Urbanization in Bangladesh takes the form of rapid growth of urban
population, largely due to natural growth and rural-urban migration. The
hierarchy of urban system includes both induced and spontaneous growth
centres. Large numbers of spontaneous growth centres grow due to rapid
population growth as well as growing importance of certain local resource that
induces economic growth. Trickle down effects are not uniformly speeded
spatially perhaps because of spatial variation in environmental conditions, and
socio-economic infrastructures of the country. And there exists wide spatial
inequalities in the rates of urbanization and economic growth and development.
The major objectives of this study are to examine the broader rudiments of the
growth pole theme and to examine the roles of population pressure,
environmental constraints, technology, socio-economic, institutional, and capital
factors on urbanization, spatial development and inequality in Bangladesh. The
spatial patterns of regional inequalities have been assessed to formulate regional
planning required in the context of Bangladesh. Factor and cluster analyses
techniques were used to identify the nature and spatial patterns of urbanization
and spatial development separately for the year 1991. The results of factor and
cluster analysis have been compared to the findings of the study throughout
discussion. Factor analysis provided the initial scrutiny of variables and their
spatial variations with some qualifications. While the factor structures captured
all 18 variables in the analysis and grouped them into fewer factors at each time
period, factor scores derived from such analyses formed the bases of
regionalization of urbanization and spatial development.