Slowing Metropolitan City Growth in Asia: Policies, Programs, and Results

Abstract

Population distribution patterns are a cause for concern in the larger developing nations of Asia and policies which seek to modify these patterns particularly the unprecedented rapid growth of metropolitan areas are in effect. Urban growth had been unintentionally fostered by 1) an expanding labor force; 2) the investment of international capital in industry located in large cities; 3) expanding governmental bureaucracies and service institutions in large cities; and 4) restricted investment in and increased mechanism of agriculture. The policies which emerged in each nation to deal with this growth arose from the general situation of urban congestion and rural poverty and from the historical and political context of the particular nation. The objectives of these policies may be to 1) reverse population flow to rural areas; 2) close cities to new migration; 3) resettle migrants in frontiers; or 4) redirect migrants to nonmetropolitan cities. Each of these approaches is reviewed and examples of the success and failure of its application are given. Because each policy has obvious limitations it is suggested that the best strategy would entail a combination of policies and that even this will only slow the growth of metropolitan areas. This growth should be accomodated therefore by efforts to improve housing social services employment and income conditions. The availability of investment capital and the strength of the national administration may ultimately dictate the success of any such endeavor.