Bangladesh’s rapid urbanisation has reshaped its demographic and economic landscape, yet urban poverty reduction has lagged far behind rural progress. Using the latest Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES 2022), this study examines the dynamics of urban poverty, vulnerability, and social protection. While national poverty has declined steadily, urban poverty fell only modestly—from 21.3 percent in 2010 to 14.7 percent in 2022—at an annual reduction of just 0.5 percentage points. Alarmingly, the absolute number of urban poor increased to 7.9 million in 2022, with a further 15.3 million classified as vulnerable, highlighting cities as emerging poverty hotspots. Rising inequality compounds this challenge, with the urban Gini index climbing from 0.46 in 2010 to 0.54 in 2022, and the richest 5 percent now capturing one-third of urban income. Despite these trends, Bangladesh’s social protection programmes remain disproportionately rural-focused. Only 24 percent of urban households benefit from any scheme, and targeting inefficiencies mean that over 60 percent of urban beneficiaries are neither poor nor vulnerable. Simulation exercises show that redirecting resources from non-poor to eligible poor households could double poverty reduction impacts. The paper concludes with policy recommendations to expand lifecycle-based schemes, adapt workfare and insurance for urban contexts, and embed climate-responsive and urban-specific social protection strategies to ensure equitable and sustainable development.