Bangladesh Development Studies Vol. XLII, June-September 2019, Nos. 2 & 3 Poverty in Urban Bangladesh: Trends, Profiles and Spatial Differences HOSSAIN ZILLUR RAHMAN * RUTH HILL ** With rapid urbanisation and concomitant rise in urban poverty, a better understanding of urban poverty and urban income dynamics has become an urgent priority. One in five poor households now live in urban Bangladesh and many more urban households are aspiring to be middle class yet vulnerable to falling back into poverty. Progress in reducing poverty has slowed in urban areas, particularly in larger cities. As a result, there are now more people living in extreme poverty in urban Bangladesh (3.7 million) than in 2010 (3 million). At current rates of urbanisation and poverty reduction, more than half of poor households will live in urban areas by 2030. This paper examines what can be learned about trends and drivers in urban poverty from recent nationally representative surveys. It also analyses additional data sources on the capital city, Dhaka, to shed light on spatial inequality within the city. The paper highlights the need for increased data collection and evidence on urban poverty to inform public policy to address this emerging challenge. Keywords: Poverty, Urban, Spatial, Slum, Dhaka JEL Classification: O18, I30, I39, R11, R12 I. INTRODUCTION With rapid urbanisation and a concomitant rise in urban poverty, a better understanding of urban poverty and urban income dynamics has become an urgent priority. The last census in 2011 counted 28 per cent of the population as urban, with the intercensal change indicating the urban share of the population is increasing by 0.4 percentage point per year. UN population data shows that Bangladesh is urbanising faster than both the southern Asia and all Asia regional averages (UN-DESA 2018). One in five poor households now live in urban Bangladesh (Table I) and many more urban households are aspiring to be middle * Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), Dhaka, Bangladesh. ** The World Bank. The authors are grateful to Joaquin Endara, Kelly Yelitza, Yurani Arias Granada and Maria Eugenia Genoni for inputs in preparing this paper. In addition, they thank Sailesh Tiwari and Benu Bidani for very valuable comments.