With more than one-third of Bangladesh’s population living in urban areas and cities contributing nearly 65% of GDP, speakers on Thursday called for coordinated action to implement the National Urban Policy 2025 and translate its commitments into more liveable, inclusive and climate-resilient cities.

The call came at the National Dissemination Workshop on National Urban Policy 2025, organised jointly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Local Government Division (LGD) with support from the UK Government at BCFCC in the capital, said a press release.

To disseminate the National Urban Policy 2025 to the stakeholders and collect recommendations for drafting the NUP 2025 Implementation Action Plan.

The workshop brought together representatives from government ministries and agencies, local government institutions, development partners, academia, research institutions and the urban development community.

The government approved the country’s first National Urban Policy 2025 as a national framework for more planned, inclusive, sustainable and climate-resilient urban development.

Speaking at the workshop, Md Mahmud Ali, director (Additional Secretary) of Urban Development Directorate, said urban development is not one ministry’s job alone, it needs coordination across sectors, with active participation from ministries, public and private institutions, development authorities, academia, professionals, and urban residents themselves.

Md Samsul Islam, joint secretary at Local Government Division, stressed that the next priority is to move from policy to implementation. “We want the National Urban Policy 2025 to go beyond being a policy document and become an effective tool for real change in urban planning, management, infrastructure development and service delivery.”

Tanvir Mahmud, senior governance specialist at UNDP Bangladesh, said implementation at the local level would ultimately determine the policy’s impact. “The real success of the National Urban Policy will depend on how effectively it is applied in our cities. National policy directions need to connect with local realities, local capacities and local priorities.”

He added that government ownership should remain at the centre of implementation, while development partners can support the process through technical knowledge, evidence, innovation, capacity development and partnerships.

The National Urban Policy 2025 was developed under the leadership of the Local Government Division, with contributions from an Inter-Ministerial Committee and relevant government institutions, including the Public Works Department, Ministry of Planning and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Technical support was provided by UNDP with support from the UK government.

Earlier, Professor Dr Shakil Akther from Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) presented the National Urban Policy 2025, followed by an open discussion on implementation.

Among others, Nathaniel Smith, team leader of climate and environment at British High Commission, Amit Datta Roy, urban specialist at Asian Development Bank, Dr Fawzia Farzana, professor of Urban and Regional Planning at Khulna University and Yugesh Pradhanang from UNDP spoke.