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Urbanization in Southeast Asia: Assessing Policy Process and Progress toward Sustainability
Author(s) -
Ooi Giok Ling
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of industrial ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.377
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1530-9290
pISSN - 1088-1980
DOI - 10.1162/jie.2007.1246
Subject(s) - sustainability , urbanization , per capita , sewerage , sustainability organizations , per capita income , population , economic growth , economics , business , natural resource economics , development economics , geography , ecology , demography , sociology , engineering , biology , waste management
In investigating the relationship between urbanization and sustainability in cities of developing countries, many researchers have looked to rising incomes as a driver for environmental improvement. This article challenges the transition and evolutionary models of urban environmental development that suggest that as cities grow in per capita income, their local environmental problems will diminish. The transition model is outcomes‐based, and a competing model based on greater attention to participation in setting sustainability goals and assessing the progress toward those goals is presented. Consensus on appropriate sustainability indicators is a key element, albeit a challenging one, in the task of pursuing urban sustainability. This is due to the contested nature of the concept of sustainability and also the fact that much of the work done on sustainability has been conducted among countries or on a national scale. A brief review of health, urban transport, air quality, and sewerage indicators suggests that cities do not necessarily see more progress as the per capita income increases. Low‐income cities in Southeast Asia that are performing well are likely to see a deterioration in standards with rapid economic and population growth.