Massive needs for social reproduction, including housing, education, health, transportation, and welfare, are being or are to be met. There are no homeless people forced to sleep in the streets. Heavily subsidized housing programmes have been undertaken, with prosperous private real estate markets for higher-quality flats. Primary education is readily available for urban children, and secondary education is available to over half of children. Many new universities have been set up.
Health care is available for the poorest, and welfare schemes of one form or another are provided.
There are few beggars, and most of them are not locals. Urban transportation is probably the least satisfactory among all the items listed by Friedmann. The number of vehicles could be reduced by raising licence fees but the shortage of road capacity could be ameliorated only by massive investment in urban transport infrastructural projects. All the cities under study have evidenced great enthusiasm over the past decade in improving their road networks.