SHAPING THE FUTURE HOW CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS CAN POWER HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

grated responses to human development goals
and market demands.
One measure is to foster urban agglomeration,
and promote green and compact cities, as
both China and Japan are doing. These avoid
the urban sprawl that can make public services
costlier and more difficult to provide, and can
dramatically increase traffic congestion and
greenhouse gas emissions. Restrictions on the
expansion of urban boundaries are one way to
encourage denser forms of urban development.
Sustaining compact cities depends in part on
instituting efficient, low-emissions public transportation
systems.
All cities should be equipped to minimize
damage and quickly recover from natural disasters.
Impact assessments can help identify
vulnerable locations, populations and sectors, and
inform urban response plans. Climate change
considerations and disaster risk reduction should
be factored in, such as through stricter regulations
for development projects in high-risk areas
and improved standard building codes.
SUSTAINING MOMENTUM
Asia-Pacific’s human development achievements
have been nothing less than extraordinary. The
pace of progress can and should be maintained,
but the means may differ, particularly given
challenges such as slowing economic growth
and threats from climate change. Success will
depend in large part on the adept use of all
available avenues to sustain and accelerate human
development; among the most powerful of these
may be demographic transition.
Every country has valid reasons for exploiting
its narrow window of demographic opportunity.
It is time for a broad cross-section of policy
makers and the public at large to understand
the enormous potential at hand. Every possible
effort should be made to steer the process that
is now unfolding, so that it provides all people,
across the region, with every chance to flourish.
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Better infrastructure,
education and
research, and public
administration
make cities more
competitive
Make cities more competitive. Many factors that
affect a country’s competitiveness, such as infrastructure,
educational and research institutions,
and the quality of public administration, come
under the purview of cities. Some Asia-Pacific
cities are successful in attracting talent and
investment, and ensuring prosperity and good
public services for their citizens. Singapore;
Hong Kong, China (SAR); Sydney and Tokyo
are currently among the world’s most competitive
cities, and are likely to retain their advantages
in the near term.
By comparison, many cities in developing
Asia-Pacific countries struggle to cope with
challenges such as the large-scale influx of
migrants, or the inability to provide essential
services, decent jobs or housing. They suffer
from substantial infrastructure gaps, such as
unreliable power systems, poor quality roads,
inefficient ports, inadequate schools and so on.
There has been some progress in narrowing the
infrastructure deficit in recent decades, but much
more needs to be done to remove bottlenecks
and upgrade systems if cities are to become more
competitive and realize their full potential as
hubs of human and economic dynamism.