First Urban Forum in Bangladesh

The president of Bangladesh, Zillur Rahman, inaugurated the first Urban Forum held in the country in December. Bangladesh is one of the fastest urbanising nations in the region and it is expected that its urban population will reach 80 million by the year 2030. Therefore, the discussion on the future of its cities were the focus in the main sessions in which experts linked to the urban growth as well as slum dwellers participated. "We demand that our cities become environmentally-friendly, healthy, safe and balanced", said Mr. Rahman during the opening ceremony, where more than 1000 people were gathered. The forum was headed by the Bangladeshi government, UN-Habitat and UNDP (United Nations Programme for Development).