Megacity Governance In South Asia

This Is Pioneering Study Comparing The Governance Arrangements In The Five Megacities Of South Asia Namely Dhaka, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi And Karachi Within A Common Analytical Framework.

This book focuses on local government’s role in increasing city competitiveness through planning, governance, and finance, particularly in small to medium-sized cities in South Asia. Existing studies on city competitiveness tend to focus on megacities, and yet smaller cities house an increasingly large portion of South Asia’s population. This study seeks to initiate a more systematic thinking on the role of planning, governance, and finance to overcome the challenges of urbanization, improve the investment climate, and provide greater opportunities for more people, especially in small to medium-sized cities.

South Asia is urbanising at a rapid pace and the problems arising due to urbanisation are serious indeed. The mega cities are the engines of economic growth; but, at the same time, they also lead to inequality, poverty and global warming. This book discusses the urban landscape of South Asia, with an emphasis on the role of mega cities in furthering socio-economic development in the region. It analyses the urban growth processes in the region in the context of regional geography, population growth, economic development and technological environment. Deliberating on the current urbanisation process, it tries to initiate a dialogue on how South Asian countries can learn from each other to resolve the problems specific to their region. Furthermore, the authors underline the policies that the national governments may follow in order to ensure organic development of the cities. The pragmatic suggestions made in the book would open new avenues for solving the problems associated with urbanisation. The book will appeal to graduate students and researchers of urban planning, architecture, urban geography, urban economics and urban sociology. It would also be of interest to agencies and institutions responsible for urban policy and planning at global, regional, national and local levels.

This extract examines urbanisation and the megacity phenomenon in Southeast Asia. The author explores the structure and geography of these cities as well as the social, cultural and economic functions they have. The influence of colonisation on Southeast Asian cities is also discussed as is the political and governance structures that contribute to the development of megacities.

The number of people in South Asia's cities rose by 130 million between 2000 and 2011--more than the entire population of Japan. This was linked to an improvement in productivity and a reduction in the incidence of extreme poverty. But the region's cities have struggled to cope with the pressure of population growth on land, housing, infrastructure, basic services, and the environment. As a result, urbanization in South Asia remains underleveraged in its ability to deliver widespread improvements in both prosperity and livability. Leveraging Urbanization in South Asia is about the state of South Asia's urbanization and the market and policy failures that have taken the region’s urban areas to where they are today--and the hard policy actions needed if the region’s cities are to leverage urbanization better. This publication provides original empirical and diagnostic analysis of urbanization and related economic trends in the region. It also discusses in detail the key policy areas, the most fundamental being urban governance and finance, where actions must be taken to make cities more prosperous and livable.

Contributed articles.

This edited collection examines seminal changes and major policy challenges in metropolitan governance in Asia and the Pacific Rim that are being faced by governments (national and sub-national) and their polities. The book builds upon the work of the largest stream at the Urban Affairs Association’s (UAA) Annual Conference (Urban Issues in Asia and the Pacific Rim) – specifically, the chapters arose from presentations at the 2016 UAA Annual Conference in San Diego and ensuing discussions and debates. The book is framed by three over-arching narratives: • the increased importance (economic, political and cultural) of the Asian region within strategic discussions of planetary urbanism and the problematisation of the concept of the Asian region as an element of these discussions • the challenges engendered by the rapid pace of development (again, economic, political and cultural) and the endorsement, tacit or otherwise, of developmentalism in many of the polities under consideration • the increased salience of metropolitan and urban areas, vis-à-vis other levels of governance (national; local; supra-national), particularly how it is seen as key in addressing these challenges.

Cities are now home to 55% of the world’s population, and that number is rising. Urban populations across the world will continue to grow, including in megacities with populations over ten million. In 2016 there were 31 megacities globally, according to the United Nations’ World Cities Report, with 24 of those cities located in the Global South. That number is expected to rise to 41 by 2030, with all ten new megacities in the Global South where the processes of urbanization are intrinsically distinct from those in the Global North. The Routledge Handbook of Planning Megacities in the Global South provides rigorous comparative analyses, discussing the challenges, processes, best practices, and initiatives of urbanization in Middle America, South America, the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. This book is indispensable reading for students and scholars of urban planning, and its significance as a resource will only continue to grow as urbanization reshapes the global population.

As urbanization continues, and even accelerates, scientists estimate that by 2015 the world will have up to 60 ‘megacities’ – urban areas with more than five million inhabitants. With the irresistible economic attractions of urban centers, particularly in developing countries, making the influx of citizens unstoppable, many of humankind’s coming social, economic and political dramas will be played out in megacities. This book shows how geographers and Earth scientists are contributing to a better understanding of megacities. The contributors analyze the impact of socio-economic and political activities on environmental change and vice versa, and identify solutions to the worst problems. They propose ways of improving the management of megacities and achieving a greater degree of sustainability in their development. The goals, of wise use of human and natural resources, risk reduction (both social and environmental) and quality of life enhancement, are agreed upon. But, as this text proves, the means of achieving these ends are varied. Hence, chapters cover an array of topics, from health management in Indian megacities, to planning in New York, to transport solutions for the chronically traffic-choked Bangkok. Authors cover the impact of climate change on megacities, as well as less tangible issues such as socio-political fragmentation in the urban areas of Rio de Janeiro. This exploration of some of the most crucial issues that we face as a species sets out research that is of the utmost importance, with the potential to contribute substantially to global justice and peace – and thereby prosperity.