Community participation in delivering urban services in Asia / edited by Y. M. Yeung and T. G. McGee

Since 1945, the pursuit of accelerated economic growth by the market economies of Asia has led to rapid urban growth, a pattern that seems likely to continue. This rapid urban growth has made it difficult for city governments to deliver adequate urban services, in terms of both physical services, such as providing water, garbage collection and disposal, fire protection, and human-waste disposal, and social services, such as health care, child care, recreation, and education. The problem is particularly acute in low-income communities. Given that government efforts to meet the need for increased urban services have not been totally effective, many urban communities in Asia have experimented with self-help and participatory mechanisms designed to improve the quality of urban life. This volume presents the highlights of a five-country study, involving Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea. Malaysia, and the Philippines. that attempted to provide information on the development and operation of a range of basic urban services based on the principle of self-help.