What makes asian growth so phenomenal free essay sample

Asian cities have been tended to grow more quickly than Western cities, so what makes their growth so phenomenal? The accelerated rate may be attributed to population dynamics, economic markets and or/socio-political conditions, poor planning and disregarding environmental hazards like flood plains have held them back. Many primate cities in Asia have grown to become megacities, and some more are rapidly increasing in size to assume such a status by the end of the century. This is a remarkable phenomenon fraught with various implications, favorable or unfavorable. In 1960 there were only two megacities in the region, which were, Tokyo and Shanghai. In 1970 Beijing was added, and Asia had three of 10 megacities in the world, or two of five in the developing world. By 1980 Bombay, Cacutta, Osaka, and Seoul also assumed similar status, and Asia had seven of 15 world megacities. In 1990, with Tianjin, Jakarta, Delhi, and Manila becoming megacities, developing Asia contained nine of 14 mega-cities in the less developed regions. We will write a custom essay sample on What makes asian growth so phenomenal or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In my opinion, I believe that the population dynamics are the most influential to urban growth. Population Examination Over two centuries, from 18th century to 20th century, the level of mortality has changed dramatically in Asian countries. The demographers use life expectancy of birth, which is the average number of years that newborn baby can be expected to live, as a mean to measure the mortality level. Generally, the life expectancy of birth has increased rapidly from the beginning of 18th century. In some countries of Asia like Japan and Ceylon, the death rate has been tending to fall since the 1920’s. But in most countries it began to show a rapid tendency toward decline only after World War II. According to recent data, the death rate is 12.1 per 1,000 for India, 9.1 for Ceylon, 7.1-7.3 for Hongkong, Taiwan and the Philippines, and 6.5 per 1,000 for Singapore. If these death rates were expressed in terms of standardized death rates, the latter would be higher than the former in Asia where the proportion of juvenile population is higher. But, even using standardized death rates, we can conclude that there has been a marked mortality decline in Asian countries. Particularly remarkable is the decline in infant mortality. The former infant mortality of 200 per 1,000 for India has now been reduced to half. In almost all countries it is far below the 100 per 1,000 levels. Burma, however, with an infant mortality rate of  slightly more than 100 per 1,000 is an exception. Also, while observing mortality rate, birth rate is considered in why Asian population growth is phenomenal. The birth rate in boys is 9.17 births per 1,000 population and for girls 8.39 births per 1,000 population giving it a total of 17.56 births per 1,000 population, being much higher than the United States which is at 12.7 per 1,000 population. Other Factors Being that there are many other factors that could have been chosen as the reason Asian growth is so phenomenal, I truly did not believe any of them really stood up to par as population did. The first that I would like to examine is economic market. Although the economic market is doing extremely well I do not believe it determines why Asia is growing so quickly. â€Å"The three largest Asian countries, China, Indonesia and India, place 89th, 122nd and 133rd respectively in the World Bank’s ‘ease of doing business rankings.’ In order to sustain the growth, physical infrastructure will need to be prioritized: the Asian Development Bank estimates that $8 trillion is needed for infrastructure development. Demographics will pose a challenge. In East Asia there is the rapid aging of the population, while in Central and South Asia education and employment will need to be found to stave off possible socio-political unrest among the booming youth population† (Lehmann 2010). The following article shows that the correlation between economics and population is negative; this being one of the main reasons why I believe economics does not have the greatest effect on Asian growth, but is still an important factor. Though there are multiple reasons the population is growing so rapidly, there are a countless amount of events and tragedies holding the population back. There is a lot of deforestation and desertification going on in Asia. They are exploiting the land for a profit, for example in Burma they exploit timber, oil and mineral resources to support their government. There are also poor farmers all over using improper irrigation and fertilization practices causing a lot of the soil to be toxic. Another huge issue in Asia is water, due to the massive population it costs a ridiculous amount to treat the water so most water is polluted by untreated sewage, salt water, and industrial discharges. Conclusion In closing, Asian cities have been tended to grow more quickly than Western cities. Although, there are many attributes this such as population dynamics, economic markets and or/socio-political conditions, poor planning and disregarding environmental hazards like flood plains have held them back and only one, in my opinion, is the main reason for extreme growth. I believe that the population dynamics are the most influential to urban growth. Putting into consideration the great economy and socio political conditions even then I still believe that population dynamics is the greatest reason for massive growth. Being that there are factors holding them back it is still fascinating to see that Asia is growing so quickly.