Bangladesh : Narayanganj Green and Resilient Urban Development Project

Transport / Urban roads and traffic management

Water and other urban infrastructure and services / Urban flood protection - Urban policy, institutional and capacity development - Urban water supply

The project will be aligned with the following impacts: (i) sustainable and inclusive urban development achieved, and (ii) safe and climate-resilient delta area achieved. The project will have the following outcome: NCC's resilience, and access to inclusive, reliable, and sustainable urban services improved.

Output 1: Climate-resilient and inclusive drinking water supply, drainage, and transport infrastructure developed and/or improved. The project will improve and expand the existing water supply system for inclusive, resilient, and safely managed continuous drinking water supply services in the priority area in NCC to serve 0.7 million people. These will include improvements to the existing water treatment plant, an upgrade and expansion of the network with DMA approaches for reducing nonrevenue water, and installation of deep tube wells in selected areas including low-income communities, for supply augmentation. The project will also establish and improve stormwater drainage system in the priority area with climate and disaster-resilient design and nature-based solutions such as introducing soil and vegetation to reduce flood risk. Further, the project will lay a maximum of 15 kilometers (km) of new road adjacent to the Shitalakshya river with adequate pedestrian footpaths. The road will be designed as a flood embankment to protect nearby communities during the monsoon seasons and storm surges. The project will develop 2 hectares of green public space along the road, with features responsive to women and vulnerable, to provide recreational spaces and reduce urban heat.

Output 2: Capacity and awareness of NCC and local community in climate-resilient, sustainable, and inclusive urban services strengthened. To improve sustainability and quality of services through the facilities developed under output 1, the project will strengthen NCC staff capacity (at least 90% of female staff) in climate-resilient, sustainable, and gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) responsive service delivery. It will develop service improvement plans including financial aspects for sustainable O&M. For water supply, private sector participation in O&M will be explored and finalized at the fact-finding mission. DMA management and water quality monitoring will be supported. A water supply master plan will be prepared to improve the services in wider areas in NCC, and to set the longer-term development strategy for transformation toward climate- and disaster-resilience. The project will also support GESI-sensitive community awareness and behavior change campaigns on water, sanitation and hygiene, road safety, climate resilience, and sustainable services to maximize the health and economic impact of the investments.

Output 3: Institutional capacity and governance of other municipal services strengthened. To improve other municipal services, the project will strengthen the overall capacity of NCC in (i) revenue augmentation through strengthening administration of property tax with web-based geographic information system mapping, advertisement tax, and different fees; and (ii) improving administrative efficiency through digitalization of management systems in areas such as internal approval process, customers records, asset management, and procurement. The project will also support preparation of masterplans for wastewater and solid waste management to improve living environment in an integrated manner, combined with the intervention for drainage, and advance climate and disaster resilience. Improvement of urban planning will be explored. An action plan with performance monitoring tools for service improvements will be prepared, involving citizen participation for both planning and monitoring. It will build on NCC's successful performance in governance improvement.

The project is estimated to cost $200 million, to be confirmed at the fact-finding mission. The indicative financing plan is in Table 1. The modality selected is project loan as the project will support a defined investment project in the target town.

The project will provide reliable, sustainable, and inclusive urban services in Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC), the fourth most populated city in Bangladesh, and one of the major growth engines of the country being adjacent to Dhaka. These include a safely managed drinking water supply, drainage, and urban road; and improved capacity of NCC and local communities which altogether will strengthen climate adaptation and sustainability of urban services.

Urbanization challenge. In Bangladesh, the urban population represents 38% of the total population of 170 million in 2020, a rapid increase from 26% in 2010. At the current growth rate, the urban population is projected to reach 58% by 2050. While urban areas contribute to economic growth, rapid population increase and industrialization are exacerbating the deficit in basic urban services. In 2020, only 53% of the urban population reported having access to safely managed drinking water. In 2018, none of the cities was fully equipped with proper drainage systems. Urban transport is suffering from chronic congestion due to inadequate and unplanned road networks with limited safety management. Green and recreational spaces are limited, leading to poor environmental quality and health of the residents. Climate change and disaster risks will further accelerate these pressures. For urban areas to continue contributing to economic growth, it will be crucial to effectively manage the urbanization and steer it toward resilient directions. The need for improved green and resilient urban services is especially high in municipalities that have recently become city corporations, such as Narayanganj.

Target city. Narayanganj, being the southeast gateway of Dhaka and located near major rivers, is one of the oldest industrial and trade centers of the country, particularly for textile industries. The area of the city is 76 square kilometers with a population of around one million in 2021. Due to rapid population growth, it became a city corporation in 2011 from a pourashava, a smaller municipality than city cooperation, resulting in a substantial increase in responsibility for municipal services mandated under the City Corporation Act, 2009. However, the city suffers from deteriorating urban services which require an integrated solution. Municipal water supply is provided only a few hours per day with low water quality and a nonrevenue water ratio of nearly 60% largely due to the aging network that was built 50 years ago. The current water treatment plant requires pre-treatment during the dry season to meet drinking water quality standards. The drainage network covers only half of the city area. Increasing wastewater is causing frequent waterlogging, especially during monsoon season, leading to unsanitary living conditions. Roads are mostly narrow with limited space for pedestrians. There are limited public spaces for recreational activities, aggravating the low standard of living. Addressing NCC's inadequate institutional and financial capacity, and improving urban service delivery will help unleash the high growth potential of the city as an engine of growth in Bangladesh.

Disaster and climate change. Bangladesh is one of the most at-risk countries in the world for climate change and disasters. In NCC, droughts, heatwaves, extreme rainfall, and multi-day rainfall events are representative of the acute risks, leading to shortages in water supply and often overwhelmed drainage systems. Increases in temperature over time are among the representative chronic risks, leading to increasing demand for water supply. Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 sets a vision to achieve a safe, climate-resilient, and prosperous delta area, aiming to ensure safety from climate change-related disasters as the first specific goal. It identifies urban areas as hotspots or vulnerable places at-risk. The project will support climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction in NCC by improving the water supply systems for supply augmentation, resilient drainage system reducing waterlogging, and a riverside road that functions as a protection against river flooding.

Policy framework and strategy. The Eighth Five Year Plan, 2021-2025 of the government identifies sustainable and inclusive urban development as a national priority and sets objectives for urban development, good governance, and management at local levels. The objectives include ensuring adequate, safe, and affordable basic urban services including water supply, urban transportation, and urban planning with climate adaptation and disaster risk management considerations. The project is also aligned with (i) Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100; (ii) the National Strategy for Water Supply and Sanitation; (iii) the Strategy for Governance Improvement of City Corporations 20202030; and (iv) the NCC's vision to build an environmentally friendly, clean, healthy, safe, and poverty-free city.

Investment opportunities. In 2016, the Local Government Division (LGD) under the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives supported NCC to prepare its Action Area Plan. The plan identifies critical areas for immediate action to improve basic municipal services, including drainage and road along the Shitalakshya river. In 2019, to comply with the City Corporation Act, NCC and Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) agreed for NCC to take over the delivery of water supply services from DWASA. With the new responsibility, NCC accorded water supply service improvement high priority. Addressing the challenges in water supply service in NCC, which are similar to those in Dhaka in 2007 when Asian Development Bank (ADB) started its major support to DWASA, will lead to a more sustainable water supply in the greater Dhaka area with a long-term strategy.

Alignment with ADB's Strategy and the Global Goals. The project will develop disaster- and climate-resilient infrastructure, and strengthen institutions and communities to provide safely managed urban services in NCC, which will benefit the rapidly increasing population, including women and vulnerable people. It is aligned with the priorities of ADB Strategy 2030, ADB's country partnership strategy for Bangladesh (2021-2025), and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Preparatory facility. In 2019, ADB approved the Urban Infrastructure Improvement Preparatory Facility, a project readiness financing (PRF) loan ($11 million) to strengthen NCC's technical and implementation capacity, and to prepare the proposed project. The PRF supports the preparation of feasibility studies, detailed designs, draft bidding documents, and advance procurement. The PRF also supports pre-implementation activities to strengthen NCC's municipal financial management. NCC is the executing agency and implementing agency of the PRF.

Sustainable and inclusive urban development achieved (Eighth Five Year Plan 2021-2025)

Safe and climate-resilient delta area achieved (Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100)

NCC's resilience, and access to inclusive, reliable and sustainable urban services improved.

Climate-resilient and inclusive drinking water supply, drainage, and transport infrastructure developed and/or improved.

Capacity and awareness of NCC and local community in climate-resilient, sustainable, and inclusive urban services strengthened.

Institutional capacity and governance of other municipal services strengthened.