Connecting East Asia: A New Framework for Infrastructure

Abstract

This study examines the role that infrastructure has played in supporting East Asia's growth and poverty outcomes. Much of East Asia is growing rapidly, driven to a considerable extent by China. Urbanization is proceeding at pace. Demand for infrastructure services is increasing massively, particularly in cities. Much of the demand comes from the newly urbanized poor. Infrastructure has to meet their needs, but also has to continue to provide the underpinnings for the region's growth. This study sets out a framework around which to structure a response to the infrastructure challenges in East Asia. Chapter 1 sets the scene. It tells five infrastructure stories, each of which provides a different part of the context for the region's current infrastructure challenge: the economic story, the spatial and demographic story, the environmental story, the political story and the funding story. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 then set out the new framework, picking up on the key elements of the stories of Chapter 1. Chapter 2 is about goals and Chapters 3 and 4 are about what needs to be done to achieve infrastructure goals. Chapter 5 charts the way forward. It sets out twelve policy messages and outlines the role that the development agencies can play in supporting countries to meet their infrastructure challenge.

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