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Transformation towards a mega-regional formation of Khulna city, Bangladesh

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Abstract

A mega-industrial region is frequently the result of purposeful regional development policies. Mega-region development is a new form of rapid urbanization and economic growth that is stimulated by government infrastructure projects. The objective of this research is to examine how the core built-up area and population growth of Khulna city, Bangladesh are slowing relative to the periphery as a result of mega-regionalization. We describe the spatial transformation of the city using GIS and remote sensing for built-up area identification and two urban expansion indices–expansion intensity index and urban expansion differentiation index–for quantitative measurements. The findings indicate that the city's periphery is seeing a higher rate of land use change and population agglomeration than the core. Secondly, the development hotspots are located in the peripheral regions. This change is largely fuelled by conventional speculative land and housing development similar to most cities with growing economies, and not the result of becoming a mega-industrial region. The land use transformation at the regional level and the city’s periphery has catastrophic repercussions because of massive resettlement and depeasantization.

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(Source: Adapted from BEZA, 2020 and Authors, 2022)

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Mr. Zaki Arafin, Research Assistant at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET) for collecting some basic information on Khulna city.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET), Room-403, Khulna, 9203, Bangladesh

    Md. Manjur Morshed, Tanmoy Mazumder, Showmitra Kumar Sarkar, Fahmida Yeasmin Sami & Afiya Kashem Ishra

  2. Sustainable Development Management, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Science, 47533, Kleve, Germany

    Sumya Sydunnaher

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Contributions

MMM (corresponding author) was responsible for the idea, writing and organisation, making final draft and submitting the paper. TM and SKS prepared the maps and was responsible for data collection. FYS and AKI were responsible for field work and data analysis. SS was responsible for editing, and grammar and fact check.

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Correspondence to Md. Manjur Morshed.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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This is to confirm that the paper “Slowing core city growth and expanding peripheral region: towards a mega-regional formation of Khulna city, Bangladesh” has been submitted to Spatial Information Research by the following ethical issues: The manuscript has submitted only in this journal and not published in any language before. All the data (primary and secondary) and results (image, graph, and table) used here was not manipulated. All the data, text, or theories by others used here have sufficiently are being acknowledged and referenced. All authors have consented to submission and publication in Spatial Information Research. The authors’ affiliation institution is aware about this research and publication, and the research work was done under the direct supervision of the institution. This research does not deal with any human and animal species. The whole research was done on self-funding.

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Morshed, M.M., Mazumder, T., Sarkar, S.K. et al. Transformation towards a mega-regional formation of Khulna city, Bangladesh. Spat. Inf. Res. 30, 665–677 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41324-022-00465-2

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