South Asia's Urbanisation Is 'Messy & Hidden': World Bank Report

South Asia is a region of immense possibilities and promises but it often fails to deliver on many of the parameters of prosperity and livability when compared to the developed world. One such area of discussion has been urbanisation. It provides South Asian countries with the potential to transform their economies to join the ranks of richer nations in both prosperity and livability. According to a recent World Bank report, the region, while making strides, has struggled to make the most of the opportunity. One big reason is that its urbanisation has been “messy and hidden”, the report says.

Messy urbanisation is reflected in the widespread existence of slums and sprawl. Sprawl, in turn, helps give rise to hidden urbanisation, particularly on the peripheries of major cities, which is not captured by official statistics. Messy and hidden urbanisation was symptomatic of the failure to adequately address congestion constraints that arise from the pressure of urban populations on infrastructure, basic services, land, housing, and the environment, it added.

To address these problems, policymakers will have to undertake difficult and appropriate reforms, says the report.

The report says some of South Asia's urbanisation has been hidden, stemming from official national statistics understating the share of the region's population living in areas with urban characteristics.

While South Asia's agglomeration economies improved productivity and spurred job creation, inadequate provision of housing, infrastructure and basic urban services and the failure to deal with pollution are constraining the potential of the region's cities to fully realise the benefits, adds the report.

The struggle to deal with these congestion pressures is a failure of both the market and policy, the report says.

A look at the key findings of the report: