GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF KHULNA CITY: AN ANALYTICAL REVIEW

Abstract

Khulna is a growing metropolis and the third largest city of Bangladesh. It is a port city and an important industrial town of the country. The present growth and development trend of Khulna city is phenomenal. Though Khulna city has a short and decent past history, its growth potential was never as prominent as it is now a days. Unlike Dhaka, Chittagong, and Rajshahi city, Khulna does not possess a long historical growth record. Khulna is the third municipality in the southwestern region of Bangladesh, and previously it was a subdivision headquarters under Jessore district. But in the later part of British regime, the growth of Khulna city was rapid and it surpassed the growth of other cities in this region. This growth was more rapid after the partition of India, especially after the emergence of Bangladesh. This paper provides a short description of the growth of Khulna city in different periods, and investigates the underlying causes of its growth and development. A number of reasons were identified for the spectacular growth of the city. It is found that during British Period, colonial administrative decisions and the growing importance of maritime trade and revenue collection led to the growth and development of this town. In later periods, some other factors like the partition of India, establishment of divisional headquarters in the city, independence of Bangladesh, setting up of Mongla Port, and shrimp cultivation in Khulna Region greatly enhanced the growth of this metropolis.