Talk:List of cities and towns in Bangladesh

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What is the crieterion for assigning cities in Bangladesh? As far as I know, most of these "cities" here are designated as "towns" by the government, and that too isn't an official designation. It could be a list of metropolitan areas in Bangladesh or municipalities in Bangladesh or something like that. It is not acceptable that Bhola town (pop. 39,964) should be cited as a city in a country of 140 million people. I think this article deserves an "AfD", or atleast a serious "cleanup". - Aditya Kabir 17:10, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

I cannot agree with your assertions. Cities and towns are incorporated areas that are under the jurisdiction of Municipal bodies (Corporations, municipalities, boards etc.). The designation is official, NOT an arbitrary one. The areas under such cities and towns are clearly demarcated and the administration/tax structure etc are separate from that of the District. Bhola town is officially designated as a city, and it is regardless of the size of the total population of the country. Geographic places are always encyclopedic by themselves, and the information about cities is verifiable; therefore it is completely wrong to assume these "deserve an afd". Thank you. --Ragib 22:45, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. AfD was too harsh and thoughless. Agreed. Besides there are city lists for all countries on WP, there is no reason why Bangladesh shouldn't have one. But, the rest of your argument is wrong, very much. Let me explain, please:

Designation as a city is not universally an "official" designation. In Australia, UK, US and many other places it is, but in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand and many other places it is not. I have not able to find a single "official" source that designates Bhola (and most other cities on the list) as a city. In coutries that use the city designation as an official status, it is imperative that there is a set of laws or charters governing that designation. Bangladesh has no such thing. And, no where on earth a city and a town are meant to used as designations for the same location.
In Bangadesh the "official" designation of urban areas are - metropolitan area (i.e. Dhaka; governed by a city corporation) and municipal area (i.e. Barisal; governed by a municipalty).^[1] Towns are sometimes "official" inside Dhaka (i.e. Banani Model Town, Uttara Model Town), but they are designations for urban planning zones. A city in Dhaka can even be a private sector venture (i.e. Basudhara City, Pink City).
The city entry on WP states - A city is an urban area that is differentiated from a town, village, or hamlet by size, population density, importance, or legal status. Well, you could designate a "city" or a "town" Bangladesh going by standard, but it would still not be "official". You may also check that many of the cities listed here are described as towns elsewhere on WP.

Therefore, I re-present my original proposal - a list of metropolitan areas in Bangladesh or municipalities in Bangladesh or something like that. And, that would require - a serious "cleanup" - as per my original proposal. You keep the title of the article, but at least, you could clear up things in the heads and sub-heads. I also propose to cleanup "BDeshCities" template to conform to "official" standards. Sincerely yours - Aditya Kabir 06:51, 10 November 2006 (UTC)