Studying Climate Migration and Urban Informality in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Published 07/06/2023 in Scholar Travel Stipend

Written by Ayan Rahman | 07/06/2023

For my project, I decided to focus on the themes of rural to urban migration processes in Bangladesh and study exactly how these social processes have been exacerbated by climate change and the induced environmental degradation that has occurred as a result.

I had the tremendous opportunity to travel to Dhaka, Bangladesh by myself for the first time ever this past winter break! I recently received the Edward Guiliano Fellowship through the Swearer Center for Community Engagement at Brown, and through this opportunity, I was able to secure a research experience in Bangladesh.  Based on my research at that point, as well as on my understanding of the climate refugee crisis, it seemed like I could really create an intriguing social investigation into understanding the contexts of displacement, land dispossession, and more that have served as push factors for rural Bangladeshis to move to Dhaka. Moreover, this heightened process has led to the augmentation of population sizes and densities within the slums/informal settlements in Dhaka, which has been characterized as a climate adaptation strategy by many experts in the field.

Upon arriving in Bangladesh, I was able to immediately work with the esteemed professional researchers at the International Center for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD). Through ICCCAD, I was able to meet and work with several notable staffers, such as Sarder Shafiqul Alam and Lutfor Rahman. With these support systems in place, I was able to conduct field work in the informal sector of Dhaka, Bangladesh where I was able to collect qualitative data from slum residents in the form of video footage of interviews and oral histories/accounts. We were able to learn a ton about not only the contexts of the circumstances that pushed migration decisions for residents, but also the social relations that existed between the residents and the owners of the illegal settlements, local NGOs, the municipal stakeholders, and the urban landscape at large. This was all important information as it all contributed to a narrative we wanted to craft to serve as advocacy for further support for these incoming populations to further improve urban resilience within the city.

Our findings gave way to a lot of understandings surrounding the lives of those that have suffered the atrocities of natural disasters. Many spoke to experiences of leaving their ancestral homelands where they participated in subsistence farming. With issues such as water salinization and soil erosion, as well as the obvious natural disasters and accrued property damages that have resulted, many spoke to the experiences of being forcibly removed from the land they once stood on. This, compounded with the prospects of economic opportunity being readily available in Dhaka, is what informed many climate refugees to make their shift to urban life.

Our field work also placed particular emphasis on the sociological aspects of climate refugees moving into this new urban environment – specifically, we looked at questions of how urban social relations are formulated between residents and the rest of the built environment and urban fabric of Dhaka. Moreover, we wanted to tease out specific needs that study participants would need to improve our advocacy reach. From our studies, “fear of eviction” from homes, which are technically occupying illegal land, was a big concern among study participants. Musclemen, those who would run these illegal settlements, in these instances would collect rent or protection money while hanging the idea of eviction over residents should they not comply with certain demands. Moreover, we found the framework of the slums of Dhaka to be incredibly exploitative and expensive for residents, who made claims about having to pay for each utility individually including sub-par water systems (We witnessed burst pipes on the roads while conducting our field work). We also found that environmental issues that many left their ancestral lands for persisted in Dhaka. Many slum residents, especially those who lived directly next to one of the many rivers that run through the city, faced issues of temporary displacement due to water tide levels completely flooding their informal homes during specific seasons. When asked about how residents deal with issues like this, a respondent stated that people just kind of got up and went somewhere in the slum that is further inland.

One last component of this research project was also my inner country travel. I was able to utilize the launch service and was actually able to catch the migration experience of people in an authentic way. With all the collected footage I’ve gained through this experience, I really hope that I can authentically showcase the experiences of climate refugees and their narratives and lived experiences. It is also my hope that a representation of our findings via a dynamic video production will only serve us well in having accessible data. Beyond all this, I am hoping to return to Bangladesh this summer to continue this project as my thesis. The research questions i will be trying to answer next time:

What are the socio-economic factors that push for climate-induced migration to urban centers in Bangladesh? What sorts of urban social relations form as a result of the informal settlements that develop from increased migration and how do they reflect the urban social needs of this demographic?

I am truly hoping to take what I started with this amazing opportunity and have it blossom into a large scale and impactful honors thesis project as I progress into my fourth year at Brown. Until then, however, this opportunity gave me the chance to understand the lay of the land of independent research in a foreign country. I was able to successfully navigate the process of researching social situations and stratification abroad and effectively draw connections between myself and the amazing people at ICCCAD to truly dip my toes into the big, scary world of international, independent research. Furthermore, I really hope that I can take the footage that I have been collecting to put together a piece that reflects the urban social needs of climate refugees and lays out exactly what needs to be done on municipal levels to improve urban resilience. I cannot wait to see where I will go with this project moving forward, and I am beyond ecstatic about how much of it I was able to complete within this trip. Truly, this project has allowed me to tap into the Milken Scholars program initiatives of building leadership to better the world through service– my work will allow me to contribute knowledge and research to improving conditions for and amplifying the narratives of climate migrants in Dhaka.