Introduction: Asian Cities in an Era of Decentralisation

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, which made possible the Conference on Decentralisation and Urban Transformation in Asia that led to the production of this Special Issue. This project also benefited from financial and logistical support provided by The Asia Foundation. For their exemplary administration of the conference, special thanks are due to Valerie Yeo, Sharon Ong, Jonathan Lee and Henry Kwan. For her valuable editorial support, the authors are grateful to Deborah Chua.

Notes

In 2003, just thirty-nine per cent of percent of Asia's population had settled in urban areas, well below the global average of forty-eight percent. Asia's urban population is projected to rise to 2.61 billion by 2030, thus increasing the rate of urbanisation in the region to fifty-five per cent (United Nations 2004, pp. 2-3).