Leveraging Urbanization in South Asia: Managing Spatial Transformation for Prosperity and Livability

Abstract

This report describes the progress of urbanization and structural transformation in South Asia, the market and policy failures that have shaped the region’s towns and cities, and the decisive actions needed to better leverage urbanization for South Asian prosperity and livability. Part one (chapters one–two) sets the context by analyzing key urbanization developments and related trends of structural transformation and economic growth. Part two (chapters three-six) discusses and diagnoses the main policy problems, identifies areas for policy reform, and provides examples of best practices from both within and outside the region to help inform the decisions of policy makers and practitioners. Chapter one focuses on recent urbanization related outcomes and trends at the regional level. It provides a broad comparison of the region’s current state with other world regions and with historical trends in developed countries. Chapter two then provides a spatially detailed analysis of trends and outcomes within the region and at the subnational level. The chapters of part two identify four fundamental areas for policy action: governance and finance; connectivity and planning; land and housing; and resilience to natural disaster and the effects of climate change. The four areas are interlinked. Governance and finance (chapter three) are fundamental to the supply of urban infrastructure and basic services and thus also undergird the three other policy areas. Indeed, improvements in the way South Asia’s cities are governed and financed may be a precondition for achieving meaningful progress in these other areas and therefore in prosperity and livability. Of course, the ways in which cities are planned and connected (chapter four) also influence the supply of affordable housing (chapter five). Likewise, urban planning policies, and their enforcement, help determine a city’s resilience to natural disaster and the effects of climate change (chapter six).