Peri-Urban Economic Transformation of Bangladesh

The book focuses on issues and challenges of economic transformation of the peri-urban area around Rajshahi city of Bangladesh. Peri-urban area is the transitional zone between an urban and its nearby rural area. Characteristically, the area is neither urban nor rural but it gradually attains urban characteristics and spatially shifts from urban to rural area. As a result, the economic setting in term of occupation, income, expenditure capacity, land use, land value, infrastructure, living facilities etc. of the dwellers of this area changes rapidly. And this changing process becomes influenced by a number of factors like location, distance from urban center, road network, transportation system, marketing network, employment opportunities, governmental policies and planning and so on. Though, the urban areas have development plan but due to week implementation of plan a haphazard urban growth can be found that reduces the actual competency of the area. So, it is necessary to implement the existing development plan and initiate integrated rural-urban development plan for better, planed and furnished urban development in Bangladesh.

Md. Mizanoor Rahman, Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Rajshahi University, Bangladesh. and Jayant K. Routray, Professor in Regional and Rural Development Planning (RRDP) and Coordinator of Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation and Management Programme, AIT, Bangkok, Thailand