Chapter Seven Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Poverty and Development: Housing for the

As the developing world continues to grow, most of the world’s population is feeling the effects. Asia, specifically, is projected to gain over 1.3 billion urban residents in the next 30 years. Projections also show Asia’s rural population decreasing by roughly 20 million over the same span of time. For Asia’s urban centers, this means planning for a sharp increase to what are already largely overpopulated areas. Rapid Growth in urban population generally stems from three basic factors in the developing world: migration from rural or other urban areas, natural population increases, and reclassification of previously rural areas as urban as these areas develop and change character. While this last factor may somewhat ease the burden caused by large growth, with the type of growth projected in Asia over the next decades it is doubtful that urban reclassification will happen on a scale that would do much to assuage the population crunch projected in many urban centers. Factors such as deteriorating quality an