The Philippines is 52% urbanized (ADB figure, the UN estimate is 59%), this percentage is expected to increase to 60% in 2010. The urban population grew very rapidly at an annual rate of close to 5% from 1960 to 1995, but has since slowed to approximately 3% annually. Given relatively slow economic development over the last three decades (relative to East Asian norms), the level of urbanization...

China has been undergoing a very rapid but unbalanced urbanization, characterized by under-urbanization of its population and faster urbanization of the land. In such a situation, the urbanization of the population and the land may produce different effects on the natural environment. In addition, due to substantial inter-regional differences, the influence of urbanization on the environment is...

I conduct a cross-country analysis of the human development index (HDI) components, income, life expectancy, literacy and gross enrolment ratios, using Gray and Purser’s 1970-2005 quinquennial database for 111 countries. 1) A descriptive analysis uncovers a complex pattern of divergence and convergence for these components’ evolution. Development is not a smooth process but consists of a series...

BACKGROUND The high rates of rapid urban and economic growth occurring in Asia are bringing about parallel changes in both food consumption patterns and nutritional status. AIM The aim of this study is to examine the impact of these changes on the nutritional and health status of mothers and their offspring in Vientiane, Lao PDR. METHODOLOGY Over 2 consecutive years, a follow-up study of 15...

Kabul, the capital and largest city in Afghanistan has been experiencing a massive population expansion and fast economic development in last decade, in which urban land has increasingly expanded and formed a high informal development territory in the city. This paper investigates the urban land development direction based on the integrated urbanization trends in Kabul city since the last and t...

Economic indicators and other indices measuring overall development describe local development trajectories differently. In this paper, we illustrated this difference and explored how urbanization is related to development by a case study in Inner Mongolia, China. We calculated the human development index (HDI) and compared the temporal and spatial dynamics of the overall development (represent...

This research work intends to explore the spatial analytical methods to identify both general trends and more subtle patterns of urban growth. In Kuala Lumpur, Malian and Singapore, where urban area have experienced an unprecedented rate of growth over the last 30 year. In this uncontrolled situation, city planners lack tools to measure, monitor and understand urban sprawl processes. Multi-temp...

Background: Unplanned urbanization plays a key role in chronic disease growth. This population-based cross-sectional study assessed the occurrence of cardiometabolic risk factors in Bobo-Dioulasso and their association with urbanization conditions. Methods: Through spatial sampling, four Bobo-Dioulasso sub-spaces were selected for a population survey to measure the adult health status. Yéguéré,...

As noted by Charles Redman and Nancy Jones in the background paper, rapid urbanization brings opportunities to new urban developments. But urbanization also comes with serious loss of arable land, degradation of ecosystems as well as social and environmental changes to the urban populations. The current urbanization process in developing countries is indicative of a process that needs considera...