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Increasing urbanization in the Asia and Pacific region is leading to a rapid increase in the number of megacities. A major concern is the issue of sustainable transport. This article describes the procedures used and results of a multi-economy foresight study of sustainable transport in megacities of the Asia-Pacific region. Key issues and policy actions needed are identified.

Over the past decades, many Asian economies have achieved striking levels of economic growth. This economic growth has been necessary in order to fulfil the material needs and aspirations of growing populations. However, it has also been accompanied by substantial environmental degradation. While the precise interactions between economic growth, economic development and environmental degradation is subject to controversy and a comprehensive assessment of the Asian environment may be required to fully understand this relationship and the present conditions of the environment, it is argued in this paper that the achievement of sustainable economic development and the harmonizing of economic and environmental objectives will not be possible without deliberate policy interventions. Such policies need to incorporate a regional dimension in the form of institution building, in parallel to the concept of regional economic growth. The article focuses on the current problems of environmental and natural resource degradation in Asia, within a possible conceptual framework of impoverishing or unsustainable economic growth, and suggests a set of policies that need to be adopted in order to solve current difficulties.

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