According to the UN, Asia has the largest urban population of the developing world, in terms of sheer numbers. In 2005 more than 1.5 billion people inhabited Asia’s cities, equating to 39.9% of the Asian population. The urban population is growing fast - Asia is projected to have 54.5% of its population living in cities by 2030. Asia alone will account for more than half of the world’s urban population - 2.66 billion out of a global urban population of 4.94 billion – by 2030.
Asia's urban poor face a major paradox. They are encouraged to provide many of the basic services and pool of labour that keep Asia's towns and cities running, but no provision is made for them to live safely and affordably in these towns and cities. Despite contributing significantly to their local economies, and indeed their country's economy as a whole, the poor are effectively excluded from the benefits of economic growth and development.
You can find out more about urban poverty in Asia from information produced by Homeless International for the UK Government's Department For International Development 'Asia 2015 Conference' held in March 2006, or by downloading "Understanding Asian Cities" (1.3MB) produced by Homeless International's partner organisation 'ACHR' (Asian Coalition for Housing Rights).
As a result of these trends, millions of people have no choice but to live in slums and other informal settlements (see photos), often found in dangerous locations.
The statistics about urban poverty are alarming:
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Asia has the largest share of the world’s slum population, approximately 581 million people, or half the world’s total slum population lived in this region in 2005. That is more than a third (38%) of Asia’s urban population who do not have safe and secure housing and are largely excluded from achieving their political, social and economic rights. South Asia alone hosts almost half of Asia’s total slum population.
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The number of people living in slums in Asia is projected to grow rapidly. The UN estimates that 839 million Asian people will live in slums by 2020.
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Asia's slum dwellers are compelled to live in health- and life- threatening environments. More than 500 million people living in Asia's towns and cities lack adequate provision of water, and more than 600 million lack adequate sanitation. In South Asia alone more than 150 million slum dwellers lack secure tenure, leaving them open to the threat of eviction. Millions of people live on marginal land, vulnerable to flooding, landslides and other natural disasters.
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Inadequate housing and infrastructure is a growing challenge as Asia continues to urbanise rapidly. Most of Asia's population growth will take place in urban areas in the next fifteen years – as much as 650 million people. The number of Asia's poor living in urban areas is projected to increase massively as urbanisation continues.
Urban poverty is a growing, but often neglected, phenomenon in Asia. The large number of people involved means that these issues must be tackled if the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are to be achieved.
Homeless International works with partner organisations in South and Southeast Asia, who support community driven developments to improve housing, gain access to land with secure tenure, obtain basic services, enhance disaster-preparedness and to tackle many other dimensions of urban poverty. Homeless International also works with partners to support long-term, community-led reconstruction following natural disasters such as the Asian Tsunami in December 2004 and the South Asian Earthquake in October 2005.
Click on the links in the menu on the left of the screen to find out more about Homeless International's work with partner organisations in Asian countries.
