The precarious rise of Asia's megacities

Nikkei Asian Review | 6 October 2016

PHNOM PENH The skyline of Phnom Penh is changing as fast as that of any Asian city. Yellow cranes gleam in the sun after late-afternoon squalls, towering alongside green-netted scaffolding wrapped around dozens of new high-rise apartment blocks going up across the city.

These are, literally, the green shoots of a building boom that made up a sixth of Cambodia's economic growth last year. They are a sign of a transformation underway in the capital as Cambodia tries to catch up with its more prosperous neighbors.

An influx of people from rural areas has caused India's urban slums, such as this one in Kolkata, to swell. (Photo by Simon Roughneen)

But the rapid changes also highlight a challenge that has faced many cities across Asia in recent decades: with 200 million people having moved from countryside to city in East and Southeast Asia since 2010, how can cities manage large-scale urban growth in a way that facilitates economic growth without increasing pollution and traffic jams.

In BKK1, an upmarket part of the city, "the roads are too narrow, the area is not ready for so much construction, many small builders don't talk to the municipality, there is no coordination," said Sebastian Uy, co-owner of real estate agency Le Grand Mekong Property.

Phnom Penh's rising skyline mirrors a counterpart in another, even poorer Southeast Asian country. Hulking new towers are being built in downtown Yangon, Myanmar's commercial capital -- anomalies in the eyes of preservationists, who want to retain the neighborhood's old colonial veneer.

New apartment blocks going up beside Phnom Penh's Aeon shopping mall (Photo by Simon Roughneen)

Planning, according to the Yangon Heritage Trust, could ensure that Yangon can emulate cities such as Hanoi and George Town, Malaysia, in retaining increasingly rare old urban aesthetics while also sidestepping the vortex of expanding slums, traffic jams, pollution, inequality and slowing growth that has diminished quality of life in other Asian cities.

"Poor infrastructure means high levels of noise and air pollution, rivers clogged with rubbish, piles of garbage in the streets, and lack of hygiene from congested sewers or water drains," the Yangon Heritage Trust said in a recent report.

TRAFFIC SNARLS Yangon's streets, like those in Phnom Penh, are suffering from increasingly heavy traffic. During the monsoon season, poor drainage and waste management can cause streets to become waterlogged in minutes during a deluge, slowing up traffic even more.

To help commuters get to work on time, modern Asian cities such as Singapore and Tokyo have built extensive and efficient subways. Others, such as Bangkok and Bangalore, have sought to transcend notorious traffic jams by erecting overhead rail systems.

In Jakarta, however, the Indonesian words macet and banjir (traffic jam and flood) are staples of the urban lexicon -- and vital to navigating the crowded capital. Discussing the city's congestion, Sandiaga Uno, a candidate for vice governor in Jakarta's upcoming election, said its economic prospects have long been undermined. "Jakarta is growing, but not all can participate in the growth," he said.