SUMMARIES OF THE POLICY SEA PILOTS
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ration of the World Bank Dhaka Integrated Environment and Water Resources Management Program (DIEWRMP), which supports integrated pollution management and reduction of industrial pollution in the watershed of Greater Dhaka. It was expected that the DIEWRMP design would draw on SEA findings about institutional responsibilities and regulations connected to industrial developments in the watershed. Brief Description of the Pilot The SEA was understood by the government of Bangladesh to add value to the technically oriented output of the ongoing local-level planning (DAPs). Therefore, the SEA attempted to provide a platform for dialogue and interaction between policy makers, planners, stakeholders, and civil society at large on environmental priorities, and on how these priorities could be affected by the implementation of urban development plans. The SEA study was launched in 2006 and completed in 2007. It was initially intended to be a conventional impact-centered assessment with some elements of institutional analysis. In the face of constraining factors in the institutional framework for DAP preparation, the analytical focus of the SEA was changed. The higher-level plans of the DMDP planning framework did not provide the strategic guidance needed for the DAPs, and the urban development framework was highly fragmented, with responsibilities divided among a multitude of government agencies. The objectives were revised to focus on institutions and governance conditions, and to provide overall direction to the DAP preparation process. The analytical component of the SEA was constituted according to the following three areas of concentration: 1. an analysis of the key environmental problems in the DMDP area based on secondary information available in various published studies and documents, and an analysis of their links to policies, legislation, and plans 2. an assessment of the adequacy of existing urban plans and the planning process at the strategic level in order to make recommendations for improved planning and governance 3. an assessment of the efficacy of the ongoing DAP formulation process, review of the design and technical planning capacity in RAJUK, and identification of the areas and needs in RAJUK where interventions for capacity development would be beneficial to overall urban management Political economy issues and historical aspects of urban development were only indirectly addressed and superficially covered in the institutional analysis. The analysis did not address, for example, the driving forces behind rural to urban migration, and the consequent increase in informal settlements in the urban area, where people live under extremely harsh conditions. The findings of the