**1. Introduction**

The concept of climate change is understood as a gradual change in global physical conditions, encompassing changes in air and sea temperatures, sea level rise, changes in precipitation levels and seasonal climate variations [1]. Such changes, often manifested dramatically as sudden violent storms, are considered long-term processes with added latent risk factors. Their impacts are likely to undermine the essentials of human lives and social systems. These essentials include safe access to food, fresh water, health, home, land and employment. In current world it has been evidenced that human action is the greatest triggering force for global climate change trend. Therefore, onus is on us to identify the likely changes and to deal with the consequences. Expected climate changes are no longer limited within our scientific understanding, such as change of temperature and precipitation levels but also has long term social impacts which could also be addressed as slow-onset impact of climate change. Rising sea levels are believed to further increase the multiple risks from extreme climate events, including cyclones and frequent and prolonged floods, tidal surges and increasing salinity intrusion [2].

Increasing sudden-onset natural hazards will result in substantial human displacement from different parts of the world by 2050, who will be known as climate migrants or climate refugee [3–5]. The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report [6] addresses natural hazards and resulting forced migration, suggesting such development could move migration to a new magnitude. In early 2008, another 15 million people in Sichuan, China, and 2.4 million in Myanmar were displaced because of natural disasters [7–8]. It is widely predicted that this will increase poverty and provoke a crisis in fresh water supply, shelter, food and energy, leading to socioeconomic disparity and playing a pivotal role in significant changes to social justice.

Urban slums are usually the first destination for displaced people. Approximately 1 billion people live in urban slums; another 50 million are likely to be displaced by climate factors and will add to urban slum populations in Asia, Africa and Latin America [9]. Here they have limited access to employment, water, shelter, sanitation and basic amenities. Often, such forced displacement trades physical safety for the basic human rights these people have previously enjoyed – namely, the right to development and the right to live in their own society and culture – until a point where survival is at stake [10].

Among different social and economic adaptation approaches, involuntary migration is notable, especially for vulnerable coastal communities in the developing world [11]. Parvin and Shaw [12] also noted that climate migrants are usually poor, locating themselves in congested inner-city areas for easier access to jobs or on the urban fringes because of lower rents. Such unplanned and largely illegal and certainly perilous land occupancy changes urban land-uses, extending uncontrolled urban peripheral growth and increasing urban poverty and poor quality of living standard. Socioeconomic inequalities are increasing in urban areas. Migrants who have lost almost everything due to climate change can become trapped in a downward spiral of urban poverty in their migration destination and become a social threat.

This study explores climate change as a potential trigger of new social challenge in existing urban setup and it is become a challenge for those vulnerable marginal communities, using Bangladesh as a case study. Bangladesh is a low-lying coastal zone, where internal migration has long served as an adaptive strategy, but where climate adaptation is seldom addressed in development policy.

### **2. Research design**

South coast region of Bangladesh is home to 35 million people at a density of 738 persons/km2 . It is also projected that by 2050 total population would be 40–50 million in the same area [13]. These coastal communities, mainly dependent on subsistence agriculture and fishing on the fertile plains along rivers and the coast, and they are the prime victims of extreme climate events. To gain a deeper understanding of climate migration and human life changes in Bangladesh, this study conducted a field investigation in Khulna, the capital city of south coast, with a jurisdiction of 4394.46 km2 and a home for 3 million growing at 3.8% per annum [14].

Climate induced migrants are coming from the poor communities along the coastal areas have located themselves in the urban fringe and slums, where they seek cheap accommodation and unstable access to low-paid employment.

With the support of local and national NGOs – namely, 'Pothikkrreith' – a mass-scale dialogue session with audio-visual presentation on climate change and displacement was conducted with such residents, around 700 people in Khulna. From that mass-scale dialogue and participant list, 200 respondents were purposely chosen as the targeted community. These targeted people had all migrated or been displaced – due to cyclones, flash floods, river erosion or drought – from different

**171**

questionnaire survey.

**3. Climate change and Bangladesh**

*Climate Change and Uncharted Social Challenge in Existing Urban Setup in Bangladesh*

parts of the coastal districts, so that diversity could be reflected in the sample. Out of the 200 selected people, 100 respondents were then chosen through systematic random sampling, with every alternate person being chosen to provide answers to a

This research reflects the migrants' opinions about the challenges they face in an urban setting where they have very limited access to urban facilities and have encountered diminished social justice as an indirect impact of climate change, which has largely been overlooked under social crisis management strategies.

Bangladesh is located between 20°34′-26°-38' N and 88°01′-92°41′ E. Bangladesh is bordered on the west, north and east by India, on the south-east by Myanmar and on the south by the Bay of Bengal [15]. The country is located at the unique juxtaposition of the composite, which makes Bangladesh highly exposed

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.83409*

*Climate Change and Uncharted Social Challenge in Existing Urban Setup in Bangladesh DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.83409*

parts of the coastal districts, so that diversity could be reflected in the sample. Out of the 200 selected people, 100 respondents were then chosen through systematic random sampling, with every alternate person being chosen to provide answers to a questionnaire survey.

This research reflects the migrants' opinions about the challenges they face in an urban setting where they have very limited access to urban facilities and have encountered diminished social justice as an indirect impact of climate change, which has largely been overlooked under social crisis management strategies.

### **3. Climate change and Bangladesh**

Bangladesh is located between 20°34′-26°-38' N and 88°01′-92°41′ E. Bangladesh is bordered on the west, north and east by India, on the south-east by Myanmar and on the south by the Bay of Bengal [15]. The country is located at the unique juxtaposition of the composite, which makes Bangladesh highly exposed

*Climate Change and Agriculture*

Increasing sudden-onset natural hazards will result in substantial human displacement from different parts of the world by 2050, who will be known as climate migrants or climate refugee [3–5]. The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report [6] addresses natural hazards and resulting forced migration, suggesting such development could move migration to a new magnitude. In early 2008, another 15 million people in Sichuan, China, and 2.4 million in Myanmar were displaced because of natural disasters [7–8]. It is widely predicted that this will increase poverty and provoke a crisis in fresh water supply, shelter, food and energy, leading to socioeconomic disparity and playing a pivotal role in significant changes to social justice.

Urban slums are usually the first destination for displaced people.

of urban poverty in their migration destination and become a social threat.

climate adaptation is seldom addressed in development policy.

culture – until a point where survival is at stake [10].

Approximately 1 billion people live in urban slums; another 50 million are likely to be displaced by climate factors and will add to urban slum populations in Asia, Africa and Latin America [9]. Here they have limited access to employment, water, shelter, sanitation and basic amenities. Often, such forced displacement trades physical safety for the basic human rights these people have previously enjoyed – namely, the right to development and the right to live in their own society and

Among different social and economic adaptation approaches, involuntary migration is notable, especially for vulnerable coastal communities in the developing world [11]. Parvin and Shaw [12] also noted that climate migrants are usually poor, locating themselves in congested inner-city areas for easier access to jobs or on the urban fringes because of lower rents. Such unplanned and largely illegal and certainly perilous land occupancy changes urban land-uses, extending uncontrolled urban peripheral growth and increasing urban poverty and poor quality of living standard. Socioeconomic inequalities are increasing in urban areas. Migrants who have lost almost everything due to climate change can become trapped in a downward spiral

This study explores climate change as a potential trigger of new social challenge in existing urban setup and it is become a challenge for those vulnerable marginal communities, using Bangladesh as a case study. Bangladesh is a low-lying coastal zone, where internal migration has long served as an adaptive strategy, but where

South coast region of Bangladesh is home to 35 million people at a density of

million in the same area [13]. These coastal communities, mainly dependent on subsistence agriculture and fishing on the fertile plains along rivers and the coast, and they are the prime victims of extreme climate events. To gain a deeper understanding of climate migration and human life changes in Bangladesh, this study conducted a field investigation in Khulna, the capital city of south coast, with a jurisdiction of

 and a home for 3 million growing at 3.8% per annum [14]. Climate induced migrants are coming from the poor communities along the coastal areas have located themselves in the urban fringe and slums, where they seek cheap accommodation and unstable access to low-paid employment.

With the support of local and national NGOs – namely, 'Pothikkrreith' – a mass-scale dialogue session with audio-visual presentation on climate change and displacement was conducted with such residents, around 700 people in Khulna. From that mass-scale dialogue and participant list, 200 respondents were purposely chosen as the targeted community. These targeted people had all migrated or been displaced – due to cyclones, flash floods, river erosion or drought – from different

. It is also projected that by 2050 total population would be 40–50

**170**

**2. Research design**

738 persons/km2

4394.46 km2

and vulnerable to extreme climate events. The impacts of changing temperatures, level of precipitation, more extreme weather events and rising sea level are already felt in Bangladesh and will continue to intensify [16, 17]. For example, hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost in Bangladesh due to recent catastrophic cyclones, notably Cyclone Sidr in November 2007, which caused almost 4000 deaths. Moreover, the frequency of cyclones in Bangladesh has increased more than five times over the last three decades [16]. Following Sidr, Cyclone Aila hit the coast on 25 May 2009 and about half a million people lost their land, homestead and livelihoods and had no option but to sail for a new life to an unknown place. Large areas of productive farmland were rendered useless as a result of inundation and subsequent salinity and in other cases were permanently flooded, forcing residents to migrate.

In their search for alternative livelihoods, displaced communities generally opt for nearby urban destinations where they have opportunities to earn and livelihoods are perceived to be available. Hence, they can be labelled as climate migrants and are really a sub-category of internally displaced persons.

It is estimated that each year between 300,000 and 400,000 people migrate to the country's capital to improve their economic prospects [18]. The poor internal migrants usually end up in the urban slums. The proportion of internal migration within urban slum areas varies, ranging from 53% in Dhaka (the capital) to 70% in Khulna and Rajshahi districts. The proportion of migrants is higher in the coastal belt districts because of extreme climate events including cyclones and frequent surges [19].

**Figure 1** shows the number of natural disasters that have hit Bangladesh since 1993 and the total number of affected people. Concurrent natural disasters at high intensity have forced many victims to consider migration as their only viable adaptive response (data adapted from EM-DAT [20]).

Since 1993, almost every year the country gets affected with different natural disasters including flood, storms and cyclone. With high population density each disaster affects a huge number of population and that act as a natural push for displacement.

**Figure 2** shows the migration trend and the underlying reasons for migration, based on results of a field survey of 100 heads of households who were identified as climate migrants.

Based on primary data, the largest numbers of migrants identified themselves as driven out by Cyclone Aila in May 2009, both by the cyclone itself and by subsequent salinity problems.

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*Climate Change and Uncharted Social Challenge in Existing Urban Setup in Bangladesh*

The suffering and hardship of the climate migrants is a never-ending challenge. They faced natural hardships and hazards at their point of origin, and these hardships do not end when they arrive at their urban destination. Here they experience multiple aspects of deprivation, which restrict their efforts to attain a decent standard of living. For example, more than 65% of residents in the urban slums of Khulna do not have any sanitation facilities, 45% of slum dwellers do not have any fixed place to dispose of their garbage, and 35% are outside the garbage collection system [22]. This increased influx of migrants, driven by extreme climate events,

Concerning climate migration and social challenges, it was found that the migration destination offered them little or no improvement in their housing, as they could not afford the cost of formal housing. Few migrant households could gain access to established urban slums. However, a big number of the migrant communities have no alternatives but to established themselves as squatters in urban fringe areas, on marginal agricultural land, along rail corridors, next to the highway, or even in the natural drainage network, as well as in low-lying flood-prone areas and on river banks, using very informal construction materials. These various forms of informal settlements provided immediate shelter for some of those migrants but failed to ensure social security and justice for them in an urban setup. **Figure 3** shows the different land uses

About half of the total respondents in Khulna located themselves in urban fringe areas. This urban fringe land has been preserved for further urban expansion or to support landless or homeless communities. **Figure 4** portrays the informal settle-

This research demonstrated that climate actions not only forced migrants to find a new place of residence, but also forced them to accept any kind of low-paid occupation to survive in the urban areas. Migrant communities were forced to become involved with different and often new economic activities to support themselves. Since they often have no experience beyond farming or fishing, the city does not offer them many options. For example, most of the jobs available in urban areas are basic daily service jobs. Migrants lack job security and are particularly vulnerable as they might not get work every day. Migrants also often needed to work longer hours to meet the cost of living in the city.

occupied by migrants in Khulna City, offering them some kind of shelter.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.83409*

**4. Climate migration and social changes**

*Migration trend due to extreme climate events from 1980 to 2010 [21].*

**Figure 2.**

poses new burden for the existing urban services.

ments/housing of those migrants in urban fringe.

*Climate Change and Uncharted Social Challenge in Existing Urban Setup in Bangladesh DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.83409*

**Figure 2.** *Migration trend due to extreme climate events from 1980 to 2010 [21].*
