The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday said it has approved a 300 million U.S. dollars loan to help achieve integrated and sustainable urban development to improve the livability of 88 municipalities, benefiting 7.6 million citizens in Bangladesh. The Manila-based bank said that the program “Improving Urban Governance and Infrastructure” aims to strengthen urban governance and provide capital investment for improved delivery of municipal services. The ADB said the loan will help prepare and implement an urban governance improvement action plan and digitalize the monitoring and evaluation system. The loan will support specific interventions to promote women’s leadership role, pursue equity through budget earmarking for addressing the specific needs of women and the vulnerable, and adopt guidelines on climate-resilient and socially inclusive public spaces and facilities.