Urbanization- Challenges and Opportunities in South Asia

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Pakistan3: Areas under a municipal corporation, a town committee or a cantonment board are deemed as urban. (MHDC, 2014)

Bangladesh3: it is quite similar to Pakistan in that places with a municipality, a town committee or a cantonment board are classified as urban. Otherwise the minimum population is at least 5000 people living in a continuous flow of houses and that area has the basic sanitation, utilities and necessary infrastructure that is maintained by the local bodies. These areas must also have majority of the workforce working in non agricultural occupations. However, regions with urban characteristics but with less than 5000 people might be added to the urban population. (MHDC, 2014)

Nepal3: Urban areas must have a minimum of 20,000 inhabitants, annual revenue of NPR 500,000 and possess minimum urban services such as electricity, roads, drinking water and communication services. For hilly areas, the definition is relaxed to a minimum of 10,000 inhabitants. (MHDC, 2014)

Srilanka3: Urban areas include municipalities and settlements with an urban council. (MHDC, 2014)

Facts and Trends on Urbanization in South Asia[4]

South Asia observed the fastest growth rate of urbanization which is 2.4 % more than the other parts of Asia which had urbanization growth rate close to 2% including: South-East Asia, North-West Asia, and the Pacific during 2005-2010. But in the remaining parts including Central Asia and North-Asia it was close to zero that is 0.3%. Why was there such a large difference between the urbanization growth rates? To find it out let’s look at the different urbanization trends at South Asia.

One eye catching fact is that South Asian countries, while experiencing such a high rate of migration, their urban population was at only 40% or below. Another essential thing is that these countries are developing countries and that there is so much economic development going on in them. This is a common phenomenon as there is a strong link between economic growth and rural-urban migration. Rural people migrate to urban areas in search of better employment opportunities in order to improve their living standards and financial status. Other push factors, which make impossible for people to stay in rural areas and thus force them to migrate, may include poor economic conditions, personal conflicts, effects of global warming, and natural disaster. So, we can say that this fast rate of rural to urban migration in South Asia is due to the above mentioned push factors.

Another essential factor leading to rapid increase in urban population is the population growth rate and reclassifying some rural areas as urban areas due to the development going on there. If we talk about South Asia, on an average its population growth rate is 1% but the urban growth rate is 2%. This is mainly because of the rapid rural-urban migration and new emerging urban areas. Also, that the urban occupation is relatively lower compared to other parts of Asia. The important thing to note here is that when we talk about urbanization in South Asia, it mostly portrays the picture of the mega-cities (cities having population more than 10 million) in this region. According to the 2010 UN report there are 21 mega-cities in the world and 12 are in Asia. Out of this 12, 5 are in South Asia including Delhi, with a population of 22.16 million, Mumbai (22.16 million), Kolkata (15.55 million), Dhaka (14.65 million), and Karachi (13.12 million).

But according to the World Bank, South Asian countries have not taken full advantage of this large urban population. If they had taken its advantage then they could have easily transformed themselves from less developed to more developed countries. However, it is unfortunate that South Asia has failed to translate its urban population into higher productivity levels and new ideas and development. World Bank also gave the reason of why they have failed which includes messy and hidden urban population. Messy refers to the big portion of urban population living in slums and thus are hidden because they are not included in the statistics.

From this large number of urban population in South Asian countries almost 25% live in slums and shantytowns (which are deprived of all the basic public facilities including water, sanitation, electricity etc). And one of the most populous countries, India, had 30% of urban population living in slums in 2005. This large numbers of unnoticed urban population has been causing many problems like congestion, pollution, spread of diseases etc.

The worst impact of this rapidly increasing urban population in South Asia is on environmental pollution. According to an estimate in 2007, the untreated waste of Asia and the Pacific is contributes to about 75 billion tons of carbon dioxide gas to the atmosphere per year. And this is leading Asia to an alarming global warming situation due to which they might have to face air pollution, shortage of water supply and especially cities like Dhaka, Kolkata etc might have to face sea-level rises and flooding. So, in order to get rid of such trends South Asian countries needs to improve the standards of living of urban areas, reduce the carbon dioxide emission, make investment in rural areas for its development which would provide incentive for people to stay in rural areas and would discourage rural-urban migration, and increase the level of income in rural areas so that they don’t migrate to urban areas in search of high income jobs.

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Urbanization Challenges faced by South Asia

Over the past two decades, South Asia has developed itself tremendously and has emerged as a center for industry. It has also turned itself into a competitive market. Mega cities as discussed earlier include Mumbai, Karachi, Dhaka, Delhi, and Kathmandu, are economic hubs of this region. However, despite progressing at an impressive rate, most of the residents of these cities are facing problems associated with underdevelopment such as poverty. These individuals have little access to basic needs such as water, sanitation, settlements and electricity. This signals great inequality within cities where the masses face the problems and the few fortunate people benefit at their expense. Prevalence of such issues indicates the region has to face many challenges towards development of these urban centers.

Lack of Infrastructure and Services[5]

Housing

One of most common urbanization challenges is the lack of