It is not surprising to see that the two cities have a friendship agreement between the metropolitan authorities which run them: the Greater London Authority (GLA) and Dhaka City Corporation (DCC).

As the first Bangladeshi (also first Asian and first Muslim) elected to the London Assembly last June, and a regular traveler between the cities for many decades since liberation in 1971, I will endeavour to foster such links in the two areas of policy I have focused on since entering into politics -- transport and environmental issues.

While the two cities are in quite different stages of development -- London in its post-industrial phrase calling on the migrants of the world to join our city's prosperity; Dhaka going through the early stages of industrialisation while attracting migrants from the villages -- the problems faced by both cities are not that dissimilar, e.g. major traffic congestion in the central areas and the need to improve the quality of their citizens' local environment such as air quality, albeit in different ways and emphasis.

In London we are planning for the growth of the city by at least 800,000 persons before 2016, predominately by accommodating them within old areas which need regenerating. In contrast, Dhaka will continue to see increasingly more migration from rural areas to its city boundaries. Unlike London, Dhaka will incorporate its greater population by expanding its city boundaries. Recently Uttara was included as part of Dhaka, much like Zigatola after liberation and no doubt Savar will in the future.

It appears to me that all the international development efforts in the villages are not bearing fruit if we still have so many prepared to move and live in the city, quite often in appalling surroundings. For want of a better metaphor, I will call this the "hole in the middle" development, whereby Dhaka lies in the middle and people in the rural areas vote with their feet by moving to the cities, yet it is not the recipient of any major aid or development programmes.

I am not sure how this was come about, but if the friendship agreement can begin to plug this hole, then maybe it will be worth it. I can think of immediately donating our old route master double-decker buses, which we are taking out of service in London, but are probably still road worthy for another 10 years. These buses would be much better and safer than many of the ones I have seen on the roads of Dhaka.

But friendships should also be based on honesty, and one truth was apparent to me on my last trip. The citizens of Dhaka need to value their local environment a lot more then seems apparent at the moment. There is too much street rubbish in residential areas and a lack of sewage and basic sanitation in many parts of the city.

These problems need tackling soon before the point of no-return, and you certainly don't need to repeat the lessons from London on this front where the smell got so bad from the Thames that parliament had to intervene directly to get work to fix the sewage system undertaken.

At the same time, London, a major consumer of energy, has a responsibility to the world's poorest countries to develop sustainable energy strategies that ensure our energy consumption does not impact adversely on our climate and further contribute to the potential disastrous effect of world climate change on friendship cities like Dhaka. But while we attempt to limit our contribution to climate change in London, it does not help if citizens of Dhaka do not value their own local environment as well.

While I am in the London Assembly, I will contribute if I can be of any help through my continuing annual visits through Dhaka, if only to keep in touch with relations and friends. My first priority will be to concentrate my efforts on the cultural front.

Hopefully by the beginning of next year, we will be able to celebrate our annual Boishaki Mela in Trafalgar Square, much like all the other new year celebrations we have. This celebration of the diversity of Londoners will no doubt involve exchanges of artists. We will hopefully also celebrate the 300 odd languages spoken in London by having the Unesco International Mother Language Day on February 21 much like the Ekushey celebrations I saw on my last trip to Dhaka.

And, finally, proudly failing the infamous "Tebbit cricket test," when Bangladesh plays its first test at Lords, most British Bangladeshis will no doubt uphold the British tradition of supporting the underdog, but will probably support England in the big series of the summer, the Ashes series against the Aussies.

Murad Qureshi is a London-wide London Assembly Member.
This is the first of a unique quarterly column from the first Bangladeshi member of the London Assembly. He will offer us his personal Londoni view on all matters between the UK and Bangladesh.