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Dhaka is one of the largest megacities in the world with huge population. With time this city experiences large scale urban development and is facing several urban challenges in terms of basic urban services, transportation system, water supply and sanitation, waste management and housing due to informal urbanization. Because of centralized service facilities and income opportunities the migrant population is increasing with time drastically with their limited affordability of housing and other public services. The immediate consequence of this is the growth of unhygienic slums and squatter settlements. Several development plans as well as policies were formulated to control the urbanization growth and different policy approaches such as eviction, resettlement and upgrading were adopted to deal with informal settlements of Dhaka. These policies approaches were not very effective, because the scale of the problems is very large and the problems are interconnected with complex phenomenon. To address such problems various initiatives have been taken at different scale both in abroad and local scale by different agencies. Based on their essences the regulatory suggestions considering urbanization and informal settlement issues of Dhaka are recommended on this paper understanding the existing situation.

Balancing the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental is a complex task. Creating the conditions for sustainability is precisely an attempt to bridge these three dimensions of sustainable development. However, reducing carbon emission and sustainable development are closely allied. Maintaining a low carbon growth path consequently makes a city more efficient, livable and eventually sustainable. The challenges are rather more complex for ever-growing metropolises to make and maintain a healthy balance among carbon emission reduction and sustainable development. Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated cities with a very high population-land ratio and world's most significant financial center [13], faces considerable challenges to promote sustainability in real terms. The government of HKSAR has already put much effort to encourage sustainable development in Hong Kong ranging from formulating “Council for Sustainable Development”, “Sustainable Development Fund (SDF)” to stimulating public awareness as well as integrating community participation toward the promotion of sustainable development [5]. Alongside, to maintain a healthy balance between the mounting economic growth and urban sustainability of Hong Kong, a clear understanding of the complex nature of sustainable development and the intertwined nexus among its drivers is vital. Therefore, this research paper is primarily an attempt to offer a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between low-carbon growth and urban sustainability integrating global climate change impact. Moreover, it will look closely into the carbon footprint of Hong Kong and thereby suggesting options to reduce carbon emission to proceed toward a low carbon city as well as promoting sustainable development through systematic review of literatures.

In Bangladesh every single settlement whether it urban or rural is situated alongside a form of inland water network. Livelihood, culture and civilization of this settlements maintains an intrinsic relationship with the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna river basin system. Inland water eco-system service plays a significant role in the setting of a settlement and its socio-economic activities. The traditional role of this water network is often deteriorated over the years due to the lack of ecological knowledge, dearth of proper strategies and policy guidelines and various anthropogenic activities in the face of accelerated climate change scenarios. This study is attempted to find out the ecosystem services of Bhiarab river in the context of the national river management strategies and policies in cooperation with river-dependent community and challenges thereof. The paper explains the background of this river channel-based navigation along with the discussion of issues and challenges faced by the settlements. The findings reveal various strategic policies have been taken over the years on piecemeal basis to manage water resources which did not end up well due to the absence of a holistic approach. Future management plans for this river should involve local communities to avail their willingness to conserve this river while making them resilient against anthropogenic and natural impacts through enhancement of socio-economic output from it. The community willingness and its dependence, as unearthed in this research, provides compelling ground for the authors to state that integrated planning with proper respect for local ecology is a mandatory strategic element to successful implementation of the policies in this regard.

The available approaches for measuring accessibility are rigid and complex in nature, and mostly impractical for decision-makers as they require a large number of data, logistics support, and technical knowledge. Therefore, this study seeks to propose a flexible and practical approach for quantifying and ranking the accessibility to market facilities in rural areas. A three-stage multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach is proposed to fulfill the objective. The first stage involves the identification of factors that influence the accessibility to rural market facilities. The next stage involves the use of the Constant-Sum Paired-Comparison Method (CSPCM) to determine the priority of each identified factor. The third stage adopts the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to quantify and rank the accessibility to market facilities of rural areas. To illustrate a real-world application, accessibility to market facilities in ten sub-districts of Bangladesh have been quantified and ranked by using this proposed approach. Results of this application support the claim that MCDM approach is a practical, flexible, and reliable approach that would better assist the policy-makers to identify poor accessible rural areas.

Consumption of non-renewable energy resources and global warming are increasing due to excessive dependency on motorized vehicle. The study investigates the influencing factors for private motor vehicle dependency to develop a structural equation model (SEM) for quantifying subjective motor vehicle dependency by examining the determinants. A questionnaire survey of 130 random samples was conducted among private motor vehicle users from different districts of Bangladesh. On the basis of user practical experience and reliance on motor vehicle use, a subjective measure of private motor vehicle dependency is established. Results support to accept the model hypothesis which is MVU [Motor Vehicle Use] affects DEPEND [Dependency on Motor Vehicle] positively and both negatively affect INTENT [Intention to Reduce Motor Vehicle]. Hence, children and monthly income of respondents have large influence on motor vehicle use as the beta weights are 1.22 and 1.01, respectively. In case of dependency, regression weight shows that fuel expenses, average travelling distance, speed have significant influences. Besides, the greater social grade shows less intention to reduce motor vehicle use. The study shows clear overview of possible affecting factors behind dependency which can be reflected in decision-making strategies

Pedestrian road-crossing strategy is one of the most important pedestrian road-crossing behaviors. The safety of the pedestrians often depends on it. Among the road-crossing strategies, rolling gap crossing strategy is the riskiest one. The objective of this research was to explore the factors that influenced pedestrians’ decision to cross the road by rolling gap crossing at intersection. Data regarding road-crossing strategy of the pedestrians, their characteristics, their road-crossing behavior, intersection geometry, and traffic environmental condition were collected through videography survey method, on-site observation, and secondary source from six intersections of Dhaka, Bangladesh. A binary logistic regression model was developed in this study by using the collected data. Results of the developed model showed that seven statistically significant factors strongly influenced pedestrians’ decision to cross the road by rolling gap crossing at intersections. These factors were intersection control type, median width, vehicle flow, available gap on the road, age group of the pedestrians, their crossing group size, and their behavior of crosswalk usage. The results of this study would help the policymakers to take proper interventions to alleviate pedestrian safety problems.