Urbanization and Sustainable Development in the Mekong Region (original) (raw)

2014, Livelihoods, ecosystem services and the challenges of regional integration in the Mekong Region. [Edited book; SIRD]

In the Mekong region, a growing proportion of the population lives and works in urban areas. At best, urban areas, as centers of economic growth, employment, education, and innovation can offer opportunities for economic and social development and cultural enrichment. At worst, urban areas, as centers where there is a lack of basic services, employment opportunity, and decent housing are places of poverty and environmental degradation. Ensuring that urbanization is sustainable and fair is one of the greatest challenges facing policymakers and the public in the region. The chapter maps out the opportunities, challenges, and prospects for urbanization in the Mekong region. The chapter highlights how the experience of urbanization differs by socioeconomic groups, and that creating livable cities for all inevitably is, and will continue to be, an intensely political process. Managerial and institutional deficits in urban planning are often identified as important reasons for environmental and social shortcomings in the region’s urbanization processes, where influential international and domestic investors and large urban landholders have often bypassed planning processes and regulations. Counterbalancing these interests in the pursuit of livable cities requires democratized, deliberative, and decentralized decision-making, accountable government, and the participation of empowered citizens. The chapter argues that creating livable cities and ensuring sustainable urbanization can only be attained in the context of ensuring sustainability across the wider region. Therefore, it is crucial that the interconnectedness between urban areas and rural hinterlands—for example the flows of people, finances, resources, and waste—are recognized and accounted for in decision-making, including those that are principally considered as urban.