Final Version
REPORT OF THE NEAT WORKING GROUP ON“A NEW WAVE OF URBANIZATION: CHALLENGES ANDOPPORTUNITIES FOR REGIONAL COLLABORATION” HELD IN
SINGAPORE
Friday, 1 August 2014
IOverview

1.
“Urbanization” generally refers to the “growth of towns and cities” and is aprocess marked mainly by the flow of people from rural to urban areas. Urbanizationand industrialization often go hand-in-hand, with people leaving agricultural and farming
occupations in rural areas for manufacturing and service jobs in towns and cities.
2.
The global urban population has grown rapidly since 1950, from 746 million to3.9 billion in 2014. Despite its lower rate of urbanization, Asia is home to 53% of theworld’s urban population, followed by Europe at 14%, and Latin America and theCaribbean at 13%. The UN estimates that continuing population growth andurbanization will add 2.5 billion people to the world’s urban population by 2050. Asiaand Africa are expected to contribute to nearly 90% of this increase. 13.
As a significant part of Asia that will have to grapple with the anticipated andaccelerated growth in urban population, it is imperative for the ASEAN Plus Three
countries (APT) to better plan the growth of their cities to manage not only economic
growth but also other social and environmental considerations.
4.
In recent years, the urbanization process has been further spurred byglobalization. This is because globalization has intensified the competition between
cities - especially those regarded as primate cities 2- in attracting talent and capital. Cityauthorities are therefore offering enticing financial incentives and practical conveniences
like efficient infrastructure, urban services, communications and quality transport,
housing, educational and recreational facilities. Consequently, such amenities havemade cities increasingly attractive not only for rural-urban but also intercity migration.

1“World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision”, United Nations Department of Economic and Social
Affairs/Population
Division,
Released
in
2014,
Page
1,
availableat
http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/Highlights/WUP2014-Highlights.pdf (accessed 30 July 2014).
2

A primate city is regarded here as a major city that plays a dominant role in many respects in aparticular country. It usually agglomerates the key political, economic, cultural and transportation hub
functions of a nation or a combination of these functions. As a result, it attracts a high concentration ofurban residents and resources.

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5.
Concurrently, cities have had to deal with a host of problems arising fromurbanization like over-crowding, traffic congestion, slums and open urban poverty,
illegal settlers, pollution, water shortages, high energy consumption and large wastegeneration. Given the disparity in the APT countries, there is recognition that not all
cities in these countries are as well equipped or ready to handle the expected increasein urban population.
6.
This NEAT Working Group (WG) comprising experts from the APT countries had
gathered in Singapore on 1 August 2014 to share their knowledge and experiences on
how to better manage the growth of cities and/or the urbanization process. They further
deliberated on a set of recommendations which can be found in the last section of thisreport.
7.

The list of NEAT participants is at Annex.

IIChallenges Faced8.
The urbanization challenges faced by the APT countries are both wide-ranging
and complex. On the economic front, there exists the perennial challenge of sustaining
the economic dynamism of urban areas. Cities have to provide employment
opportunities in line with their evolving economic structure and shifting comparativeadvantages vis-à-vis other cities. Going further, countries like Korea are focusing on
urban regeneration strategies to revive the economy, social fabric and physicalinfrastructure of existing cities that have become relatively outdated due to changes inindustrial structure and on the urban expansion of new cities and new city centers. With
much attention focused on the urban areas, Malaysia stressed the need to ensure thatthe rural areas are not neglected in the process. Both rural development andurbanization should go hand-in-hand.
9.
On the social front, some key challenges include tackling urban slums andpoverty, social integration issues (especially urban migrants who are regarded as“second class citizens”), and social tensions and discontent among the urban population.
Other social challenges include meeting the needs of the less socially mobile and aging
population and related issues of providing barrier-free access and better social welfarecoverage.
10.
There are also challenges related to poor supervision, implementation andcoordination; weak institutions or multiplicity of institutions (leading to fragmentation ofroles and overlapping functions); lack of capacity (such as insufficiently trained skilledmanpower); inadequate physical infrastructure; inadequate measures for disasterresilience; insufficient financial resources; food security and safety; and, poor planningor a generally top-down planning process that does not sufficiently take into accountlocal realities or conditions. Countries like Laos even face the unique challenge ofunexploded ordnance that continues to claim innocent lives and limit agriculture
production and expansion.
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11.
Urbanization also produces negative externalities such as environmental
pollution. It is important to incorporate green features and practices as well as
implement mitigating and adaptation measures to reduce the carbon footprint arisingfrom urbanization. In addition, a balance has to be struck between the rapid
modernization accompanying urbanization on the one hand and the preservation of acountry’s rich cultural and historical heritage on the other. The importance of striking
such a balance was raised by Cambodia. Separately, Vietnam’s strong emphasis ongetting the development of its cities right is evident in the statement by its Deputy Prime
Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung who reportedly said: “Vietnam will have only one chance to
get urbanization right. If we fail at urbanization, we will fail at industrialization andmodernization”.
12.
Many of the above challenges highlight the importance of dynamic urban
governance as well as an integrated master planning and development. The formerencompasses principles such as leading with vision and pragmatism, building a cultureof integrity, cultivating sound institutions, involving the community as stakeholders, andworking with markets (including the private sector) wherever possible. The latteressentially calls for a whole-of-government approach along with long-term design in theplanning and development of a city especially coastal cities. Their implementation andconcrete actions are imperative to overcome those challenges.
Recommendations

III13.
The governments of APT countries play an important role in managing theurbanization process to deliver improved standards of living to their people. The APTcountries underscore the importance of having good urban governance and planning tobring about cities that are socially diverse, culturally vibrant and environmentally livable,
an outcome which populations around the world increasingly aspire to. Below are thekey recommendations to promote APT cooperation on urbanization:(a)Develop a strong urban economy in the APT countries to provide employment
and a viable taxation/revenue base. Having a dynamic economy and soundpublic finance will make it possible for social and environmental programs toenhance the quality of life in a city.

(b)Enhance the Plus Three Countries collaboration on the ASEAN Initiative on
Environmentally Sustainable Cities (AIESC) to promote sharing ofexperiences, best practices and implementation of initiatives/programs.
Enhance the Plus Three Countries collaboration on the support andimplementation of the AIESC’s Key Indicators for Clean Air, Clean Land andClean Water.

(c)Create an APT Urban Forum to share knowledge and experience on
urbanization challenges, policies and best practices.
3(d)Work closely with international organizations such as ADB, UN-ESCAP andUN-Habitat to initiate and implement national and local urbanization
initiatives/programs. In addition, APT countries could refer to the UN-Habitat’s
Urban Indicator Program and Best Practices Program to improve their own
urbanization process.

(e)

Empower and train local government officials to play a bigger role inurbanization processes/programs.

(f)Adopt an open and inclusive approach to engage and involve relevant
stakeholders to facilitate the urbanization process.

(g)

Publicize best practices and successful examples of urbanization in the APT
countries.

(h)Seek funding from financial institutions such as the ADB and other sources tomeet the infrastructure needs of the APT countries.

(i)

Promote social programs and policies to deal with slums and open urban
poverty.
.....

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AnnexParticipants to the NEAT WG on Urbanization
Organization

Name

1.

ASEAN
Secretariat

Dr. Raman LetchumananHead, Environment Division,
ASEAN Secretariat

2.

Brunei(absent with apologies)

3.

Cambodia

H.E. Dr. Meng Bunnarith
Deputy Secretary General of the NationalCommittee on Land Management andUrban Planning, Deputy Director General ofGeneral Department on Land Managementand Urban Planning, Ministry of Land
Management, Urban Planning andConstruction
H.E. Mr. Pou Sothirak
Executive Director of the Cambodian
Institute for Cooperation and Peace andAdvisor to the Royal Government ofCambodia

4.

China

Assoc. Prof Cui Haining
Institute of Asian Studies, China Foreign
Affairs University
Dr. Komara Djaja
Head, Graduate Program in Urban Studies,
University of Indonesia

5.

Indonesia

6.

Japan

Amb. Ishikawa Kaoru
Senior Research Fellow, Senior ExecutiveDirector, Director of Research, The Japan
Forum on International Relations

7.

Korea

Miss Kim Joo-young
Ph.D. Candidate, Department ofArchaeology and Cultural Anthropology,Chonbuk National University

58.

Laos PDR

Mr. Thavaone Singharaj
Director of Research Division,
Institute of Foreign Affairs

9.

Malaysia

Mrs. Mazlena Mazlan
Researcher (Economics), Institute ofStrategic and International Studies

10. Myanmar(absent with apologies)

11. Philippines

Dr. Adoracion M. Navarro
Senior Fellow, the Philippine Institute forDevelopment Studies

12. Singapore

Prof. Zheng YongnianProfessor and Director, East Asian Institute(EAI)Prof. John Wong
Professorial Fellow, EAI
Mr. Lye Liang Fook
Research Fellow and Assistant Director,
EAI
Dr. Zhao Litao
Senior Research Fellow, EAI

13. Thailand

14. Vietnam

Mr. Loh Yi Chin
Intern, EAI
Assoc. Prof. Sureeporn Punpuing
Director, Institute for Population and Social
Research, Mahidol University
Dr. Pham Thuy LoanDeputy Director, Vietnam National Instituteof Architecture, Ministry of Construction

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