Challenges of sustainability for Asian urbanisation

In rapidly urbanising regions such as, Asia, clearly economic growth has not been paralleled by the effort seen in placing sustainability more firmly in development agendas particularly in the cities. The so-called mega cities of Asia that characterise urbanisation in the region are challenged with major environmental problems that observers say have become legendary from traffic congestion to slum formation, air and water pollution as well as resource depletion. Many scholars have questioned the sustainability of Asian urbanisation with more consensus concerning the challenges it faces than how sustainability as it applies to cities would be defined. This paper highlights the challenges of sustainability for Asian urbanisation, arguing that Asian city governments’ failure to address sustainability is a failure to identify and implement an urban development policy framework that will link the effort at more sustainable development in a variety of sectors. These policy frameworks essentially link economic with social policies in the city. Housing should provide one such framework for the provision not only of important environmental infrastructure including modern sanitation and sewerage treatment but also supplies of water and energy as well as the planning of urban transport. Another urban development framework would comprise the planning of industrial sites with transport and environmental infrastructure to reduce air and water pollution. This multi-sectoral approach however requires political and economic support that city governments might not necessarily be in a position to secure particularly with other pressing national development needs.