Abstract:
Rajshahi is the fourth largest metropolitan city of Bangladesh. The city was established as a
district town in 1825 along the northern side of the River Padma. It was one of the first
Municipalities in Bangladesh and was declared as City Corporation in 1991. The Rajshahi
Town Development Authority, RDA was established in 1978 with a view to ensure planned
development of the city. The first Master Plan for Rajshahi was prepared in 1984 but the plan
was not implemented properly. Therefore the second Master Plan was prepared in 2004.
Presently two Master plans, one is Drainage Master Plan (1994-2020) and another is Rajshahi
Metropolitan Development Plan (2004-2024), are being implemented by RCC and RDA
respectively. In addition two water supply master plans were also prepared by DPHE and
RCC in 1981 and 1994 respectively. Though a number plans are being implemented by the
local level institutions, the city seems to be facing a lot of problems despite such efforts. The
city exhibits a low rate of urbanization compared to other growing urban centres of
Bangladesh. The reasons of slow development are absence of economic investments on a
significant scale and consequent lack of economic opportunities in urban Rajshahi. The
research is conducted to study pattern of physical development of the city and also to find out
the successes/failures of the local level institutions in the implementation of the planning
proposals. Physical survey, questionnaire survey and official opinion survey were conducted
to assess the role of the local level institutions. The study shows that a significant
improvement has taken place in the provision of road networks, waste management and water
supply. Implementation status of the Functional Master Plan and DAP also shows that only
the roads are being partially implemented but the proposed other community facilities are not
executed yet. Citizen’s perception also reveals that a significant improvement has been made
in the provision of road networks, waste management, water supply but the improvement in
other community facilities is not satisfactory. It is evident from the study that the local level
institutions are unable to function properly due to lack of finance, political pressure, lack of
coordination among the local level institutions and dependency on the central Government.
