Samui Phangan Real Estate Magazine October-November

ealty in focus l property report
Asia must act now to pave the way for green,
resource-friendly cities or face a bleak and
environmentally degraded future, says a new Asian
Development Bank (ADB) report.
“Asia has seen unprecedented urban population
growth but this has been accompanied by immense
stress on the environment,” said Changyong Rhee,
ADB’s Chief Economist. “The challenge now is to
put in place policies which will reverse that trend and
facilitate the development of green technology and
green urbanization.”
In a special chapter of its flagship annual statistical
publication, Key Indicators for Asia and
the Pacific 2012, ADB examines the
challenges and opportunities
associated with the region’s
breakneck urban boom.
It also details measures
needed to turn cities
into environmentally
sustainable, inclusive
growth centers.
Since the 1980s,
Asia has been
urbanizing at a faster
rate than anywhere
else, with the region
already home to almost
half of all the world’s city
dwellers. In just over a
decade, it will have 21 of
37 megacities worldwide, and
over the next 30 years another 1.1
billion people are expected to join Asia’s
already swollen urban ranks.
This breakneck expansion has been accompanied
by a sharp rise in pollution, slums, and widening
economic and social inequalities which are causing
rapid environmental degradation. Particularly
disturbing are urban carbon dioxide emissions, which
if left unchecked under a business-as-usual scenario,
could reach 10.2 metric tons per capita by 2050, a
level which would have disastrous consequences for
both Asia and the rest of the world.
Rising urban populations mean that over 400 million
people in Asians cities may be at risk of coastal
flooding and roughly 350 million at risk of inland
flooding by 2025. Unless managed properly, these
50 samui phangan real estate
trends could lead to widespread environmental
degradation and declining standards of living.
The report notes that there is hope. The growth
of cities can have many advantages, including
critical masses of people in relatively small areas,
making it easier and more cost effective to supply
essential services like piped water and sanitation.
Rising education levels, factories leaving cities, the
growth of middle classes and declining birth rates
typically associated with urbanization also have a
broadly beneficial impact on resource use and the
environment.
ASIA’S
BOOMING
CITIES MUST
GO GREEN OR RISK
DISASTER - ADB
STUDY
Conservation and efficiency
improvements will help.
Many countries have
begun diversifying their
energy sources to
include renewables
and have been
investing in energyefficient
buildings
and sustainable
transport systems.
Imposing congestion
and emission charges, as
in Singapore, and removing
inefficient fuel subsidies, as
in Indonesia, can make prices
more fully reflect social costs. But the
report says much more is needed, including the
development and mainstreaming of new green
technologies. Early examples are waste-to-energy
conversion plants, as in the Philippines and Thailand,
or “smart” electric grids.
For urbanization to be not only green but inclusive,
policy makers need to promote climate resilient cities,
in order to prevent disasters like the 2011 Bangkok
floods, and improve urban slum areas, the report
points out.
Source: www.adb.org