- Title
- Foreign Direct Investment, Industrialisation, & Environmental Pollution in Bangladesh: An Analysis of Dhaka EPZ using Remote Sensing & GIS Techniques
- Creator
- Basak, Palash
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2022
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Bangladesh has made impressive economic progress in the last few decades – it has transformed from a so-called 'basket-case' during its birth in 1971 to a lower-middle-income country in 2021 – and it is on track to become a middle-income country by 2031. Export-oriented industrialisation, predominantly with ready-made-garments factories, played a significant role in Bangladesh's economic prosperity. Since the 1980s, the government of Bangladesh has initiated legal reform and has created specialised economic enclaves (known as Export Processing Zone) to attract foreign direct investment (FDI). As of the 2019-20 financial year, companies from 38 countries have invested approximately US$ 5.8 billion in the eight EPZs of Bangladesh and manufacturing mainly RMG and associated products. While the EPZs contribute to Bangladesh's economic progress, questions remain if these establishments are causing environmental and social degradation in the long run. Using Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ) as a case study, this research aimed to assess the cumulative environmental and social impacts of the FDI-induced industrial setup, which has been operating since 1993. Environmental pollution was examined with parameters such as quantity and quality of surface water bodies, groundwater exploitation, and land and air quality changes. The social impacts were assessed based on urban growth patterns and population dynamics. Efforts were taken to understand how the potential impact of this industrial facility (DEPZ) was evaluated, what type of monitoring and control mechanisms were in place, and how practical the control mechanisms were. This study was conducted with a mixed-method research design. Historical satellite images were analysed to evaluate land-use changes in and around the DEPZ area over three decades, between 1990 and 2020. To understand how surface water quality was impacted, this study examined the changes in the colour of water, a vital parameter of water quality, around DEPZ between 1988 and 2020, by employing qualitative and quantitative techniques of analysing remotely sensed data. Environmental changes were also analysed from satellite images. Key informants’ opinions and narratives were collected to understand why and how the changes happened around DEPZ. This study showed that DEPZ had made a significant positive impact by attracting a large sum of foreign investment and facilitating foreign export. DEPZ also created many direct and indirect employment opportunities and substantially contributed to the national economy. However, over time, the relative importance of DEPZ decreases. At the same time, the industrial setup has created notable environmental and social impacts. The research findings confirm that the surface water bodies around DEPZ have become darker after setting up the industrial zone. The watercolour in the lake beside DEPZ, known as Dhalai Beel or waste lake, has become darker than nearby water bodies because there was no central effluent treatment plant (CEPT) in the DEPZ till 2012. The industries in and around DEPZ are exploiting groundwater on a large scale. PSInSAR based radar satellite image analysis of ground displacement, narratives from local people, and other related research results indicated that the ground-water level in the DEPZ area is subsiding rapidly. The air quality of the study area also degraded over time. The study also found that the areas around DEPZ experienced secondary industrial growth and unplanned urban expansion after creating the industrial setup. The development of urban built-up areas was associated with exponential population growth. The phenomenon is explainable because the DEPZ industries required many skilled and unskilled workers, and a significant portion of them migrated from different parts of the country. Secondary industries around DEPZ popped up by exploiting the infrastructural facilities, such as gas and power supply, road network, etc. (developed initially for DEPZ), and availability of labour. Commercial and social facilities also expanded to support primary and secondary industrialisation and workers. The regulatory framework failed to prevent unplanned secondary industrialisation and urbanisation around the DEPZ. The study reveals that even though it was a modern FDI-induced industrial zone from where global brands outsourced products, DEPZ caused significant environmental pollution over the years and thus caused a long-term impact on the local environment. The facility also caused substantial social implications in the long run. Before promoting further FDI and creating additional special economic zones, Bangladesh should re-evaluate their priorities and devise techniques to prevent long-term environmental and social degradation associated with FDI-induced industrialisation. Development partners, investors, and global buyers can also re-evaluate their strategies for promoting FDI in developing countries. It is anticipated that the analytical methodology of the study will be helpful to evaluate the potential long-term environmental and social effects of similar industrial establishments. The research findings and recommendations will help policymakers formulate policies on sustainable industrial and urban development in Bangladesh and other developing countries.
- Subject
- Foreign Direct Investment (FDI); industrialisation; ground-water exploitation; land displacement; air pollution; Bangladesh; developing countries; GIS; remote sensing; satellite image; Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSInSAR); Google Earth engine; Export Processing Zone (EPZ); SNAP; R-Studio; environmental pollution; political ecology; sustainable development; Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA); Cumulative Effects Assessment (CEA); unplanned urban growth; water pollution
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1476712
- Identifier
- uon:49849
- Rights
- Copyright 2022 Palash Basak
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 7 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 226 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |