B Mirror Report :  The Institute for Planning and Development (IPD) has warned that poorly planned rehabilitation of street vendors could further aggravate the hawker problem in Dhaka and other cities across Bangladesh.

In a statement issued on Friday (May 15), signed by IPD Executive Director Professor Dr. Adil Muhammad Khan, the think tank said that the recently formulated street vendor management policy by the Local Government Division lacks proper planning and could create additional pressure on sidewalks and roads if implemented in an uncoordinated manner.

Dr. Khan noted that although the policy was introduced to regulate hawker management in Dhaka, its implementation appears “arbitrary and short-sighted,” potentially worsening mobility for city residents. He emphasized that the hawker issue is not limited to Dhaka alone, but is a nationwide urban challenge affecting pedestrian movement, safety, and overall urban livability.

He stressed the need for a unified national policy for all urban areas rather than a Dhaka-centric approach, arguing that effective implementation requires political consensus and community-based monitoring.

According to him, the policy should have been developed through comprehensive planning analysis. Instead, he criticized the decision to allocate roadside and sidewalk spaces for hawkers without adequate assessment, which he said could reverse recent improvements in pedestrian access in parts of Dhaka.

Dr. Khan also questioned whether city corporations should allow commercial activity that obstructs sidewalks and vehicular movement, and raised concerns about unfair competition faced by licensed shop owners who pay taxes and fees.

He further argued that the provision allowing only 5–6 feet of pedestrian space is not aligned with modern urban design standards. He said wider footpaths are typically required in large cities, with residential areas needing 8–10 feet, commercial zones 10–16 feet, and central business districts 20–40 feet of pedestrian space.

The IPD executive director also criticized the policy’s proximity rules, which allow hawker placement within 30–40 feet of metro stations, bus stops, and key intersections, whereas international standards generally restrict vending within 150 feet of such critical points.

While acknowledging some positive aspects of the policy such as holiday markets, night markets, and designated hawker-free zones IPD said several key gaps remain. These include the absence of biometric identification guidelines, lack of publicly available area-based hawker lists, and no representation of citizens in the management committee.

Dr. Khan warned that formalizing the current informal occupation of sidewalks could institutionalize urban congestion and increase public suffering. He added that the policy should have been developed as a national framework first, followed by city-specific guidelines, rather than focusing solely on Dhaka North and South City Corporations.

He concluded that the continued neglect of urban problems outside the capital reflects a long-standing policy bias toward Dhaka, while other cities remain underrepresented in national planning.