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Spatiality of a multidimensional poverty index: a case study of Khulna City, Bangladesh

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Abstract

Poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon, and spatiality is an important dimension for defining a multidimensional poverty index (MPI). Acknowledging the fact that spatiality is dependent on scale, the MPI of six slums, selected to cover a range of tenure types (public, private, and private freehold), was measured to determine the intra-urban variation of poverty in Khulna City, Bangladesh. Five dimensions were considered to measure the MPI: economic, social, infrastructure, political, and spatial, and an analytic hierarchy process was used to calculate the weights of the indicators. The majority of the slum dwellers were found to be multidimensionally poor, rather than income poor, and the spatial dimension had a considerable impact on urban poverty. By calculating the MPI and identifying the contribution of the spatial dimension to poverty, this research could help policy makers to determine appropriate policy and intervention measures to reduce urban poverty.

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful to the slum dwellers for participating in the survey. We thank the Urban and Rural Planning Discipline of Khulna University for their kind cooperation in guiding this research. Dr. Kate Harris proofread this paper—we are grateful to her.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Urban and Rural Planning Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna, 9208, Bangladesh

    Sumya Sydunnaher & Kazi Saiful Islam

  2. Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Khulna University of Engineering & Technology, Khulna, 9203, Bangladesh

    Md. Manjur Morshed

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  1. Sumya Sydunnaher
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Correspondence to Sumya Sydunnaher.

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Sydunnaher, S., Islam, K.S. & Morshed, M.M. Spatiality of a multidimensional poverty index: a case study of Khulna City, Bangladesh. GeoJournal 84, 1403–1416 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-018-9941-9

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