By 2050, 3 billion people – a full two-thirds of all Asians – will live in cities, attracted by the prospect of higher earning jobs and a better future for their families. Cities already provide more than 80% of the region’s gross domestic product and this is set to grow. Fast-paced urbanisation has been instrumental to Asia’s swift economic growth and sharp drop in poverty in recent decades, but it has also brought huge challenges.
Asia has two-thirds of the world’s slum dwellers, and only one-10th of all solid waste ends up in proper landfills, compounding environmental and health problems. Meanwhile, the construction of water, sanitation, housing and other infrastructure has not kept up with demand.
