The challenge of urbanization in Asia is unprecedented — some 1.1 billion people will move
to cities in the next 20 years. Managing Asian Cities aims to provide a useful management
resource, canvassing key issues and pointing managers to appropriate responses to problems; and, second, provide the initial step in a new phase of ADB’s continuing support to Asian cities under its Strategy 2020.The study is organized in two parts. The first reviews the existing situation. The second presents options for improved urban management practice. Throughout the report, when options for solving problems are suggested, a distinction is made  between cities of differing wealth, size, and capacity.
There is also a focus on a city’s self-reliance, suggesting ways in which different types of cities can take on more responsibility for their own development. Last, there is a focus on how to establish enabling frameworks for urban development.
From the Introduction: “There is a new challenge facing humanity and Asia is its frontline.It is the challenge of urbanization. The problems of towns and cities are not new. Roman cities had their congestion, foul air, and slums. Plato wrote in 400 BC: “Any city, however small, is in fact divided into two: one the city for the poor, the other of the rich.” Cities come and go. Some have continuously prospered, reinventing themselves over time, while others have faded away, returning to dust, desert, or forest. Those that have endured have succeeded in one or more of the key functions that cities have always served: ceremony, security, and commerce. These city roles, their reasons for being, have remained remarkably persistent over time and will continue to drive Asia’s urbanization. Asia’s dynamic growth is propelled by this rapid, relentless urbanization. It is based on the higher productivity of urban jobs and it can provide a better life for many millions. This realization has driven the tidal wave of humanity to the cities. Their vision of freedom from poverty and of prosperity for their children holds great promise for coming generations. But the bright prospects are neither guaranteed nor universal. Visitors to many Asian cities are shocked by the uncollected garbage, the traffic congestion, the beggars, and the squalid living conditions of vast squatter areas. Many Asian governments are criticized for lacking effective urban policies. Even cities in the developed world, however, suffer from the pervasive urban afflictions of poverty and deteriorating infrastructure. The linkages of family, faith, civic culture, and neighborhood that make a city successful are
weakening. everywhere. If this continues, the future will be bleak.
Text and photograph, courtesy The Cities Alliance, a partner and Cooperating Organizatiion with dgCommunities Urban Development.