Whether Asia can redefine urbanisation on its own terms will determine if its megacities turn out to be sustainable ones or urban jungles.
Thirty kilometres southwest of Jakarta lies Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD), a sprawling 3,500-hectare modern township that was once a rubber estate. Over the past 40 years, BSD has grown to become one of the landmark townships that have sprouted in and around Jakarta, making Indonesia’s capital the third largest metropolitan area in the world after Tokyo and Delhi in population terms.1 BSD was developed in 1984 by Sinar Mas Land, one of the largest property developers in Indonesia. As the region grew and attracted more residents, larger companies and eventually tech start-ups and multinational companies such as Unilever began to set up operations in the township. “To create a viable city, you need infrastructure, community and amenities, or ICA, so we need to think more broadly than just building houses and commercial buildings,” explained Ferdinand Sadeli, Deputy Group CEO and Chief Investment Officer for Sinar Mas Land.
With the scale and speed of urbanisation that is being seen across Asia, it is not surprising that its cities are bursting at their seams. Today, 54 percent of the global urban population – more than 2.2 billion people – live in Asia, and by 2050, the urban population in Asia is expected to grow by another 50 percent.2 In the ASEAN region specifically, 47 percent of its population is urbanised. In fact, ASEAN hosts some of the biggest megacities in the world like Manila (13 million people), Jakarta (10 million people) and Bangkok (nine million people).3
With such rapid growth comes pressure on infrastructure and resources. Unchecked construction, transportation challenges, vulnerability to extreme weather events, excessive groundwater exploitation, pollution, and growing income inequality are just some of the striking challenges that unrestrained urbanisation brings. How are policymakers, the private sector, and communities coming together to manage these issues?
SUSTAINABLE CITIES OR URBAN JUNGLES?
Indonesia has 10 metro regions, each with populations of one million or more, and four emerging metro areas4, according to the Ministry of National Development Planning, also referred to as Bappenas. “According to Indonesia’s National Urban Policy and Strategy for 2045, we try to combine how cities can boost economic growth with efforts to improve social and environmental areas,” noted Ms Zaharatul Hasanah from Bappenas’ urban team. The ministry focuses on five key areas: developing a national urban system; improving urban services; promoting economic growth through supporting small and medium enterprises; developing green areas and reducing pollution; and improving governance, in particular financial management. Bappenas is further concentrating on capacity-building at the regional level with programmes that tackle biodiversity, climate change, waste management, transport, and landscape development.
Indonesia has also aggressively pushed the development of public infrastructure to enable greater urbanisation, as well as boost economic growth. Data from the Jakarta Transportation Service and Statistics Indonesia (BPS) indicates that today, nearly 20 million commuters use the public transport system to travel to Jakarta, as well as within the city.5 This has cut down travelling time, as well as pollution, and enabled the growth of satellite cities. Indonesia will require approximately US$30 billion for infrastructure development from 2025 to 2029 as new urban areas emerge. These funds will support projects across multiple sectors including transport, energy, and digital infrastructure. To achieve such large-scale development, public-private partnerships (PPPs) will be needed and recent reforms such as the Omnibus Law will be critical for attracting foreign investors.6
Vietnam is another ASEAN country that is urbanising rapidly. According to a World Bank report, urbanisation has contributed significantly to Vietnam’s GDP (gross domestic product) growth over the past three decades. The share of Vietnamese living in towns and cities has climbed from just under 20 percent in 1986 to more than 36 percent today but as the report notes, the country is at a crossroads on its urbanisation journey.7 “Vietnam’s remarkable success in recent decades justifies optimism that it can continue to rise to upper-middle-income and on to high-income status within the next generation,” it says. “To ensure continued rapid development, Vietnam’s policymakers need to rethink their approach to urbanisation, adopting a new strategy that places enhanced efficiency in the use of land, labour, and fiscal resources at its centre, and considers the needs and strengths of its diverse regions.”8 By pursuing policy reforms that enable urbanisation to support more efficient and sustainable growth, the country can transform itself from a rural-based economy to one backed by high-value added services.
In Thailand, rapid urban growth has led to an overburdened infrastructure and environmental challenges such as increased carbon emissions. Once a rural-based society, the nation now has about 54 percent of its population living in cities.9 The Thai government has taken several steps to improve urban resilience through the ‘Making Cities Resilient 2030’ initiative, under the leadership of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. In January 2023, the Government of Thailand launched the National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Plan 2021-2027, underlining the importance of urban resilience in Thailand.10 About US$14 billion is being invested in urban renewal projects, which aim to turn Bangkok into a global hub that competes with cities such as Singapore.11
In essence, governments across Asian nations – both large and small – are recognising that urban planning is critical. In July 2025, at the Central Urban Work Conference helmed by President Xi Jinping, China promised to build liveable, sustainable, and resilient cities in the next phase of its urban development, abandoning breakneck urban growth, and acknowledging that urbanisation was shifting from rapid growth to stable development.12 It added that development will focus on building green and low-carbon cities, strengthening urban flood control systems, and ensuring that urban development is more people-oriented.
Meanwhile, in India, which has recognised soaring urban heat as a critical challenge, plans have been implemented in several cities to manage this issue. This includes the boosting of green cover, the restoration and creation of urban water bodies, sustainable urban drainage systems, rainwater harvesting, well-spaced buildings, and airflow corridors.13
DAWN OF THE URBAN CENTURY
Asia’s urbanisation began in the second half of the 20th century, with 2.4 billion people having moved to urban centres by 2020. This figure is estimated to grow to 3.5 billion by 2050, putting enormous pressure on governments to provide public services, jobs, and affordable housing.14 To date, Asian urbanisation has been top-heavy with a focus on big cities, but new urban centres that address infrastructural and resource challenges will relieve increasingly unsustainable pressure on megacities and transform urbanisation in the coming decades.
The success of long-term urban evolution hinges on integrated planning, investment in infrastructure, PPPs, environmental stewardship, and governance reform. As the above cases illustrate, while challenges remain – from policy adjustments to funding gaps – the region’s relative lack of development represents a unique opportunity to redefine urbanisation on its own terms. By focusing on balanced regional development, and policies prioritising people and the environment, Asian cities can evolve to become not only centres of economic growth, but also places that do so with sustainability and quality of life in mind.
Shoeb Kagda
is Centre Director (Jakarta) at the Office of Overseas Centres, Singapore Management University
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