Wellbeing and urban governance: Who fails, survives or thrives in informal settlements in Bangladeshi cities?

Abstract

• We analyse wellbeing priorities and satisfactions in seven informal settlements in three Bangladeshi cities (Dhaka, Chittagong, Bogra) • Wellbeing priorities are similar across settlements but satisfaction with achieved wellbeing outcomes differs by site and by socio-economic groups • People's subjective assessments of how they fare on wellbeing priorities are consistent with relevant objective indicators of their wellbeing • Wellbeing outcomes are substantively mediated by site-specific governance arrangements for essential services • Urban policy makers lack methodologies and metrics to support interventions that are relevant to wellbeing dynamics in particular localities