To Whom Does the City Belong? Obstacles to Right to the City for the Urban Poor in Bangladesh

Abstract

Due to a lack of available job opportunities in the formal sector and financial resources, in most parts of the developing world the urban poor rely on access to urban public space for earning their livelihoods. The existing literature shows that the urban poor are often evicted without relocation from public spaces by city governments in promoting a “global city” image. Within this context, this article explores how city authorities deny a right to the city for the urban poor. In Dhaka, Bangladesh, this occurs through a comprehensive and orchestrated programme to deny the poor their rights as citizens of the city, to exploit and extort them, to manipulate the political system and to stigmatise them. Focussing on poor people’s involvement in informal street vending in a case study of a slum in Dhaka, this article argues that Bangladesh’s particular form of oppressive political culture, particularly its authoritarian party system, does not provide poor citizens with even the voice required to negotiate a right to the city. The article identifies particular forms of everyday governance that lead to a complete stripping of effective political power.