Action Research on Urban Slums

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BDI has conducted an action research with the aim to pilot a novel approach to poverty reduction and community enhancements through research, action, learning, partnership and participation. The action research tried to address the varied and multi-faceted dimensions of urban poverty and find and implement innovative ways to climate-proof each of these dimensions. It sought to address, inter alia, the following:

• Infrastructure and service delivery, such as drainage, roads, water supply, street lighting, and so on
• Access to finance and livelihood opportunities
• Housing and tenancy rights
• Governance
• Access to services, such as health, schooling, etc
• Resilience and adaptation to climate change
• Insecurity and violence, especially gender violence
• Strengthen individual, institutional, and community capacity and empowerment
• Build and maintain better lives and futures
• Identify local political champions
• Draw good practice lessons that can be used for future scaling up

The research, carried out in selected slums in metropolitan cities and secondary towns in Bangladesh, with a sample size of 300-500 households, pilot tested a mix of interventions. It analyzed the current conditions, climate change impacts, and community mobilisation strategies. It also tried to assess the efficacy of public-private partnerships and identify specific points of entry to propose specific interventions. 

The funding for the project was provided by the Rockefeller Foundation. BDI partnered with Department of Architecture and School of Public Health of BRAC University and BRAC NGO to carry out this research.

Lead Researchers

Fuad Mullick, Professor & Chair, Department of Architecture, BRAC University

Dr. Khairul Islam, WaterAid

Team Members

Imran Matin

Syed Hashemi

Ferdous Jahan

Mushfiq

Mamunur Rashid

Bayazid Hassan