Desk Report: World Habitat Day 2023 is celebrated with a pledge to increase the stability of urban economy, achieve the desired economic growth and restore the damaged economy. On this occasion, a discussion meeting organized by the Ministry of Housing and Public Works was held at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital on Monday.

President of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Housing and Public Works Ministry, Engineer Mosharraf Hossain MP, senior officials including heads of the Ministry and various departments/organizations under its jurisdiction were present in the discussion meeting. The main article was presented by the Director of the Department of Urban Development. Khurshid Zabin Hossain Taufiq. In the main article, he highlighted the contribution of various sectors and regions to the country’s GDP. He elaborated in his talk about Urban Readiness Guidelines. He highlighted in his discussion about increasing the resilience of the country’s economy, sustainable urbanization and what can be done in this regard. in the meeting, the secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, Kazi Wasi Uddin, stressed the importance of building a planned housing system by ensuring the protection of the country’s agricultural land and environmental protection. In this regard, he highlighted the importance of following the National Building Code, approval of building design and following other laws and regulations prevailing in construction work.

He said that there is a legal obligation to approve the design of the building from the concerned development authority and BC committee in other places where there is a development authority. There is no opportunity to build multi-storied buildings anywhere in the country without design approval. He mentioned that planned development, quality educational institutions, communication infrastructure, digital infrastructure, housing and income-generating employment should be increased in every district to make the life of the city bearable and livable.

Incidentally: World Habitat Day is celebrated on the first Monday of October every year since 1986. This day is also celebrated in Bangladesh under the initiative of Ministry of Housing and Public Works. This year World Habitat Day was celebrated with the theme “Sustainable cities drive the growth and recovery of sustainable urban economies”. Various departments/organizations under the Ministry of Housing and Public Works located outside the capital Dhaka also celebrated the day in Sambar through various programmes.

In addition to achieving the growth of the urban economy, the aim of this year’s World Habitat Day is to take initiatives to save the economy and towns affected by global epidemics and conflicts. On the occasion of the day, special articles have been published in the widely circulated dailies of the country. Bangladesh Betar and Bangladesh Television aired special programs highlighting the significance of the day