Housing and Public Works Minister Zakaria Taher said the government is committed to planned urbanisation and creating housing opportunities for low-income people. He made the remarks as chief guest at a workshop at Hotel Pan Pacific Sonargaon in the capital on Wednesday.

Taher said green buildings and climate-resilient infrastructure are necessary for Bangladesh, which faces climate-change risks. He said environmentally friendly building materials, energy-saving technologies and low-carbon designs would reduce carbon emissions and strengthen the country’s ability to confront climate-related disasters.

The minister said urban residents will outnumber the rural population by 2037, while more than 56 percent of the country’s people will live in cities by 2050. He cited the HBRI DESH Sustainable Building Labelling Framework as a future guideline for green construction. State Minister Ahmad Sohel Monzur said relevant stakeholders would coordinate to implement needed policies and action plans based on the workshop’s recommendations.