affordable land and housing in asia - International Union of Tenants

Figure 3: Regional urbanisation trends4,000,000Urban population (1,000s)3,500,0003,000,0002,500,0002,000,0001,500,0001,000,000500,0001950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050AsiaAfrica Europe Oceania Latin America and the CaribbeanNorth AmericaFigure 3: Growth in total urban population by region between 1950-2010, and projections for 2010-2050. Thegrowth in Asia’s total urban population is considerable especially relative to other regions.(Source: UNDESA, 2009)to over 1.7 billion people. 4 In 1950 the urbanpopulation in Asian cities was 229 million,roughly comparable to all other regions (Figure3). In the space of only 60 years, the urbanpopulation grew by over 1.5 billion. Betweenthe years 1950 and 2000 eight out of ten of theworld’s fastest growing cities were in Asia (Tokyo,Mumbai, Delhi, Dhaka, Jakarta, Karachi,Seoul, Kolkata). 5 Compared with urbanisationin Western European countries, Asianurbanisation is much faster. It took London 130years to expand from one million to eight millionwhereas Bangkok took 45, Dhaka 37 and Seoulonly 25 years. 6While there have been differences betweencountries, Asia is united by the overall trend ofmoving toward an urban future. In China alonethe urban population grew by over 246 millionbetween 1990 and 2007. This growth equates to anextra 39,000 new urban dwellers every day duringthese seventeen years. 7 India also faces similarurbanisation patterns. During the same period,121 million new urban dwellers arrived in Indiancities. 8 However, it is not only the populated andeconomically developing countries; Indonesiaincreased its urban population by 60 million andthe Philippines by 26 million during the sameperiod. Such is the immense urban growth facingthe vast majority of Asian cities.The urban growth and expansion of Asiancities has placed major pressure on land andhousing. With the exception of Singapore andHong Kong, in all countries the constructionof affordable housing has not matched urbangrowth. Urban residents face a lack of housingoptions that are affordable and well located.The result has been the widespread proliferationof slums and informal settlements throughoutAsian cities.Asia has over half of all slum dwellers in thedeveloping world. 9 Compared with Africa,Oceania, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asiaalso has the highest percentage of slum dwellers.In Asia 61.0 per cent of the population lives inslums whereas in Northern Africa the figure is13.3 per cent, In Oceania 24.1 per cent, and inLatin America and the Caribbean 23.5 per cent. 10In the vast majority of Asian countries theconstruction of affordable housing has notmatched urban growth. Due to a lack of housingoptions that are well located and affordable,slums and informal settlements have proliferatedthroughout Asian cities.Nearly three quarters (71 per cent) of thepopulation in Bangladesh live in slums. Similarly,in Pakistan nearly half of the population live inslums which equates to over 27 million people. 11China and India, however, dwarf all other Asiancountries with over 170 million and 109 millionslum dwellers respectively. With few affordablehousing alternatives a significant proportion ofAFFORDABLE LAND and HOUSING IN Asia3