Category: News from Asia & Australasia

IURC Asia & Australasia Partner Country: Vietnam Country Description With a population of 95 million people, living in 64 provinces and 5 cities with a total area of 329,314 km2, Vietnam is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. During recent decades, cities in Vietnam became the engines of economic development, and rapid urbanisation has been the...

IURC Asia & Australasia Partner Country: Thailand Country Description Thailand is not only undergoing rapid urbanisation but is also implementing various policies to tap urbanism for economic growth and promote sustainability. Until the second half of the 20th century, it was primarily an agricultural country. However, since the 1960s increasing numbers of people have moved to Bangkok and to other...

IURC Asia & Australasia Partner Country: Malaysia Country Description Malaysia has 32.73 million inhabitants (Department of Statistics, Q4, 2020) and surface of about 330,000 km² (a bit smaller than Germany). As a federation, it is divided between the federal and the state governments. It consists of 11 states in Peninsular Malaysia, 2 states on the island of Borneo and 3...

IURC Asia & Australasia Partner Country: Indonesia Country Description Urbanisation in Indonesia increased tremendously following the country’s rapid development in the 1970s. Since then, Indonesia has been facing a high urbanisation rate driven by rural-urban migration. In 1950, 15% of Indonesia’s population lived in urban areas. The percentage is expected to become 67.5 by 2025. Indonesia has many large cities....

IURC Asia & Australasia Partner Country: Republic of Korea Country Description Over the past years under a green growth strategy, different authorities have launched a number of initiatives on urbanisation, including green and smart city projects, eco-friendly energy towns and others. For instance, a number of ministries organised competitions and trial projects to partner with local governments to establish and...

IURC Asia & Australasia Partner Country: New Zealand Country Description The New Zealand population has become increasingly urban, like the rest of the world. The size of New Zealand cities has grown in both population count and land area. In fact, most New Zealanders live in the urban areas. In 2018, 51.2% of the population lived in the major urban...

IURC Asia & Australasia Partner Country: Japan Country Description With an urbanisation rate of 92%, Japan has as a wealth of experience with establishing urban structures able to adapt to medium and long-term socio-economic changes such as an ageing and declining population, also a key challenge for the EU. Japan has recently launched several initiatives of interest to the EU....

IURC Asia & Australasia Partner Country: India Country Description: With a land area of more than 3.28 million km², India is the second most populous nation of the world with a population of around 1.4 billion. The country is predominately rural but experiences significant growth in urban population; moving India to a quasi-urban society at a rapid pace. Currently there...

IURC Asia & Australasia Partner Country: Australia Country Description: Australia’s population is now over 25 million and the federal governance system comprises six states and two special territories. By 2029, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) expects that Australia’s population will grow to 29.5 million. It is one of the most urbanised countries in the world and the proportion of...