Who owns the city?
Much is at stake in the political competition over who will shape the destinies of Asia’s metropolitan areas: private investors and their pro-free-market backers, conservative and radical religious groups, or progressive politicians committed to developing socially-conscious, inclusive cities. Their rivalry increasingly impinges on society-wide issues of social cohesion, social justice and sharing, social mobility and equality of opportunity, environmental justice, and – last but not least – participatory democracy. The future is sure to bring rapid urbanization, of which Asia will have the lion’s share. Hence, the development of Asia’s cities will reveal in microcosm the political course that may be set all around the globe.
Reading Development 