Road network is one of the key elements on which the development of a country hinges on. Often it is used as an index to assess the extent of a country’s development. A good road network plays important role in creating economic opportunities by integrating various local economies into national economies, reducing the cost of transportation of people and goods, and creating new jobs.
A well-developed road network also brings a host of social benefits by reducing poverty, bringing education and health services to underserved communities. Researchers also argue that rural road networks strengthen democracy and local civil society and encourage good governance and political inclusion.
Traditionally due to an abundance of rivers, Bangladesh had an extensive river based transport network. When the British colonial government introduced rail transportation system in mid-19th century, it become another popular mode of transport.
at the end of the British rule there were only a handful of kilometers of paved road, mostly concentrated in the urban areas, in Bangladesh.
Although during the latter part of colonial rule the British government tried to improve the road transport system, it didn’t gain much traction due to WWII and at the end of the British rule there were only a handful of kilometers of paved road, mostly concentrated in the urban areas, in Bangladesh.
During the Pakistan period the government took some initiative through the three five-year plans to build more roads. Although these plans faced setbacks due to lack of funding, still nearly 6,500 km of roads were built under these plans. Nearly two-thirds of those were single lane paved road.
In independent Bangladesh after 1971 there was a renewed enthusiasm in building roads and road transport quickly became the most popular mode of transport both for freight and people.
Since then Bangladesh have been increasing its road network at a steady pace and at the end of 2021 the combined length of paved and unpaved road network of Bangladesh stood at 353,353 km, ranking the country 22nd in the world in terms of road length.
A Closer Look
Within Bangladesh, there is a wide variance in road length across the 64 districts. Chittagong tops the list with 14,073 km road while Meherpur sits at the bottom with merely 1,629 km road. It is worth noting that among the top 20 districts, 17 are those that were formed before the liberation of Bangladesh.
At division level Chittagong division takes the top spot with 69,774 km of road, followed by Dhaka division with 61,843 km. Sylhet takes the last spot with 22,412 km.
Road Density
While the size of road network in a particular area is an important matrix, it is not the be-all and end-all. Since districts have all different size of area so it is expected that physically bigger districts will have more roads.
For this reason it is important to take a look at the road density. Road density is the kilometers of road per 100 sq. km of land area. Here we see Jhalokati district tops the list with 555 km, followed by Dhaka and Feni.
All three hill districts: Khagrachari, Rangamati and Bandarban have least amount of road length.
Road Per Capita
Yet another way to look at road network is to examine road length per capita matrix. Usually it is calculated as the length of road per 1000 people.
It should be noted that, except capital city Dhaka, the districts who have high population density are not the same districts with the most road density. In fact there appears to be an inverse relationship between road length per capita and population density.
Paved vs Unpaved
One important aspect of a road network is how much of it is paved or unpaved. In Bangladesh a little over one third of the road is paved. The other two third is officially called ‘earthen road’ by the Bangladesh government.
Rangamati, Patuakhali, Bandarban, Netrakona and Barguna, the top 5 districts with the most percentage of earthen roads, are either in hilly, coastal or border region. It is quite surprising to see that Dhaka, the most urbanized district of Bangladesh has more earthen road than paved road (55% vs 45%).
Road Quality Index
A discussion about road network will perhaps remain incomplete without mentioning the Road Quality Index published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) every year since 2006. It is a part of the Global Competitiveness Index published by WEF. The assessment is made up of data from WEF Executive Opinion Survey, a survey of over 14,000 business leaders in 144 countries.
Over the last 13 years Bangladesh slid down 35 spots and ended up at the 107th rank among 141 countries
The business leaders are asked to rate the roads in the country they operate on a scale from 1 to 7 in terms of extensiveness and condition of the road, where 1 means underdeveloped and 7 means extensive and efficient by international standard. The final composite score of a country is produced by aggregating the individual responses.
In 2006 Bangladesh ranked 72 among 119 countries. Over the last 13 years Bangladesh slid down 35 spots and ended up at the 107th rank among 141 countries in 2019. Other south Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bhutan all consistently rank higher than Bangladesh.
Bangladesh will officially join the middle income country group in 2026. Furthermore the country also plan to be a developed country by 2041. In the light of these stated goals of Bangladesh, the experts warn that the country should be very wary of avoiding the middle income trap.
When a country’s growth become stagnated due to its inability to transform from a resource driven growth to productivity driven growth it’s assumed that the country is caught in the middle income trap. Malaysia, Brazil and South Africa are few glaring examples of such predicaments.
Researchers believe that a good road transportation network is crucial in sustaining the growth momentum once a country achieve middle income status. Keeping that in mind, Bangladesh need a long term vision regarding its road network.
Additionally, a good road network will also be crucial if the country want unlock the full potential of its connectivity with Asian Road Network and Belt and Road Initiative.
At the same time, as Bangladesh is opening up more and more areas, often ecologicaly sensitive regions, to development, it is of vital importance that issues like effects of road network on ecological conditions enter into the development conversation.
References
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- Economic Adviser’s Wing, Finance Division, Ministry of Finance, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Economic Review, 2017 (2018). Dhaka.
- Felipe, J., Abdon, A., & Kumar, U. (2012, April). Tracking the middle-income trap: What is it, who is in it, and why? Retrieved from https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/79487/1/71502471X.pdf
- The Future of Transport Infrastructure in Bangladesh. The Daily Star. (2021, April 27). Retrieved April 27, 2022, from https://www.thedailystar.net/supplements/news/the-future-transport-infrastructure-bangladesh-2084877
- Mahmood, M. (2022, February 11). Middle income trap: The way out. The Financial Express. Retrieved April 27, 2022, from https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/views/views/middle-income-trap-the-way-out-1644071847
- Quium, A. S. M. A., & Hoque, S. A. M. A. (n.d.). The Completeness and Vulnerability of Road Network in Bangladesh. Engineering concerns of Flood. Retrieved April 27, 2022, from https://www.salekseraj.com/Engineering-Concerns-of-Flood.htm
- Remy Simatovia, M. I. (2008, June 1). Peru : Impact of the rural roads program on democracy and citizenship in rural areas. Open Knowledge Repository. Retrieved April 27, 2022, from https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/8080
- Roads quality by country, around the world. TheGlobalEconomy.com. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2022, from https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/roads_quality