Asia Pacific Analysis: Living in Asia’s unliveable cities

现在，全球77亿人口中有近60％居住在城市中，城市居民的数量正在迅速增加，尤其是在亚太地区，这将对其经济，社会和环境产生深远的影响。beplay足球体育的微博

In the Asia Pacific region, over 2.3 billion now live in cities. Eight of the world’s ten largestcitiesare in Asia. They are, in order of most populated to least, Shanghai (24.1 million), Beijing (18.5 million), Karachi (18 million), Dhaka (14.5), Tokyo (13.6 million), Manila (12.8 million), Tianjin (12.7 million), and Mumbai (12.4 million).^_（1）。

These population figures do not include the suburban sprawl that grows out of the core cities. For example, Greater Manila, which includes the satellite cities around the Philippine capital, is estimated at 24 million. As urbanisation proceeds at a rapid pace, six out of ten people in the world are expected to live in cities by 2030, only ten years from now.

“Urban planners should now worry about issues including population density, informal settlers, urban decay, public space, public transportation, garbage disposal, air pollution, natural resource management, water conservation, climate change adaptation and mitigation, disaster risk management and rising inequalities”

Crispin Maslog

Time to plan

Unlike in the past when urban settlements just grew into unplanned cities, it is time that these urban sites are planned and managed.

Otherwise, we suffer the consequences of unplanned growth. Urban planners should now worry about issues including population density, informal settlers, urban decay, public space, public运输，，，，garbage disposal, air污染，自然资源管理，water保护，climate changeadaptation and mitigation,灾难风险管理和不平等现象。

我在马尼拉这些巨大的亚洲大都市之一的边缘生活和工作。由于道路维修，该市在过去几周里整天都经历了“ Carmageddon”或碰碰运动的交通。现在，我要花半天的时间从我的小镇到达马尼拉，只有65公里。

我经常参观附近的城市，例如曼谷，海得拉巴，雅加达和金边，我知道如何应对城市蔓延，由于垃圾堵塞而遇到的雨水，在少有雨中应对城市蔓延，强烈的空气污染和洪水。印尼森林大火无济于事，因为这些森林大火的烟雾已经到达了马来西亚，菲律宾，新加坡和泰国等邻国。

亚洲不可能的城市？

我现在问自己，我们的城市是否变得不可能。是时候搬迁到乡村，植物园，运动，开始呼吸新鲜空气并过上寿命减去燃气发动机的交通，噪音和污染了吗？

As populations converge in urban areas and cities expand, it is imperative that we plan the growth and make cities sustainable. Public spaces such as parks must be provided bygovernment;必须保护现有的商业发展。美国和欧洲城市的公园系统是亚洲政府模仿的好模式。

废物收集和回收必须提高效率。政府必须提供更多负担得起的住房。大规模公共交通必须由政府组织和支持。然后，居民可以将汽车留在家中，并带公共交通工具上班。我们已经在香港和新加坡拥有模型来复制。

联合国生境支持许多项目在亚洲to plan and design public spaces in urban neighbourhoods. This gives communities a sense of ownership of public spaces; this results in the positive management of these shared areas. One example of this would be UN Habitat’s collaboration in a development project with the菲律宾城市联盟和贫民窟居民国际（SDI）和当地合作伙伴，例如大学和非政府组织。^_（2）

现在是时候鼓励计划自给自足和自给自足的城市社区社区了。该型号将住宅靠近工作空间（办公室），商业区（购物中心），娱乐设施（电影和体育）以及学校和医院等服务领域。这可以最大程度地减少旅行并消除交通问题。

另一个模型是在一段时间内从头开始建造城市。一个例子是马来西亚新的联邦行政首都Putra Jaya。该国的第三次联邦领土建于5,000公顷的沼泽地和油棕庄园。菲律宾计划建造克拉克城，克拉克城是距马尼拉约98公里的美国军事基地，作为该国未来的经济枢纽。

在建设亚太城市宜居的结束时，亚太城市论坛（APUF-7）将于10月15日至17日在马来西亚的槟城举行一次会议，主题‘The Future of Asia and Pacific Cities: Transformative Pathways to Achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’。^_（3）

The conference is aimed at providing insights into “future-proofed urbanisation solutions” with the help of leaders and决策者from national and local governments, the private sector,researchersand civil society to find answers to the problems of urban living.

Planning population limits?

Despite all the good intentions, the APUF will not be able to solve the problems of our unliveable Asian cities overnight. But it would help if the conference instils a sense of urgency, require the practice of urban planning and prevent cities from topsy-turvy growth.

And just as important, it is about time that UN planners accept the fact that our planet is only so big, and our population is growing without limits. How about proposing population limits as a UN policy?

法国阿肯斯·普雷斯（Agence France-Presse）的前记者克里斯平·马斯（Crispin C.beplay足球体育的微博他是马尼拉亚洲媒体信息和传播中心的创始成员，现在是董事会主席。

这件作品由Scidev.net的亚太桌子制作。