chakraborty, & Alam,
The City Master Plan, among other things, focused on the devel-
2013).
opment of major roads and railway lines to facilitate the move-
ment of people and goods to meet growing domestic and
5. Spatial planning and the city master plan international demand (Fig. 4). The Master Plan also features envi-
ronmental considerations and provides several strategic open
With support of the government of United Kingdom, the first spaces to separate residential and commercial areas from indus-
spatial master plan of Chittagong was introduced under the trial areas. Forestation schemes are also included to reduce pollu-
Colombo Agreement in 1961 (Chaudhury, 2010). The city was tion in the city. Some embankment projects were recommended
designed based on its natural advantage as a natural deep seaport. over a narrow belt along the coast which has been identified as
Hence, most industries were located in Patenga with proximity to vulnerable to cyclones and other natural disasters.
38 M.A. Mia et al. / Cities 48 (2015) 31–41

Rapid economic development on the back of population expan- material improvements to the livelihood of its urban dwellers. The
sion has rapid urbanization and currently 30.8% of total population bulk of the migrants live in illegal slums with poor infrastructure
are living in the urban areas of the Chittagong city (Ahmed & Rubel, and limited access to water, gas and power supply (Nahar &
2013). However, rapid urbanization has not been accompanied by Rahman, 2013; Werna & Harpham, 1995). There were over 110

Fig. 4. Chittagong Urban Development Plan, 1995–2015. Source: Chittagong Development Authority (2008).
 M.A. Mia et al. / Cities 48 (2015) 31–41 39

slums in Chittagong in 2014. Fig. 5 shows the distribution of slums
in Chittagong. A dense concentration of slums could be observed
around the industrial areas and the city center.
6. The way forward
This article provided a profound overview of urbanization in
Chittagong. With strong historical antecedents the city has grown
spatially to take advantage of its strategic location and natural
endowments to become an economic powerhouse and a popular
tourist destination in South Asia. Policy makers have bigger plans
for the city as their ‘Vision 2021 aims to build a Smart
Chittagong’ and Digital Bangladesh to use Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) in the delivery of public service,
such as in the payment of bills and taxes and municipal adminis-
trative registrations.
However, rapid economic expansion has also been accompanied
by population and environmental and infrastructure problems.
Although substantial efforts have been taken by the government
to mitigate these challenges, effective planning and the enforce-
ment of strong regulatory measures are necessary to check grow-
ing environmental pollution and population to fully realize its
enormous potential in the future. Managing urban development
of a rapidly expanding city is challenging.
There is a need for a new conceptualization of planning to opti-
mize the allocation of industrial, residential, commercial and pub-
lic lands to make Chittagong an environment friendly city. The
positioning of industrial sites and residential areas should take
account of cyclones and tornados so that the inhabitants of the city
do not have to face hazardous industrial emissions, noise pollution,
traffic congestion and floods. In addition, the government must
focus on providing affordable housing and improving basic

Fig. 5. Location of Slums in Chittagong, 2005. Source: Reproduced from Islam, Angeles, Mahbub, Lance, and Nazem (2006).
40 M.A. Mia et al. / Cities 48 (2015) 31–41

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