The World Bank has warned that Bangladesh’s heavy concentration of industries along the Dhaka–Chattogram corridor is straining infrastructure, worsening congestion, and deepening regional inequality.
In its Bangladesh Development Update, the Bank said industrial growth in the corridor initially powered rapid economic expansion but has now reached a saturation point. Rising land prices, traffic bottlenecks, and inadequate urban services have pushed many factories into surrounding rural areas that lack planning and basic infrastructure.
Meanwhile, western Bangladesh remains largely disconnected from this growth zone, experiencing slower job creation and weaker investment. The report said this uneven pattern of development shows the limits of Bangladesh’s current urbanization model.
The Bank urged policymakers to adopt a more balanced spatial strategy that supports emerging industrial clusters, expands transport links beyond Dhaka, and invests in infrastructure to ease pressure on the overburdened corridor.