 Urban Development
Updated: 10 November 2009
With urban population expanding rapidly over the last 50 years, many Asian cities face deteriorating urban infrastructure and services on water supply, sanitation, waste management, and transport; and worsening environmental conditions. ADB recognizes that urban issues require integrated approaches that specifically target the poor, promote economic development, treat cities as a living ecosystem, foster the involvement of private sector and civil society, and adopt measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change impacts of urbanization.
Asia's Urban Challenge
Another 1.1 billion people will live in Asian cities in the next 20 years, and over 200 million people will live in poverty and many more are vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks. With this growth, pressing problems of pollution, lack of potable water, slums, traffic congestion, among others, will become critical - with global implications. Though cities on average provide 80% of the economic base of the economy, large disparities have emerged as poverty has urbanized. Managing cities in this context requires a new approach.
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