Urbanization and quality of life in Asia.

This dissertation attempts to understand Asia's current pattern and the impact of urbanization on quality of life. We examine the similarities and differences between Asian urbanization and that of other regions: Africa, Latin America, the Middle East/North Africa and Europe/North America. We identify several striking characteristics of Asian urbanization. Asia has a longer tradition of urban living; until 1800 the majority of the world's 25 largest cities were in Asia. Currently Asia is the least urbanized region, and projections are that it will remain the least urbanized region in the world. Asia is more densely settled than the rest of the less developed world, and even slightly higher in density than Europe. Within Asia we find considerable differences. East Asia is more urbanized than South or Southeast Asia. South and Southeast Asia are more similar to one another in their relatively low levels of urbanization except the city-state of Singapore. We examine the relationship between urbanization and a series of development measure to determine whether Asian urbanization is any different from that of the rest of the world. Asia shows a more consistently strong relation between urbanization and development indicators. Asia reflects a more classical pattern of urbanization and development than do any of the other regions. Understanding this striking finding and identifying its causes and consequences represent clear areas for future research. To examine the relationship between urbanization and quality of life, we use subjective measures based on the administrators' perceptions of urban problems together with selected objective measures from 128 Asian cities. The results are generally predictable. Administrators see serious problems in the inadequacy of urban infrastructure, in congestion and pollution, and in the lack of employment. They also see, however, considerable progress in health and education. Finally an analysis of select objective indicators raise question from deviant cases for further analysis.PhDPopulation PlanningUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/105456/1/9124118.pdfDescription of 9124118.pdf : Restricted to UM users only