Climate-resilient agriculture in coastal Khulna: unveiling the spatial dynamics of peri-urban growth centres

Abstract

This paper addresses the critical challenges posed by climate change to small-scale agriculture in coastal Bangladesh - a region highly susceptible to tidal surges, salinity, flooding, river erosion, and cyclones. The Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 (BDP 2100), one of the most comprehensive policy documents on climate change, prescribes integrated spatial planning and production-based strategies for building agricultural resilience against climatic threats. This study advocates for a shift from production-based strategies to a marketenabling approach, emphasizing the role of peri-urban growth centres in sustaining smallholder farmers. Using Khulna as a case study, this qualitative and ethnographic research critically examines the morphology of peri-urban growth centres in Khulna. It employs spatial analysis, including mapping techniques, to explore the regenerative functions and spatial dynamics of organically developed growth centres. The research uses Rahul Mehrotra's Kinetic City theoretical framework to assess the complex interplay of spatial dynamics in informally developed peri-urban growth centres of the coastal cities. The findings reveal three overlapping layers of spatial dynamics that are essential for creating successful peri-urban growth centres for coastal cities. The lessons from the case study could contribute to developing climate-adaptive planning and policymaking for peri-urban growth centres that can support resilient coastal agriculture aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030.