In a hyper-competitive world market, Dhaka needs to start thinking bigger
MORE than 200 cities from multiple countries submitted their proposals for the intended collaboration. The company shortlisted a few cities and finally chose a location to build the headquarters.
About two and a half years ago, a global e-commerce company published its plan to set up its second headquarters, and invited proposals from cities that would be interested to collaborate with them in setting this up. More than 200 cities from multiple countries submitted their proposals for the intended collaboration. The company shortlisted a few cities and finally chose a location to build the headquarters.
Hyper-competitive cities are fast emerging to attract investors and residents, becoming preferred choices for living, working and investing. With half of the world’s population living in urban areas, this trend of cities becoming big-ticket investment destinations is going to become more common. Under these circumstances, it is important to understand Dhaka’s position with respect to the emerging trends, and the challenges and opportunities ahead.
In the near future, will Dhaka stand a chance to submit a proposal to a multinational corporation for its second headquarters plan? If Dhaka gets chosen by a global corporation for setting up its global or regional headquarters, what would the reaction of the city’s stakeholders be? If a Bangladeshi company becomes a multinational company, will it shift its headquarters from Dhaka to some other international location?
Dhaka has a population of more than 20 million people today. The city area covers more than 300sq km and is administered by two large municipal corporations – Dhaka North City Corporation and Dhaka South City Corporation. With rapid urbanisation, the city’s population is growing continuously. According to data published by the UN World Population Prospects, the urban population of Bangladesh has been increasing by 3.17 per cent annually during the last five years. However, Dhaka’s ability to provide contemporary urban services to such a large number of people is not growing at the same pace.
The ambition of becoming a smarter city (Dhaka 4.0) in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution comes with many challenges. At the same time, there will be opportunities for improvement in many areas, which could be utilised towards becoming a more competitive city. To maximise the benefits from these opportunities, the city should adopt a technology-led transformation of the services provided to citizens. Such a transformational journey should address the issues around several areas including transportation, environment, citizen safety and information communication.
The Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), a government agency responsible for the development of a mass transportation system for Dhaka, has embarked on developing the metro rail system in the city.
The work is in progress and the first route is expected to be operational by next year. At the same time, a smarter city should also build an inclusive transportation framework. The residents should have enough spaces to be able to walk and ride bicycles safely and comfortably.
Such facilities will reduce pollution in the city and help its residents become healthier. Additional emphasis on the adoption of electric vehicles will further help in reducing the environmental pollution.
With the change in urban lifestyles, the nature of urban crimes is changing as well. The incidence of crimes committed inside households and on the internet is increasing. Incidents of domestic violence, child abuse and elder abuse are reportedly taking place in the upper floors of multi-storeyed buildings. Along with technological advancements, cybercrimes are increasing at a high rate and cybercriminals are often difficult to apprehend, as many of them operate from outside the country. Accordingly, urban policing needs to change. While patrolling the streets is important, it is equally important to monitor and prevent crimes from happening indoors and online. These situations create new challenges for law enforcement agencies. A technologyled crime prevention framework should enable the law enforcement agencies to deal with such varying kinds of crime effectively.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has set up a website with extensive information for its citizens. The DMP website also allows citizens to apply for a police cle a r a n c e certificate online and track the status of the application. They also maintain a page on Facebook and have a mobile app to communicate with the public. As the next step, the department may focus on expanding digital interfaces for citizens by introducing online crime reporting, online status updates of investigations and providing a platform for secure digital interactions with individual citizens regarding their individual issues.
For a city to become smarter, it must create a plan to upgrade its communications infrastructure and foster an environment in which private enterprises can participate in the upgrading task. Adoption of next-generation technologies such as 5G will foster innovation and collaboration among stakeholders to build value-added services for the residents of the city. According to a news report, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) is planning to roll out 5G services in the country by next year.
Dhaka 4.0 needs to prepare itself for fulfilling its development ambitions and evolving into a hypercompetitive city. Progress has been made in many areas, resulting in the overall development of the city in recent years. A transformational goal towards becoming a hyper-competitive city will make it ready for competition in the region. Becoming a smarter city will make Dhaka ready for regional-level competition, and this preparation will be an important factor for success in the future.