Major Problems Overall. First, it is instructive to note the general difference between the scores of the summary categories of urban problems. From the large table 17, these are rearranged in rank order for Table 18.

Table 18
Rank and Score of Ten
Categories of Urban Problems

The food situation in these Asian cities can be said to be among the least troublesome problems. It gains the highest score overall, and we shall see, it is one of the top ranked conditions for all countries except for China and to a lesser extent for India. The prophecies of famine made two decades ago have not proven to be correct. On the contrary, Asia has every reason to be pleased with the progress it has made in keeping agricultural output growing more rapidly than its population. National aggregate data show this, and our urban administrators reflect this as well in their perceptions of problems.

As in the first Inquiry, we find that education and health and family planning obtain very high scores. Asia has made major advances in these areas over the past few decades, and the administrators are noting those advances. Except for Japan, they especially note the progress made in family planning, as national programs have generally been very effective in bringing real choices to people, especially to the poor, and have helped to bring down fertility rates. There is also general satisfaction with energy availability and with the level and rate of economic progress. The score for housing is higher than observers might expect, but we shall shortly see that this is one area in which there are substantial differences among the items that make up the summary category.

In addition, these Asian urban administrators generally find energy supplies adequate, and are pleased with the rates of economic development, industrialization, trade and commerce. This, too, reflects objective conditions, as we saw in table 2. All of the countries of the region, even the poorest in this group, have made notable economic progress over the past few decades. The problems are not, for the most part, those of slow growth. They are, rather, those associated with rapid growth, especially of their urban centers.

At the other end, the most serious problems are those dealing with the urban infrastructure that is being overwhelmed by a combination of population growth and development advances. Both in-migration and high natural increase swell populations, putting pressure on the infrastructure and increasing the demand for utilities, housing and jobs. In addition, the economic advance has greatly increased motor vehicles, which, together with the swelling population, put heavy pressure on the transportation system. Again, these were the overall rank orders that were found in the first Inquiry.