CURRENT RESEARCH TOPICS ON TRANSPORTATION AND TRAFFIC SAFETY IN ASIAN COUNTRIES 6 • IATSS RESEARCH Vol.28 No.1, 2004 URBAN TRANSPORT AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN ASIAN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES – In Search of Transport Policies – (IATSS H493 Project Report) Akira MORITA Kazuhiko TAKEUCHI Kenji DOI Professor Professor Professor Department of Public Administrations Department of Ecosystem Studies Department of Civil Engineering The University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo Kagawa University Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, Japan Kagawa, Japan Ricardo G. SIGUA Kiyoshi HONDA Fumihiko SETA Director Associate Professor Research Assistant National Center for Transportation Studies School of Advanced Technologies The Unit of Urban Environment Systems University of the Philippines Asian Institute of Technology The University of Tokyo Metro Manila, The Philippines Bangkok, Thailand Tokyo, Japan Akinobu MURAKAMI Lecturer Department of Environmental Science and Technology Tokyo Institute of Technology Kanagawa, Japan (Received December 22, 2003) The rapid urbanization in Asia since the 1970s has caused many serious urban environmental problems, among which the degradation of the transport-related environment is most prominent. Overall assessment of the physical, socio-economic, and institutional factors affecting urban trans- port is a key to transport improvement in Asian metropolises. The purpose of this study is to understand the current situation of these factors in some selected metropolises, namely Bangkok and Metro Manila. This paper comprises a) GIS-based land use analysis on the relationship between urbanization and transport infrastructure development, b) GPS-based travel behavior survey, and c) interview survey on residents' satisfaction with transport infrastructures and services. It was shown that the current land use patterns largely differ depending on the existence of agricultural infrastructure development in the pre-urbanized stage. It was also confirmed by a GPS-based travel survey that travel behavior patterns in scattered development areas are significantly different from those in orderly development areas. The former areas lack not only road space but also a structured hierarchy of networks, resulting in inefficient travel behaviors with low speed and detours. The GPS survey gave clearer pictures to grasp the relationship between travel patterns of residents and their demand for the improvement of local transport services. It was indicated that local governments who are responsible for these demands often fail to meet them due to financial and institutional limitations of the current system. Key Words: Land use and transport, Urbanization, Travel behavior, Asian metropolises, Local governance, Decentralization 1. INTRODUCTION Urbanization in Asia has been rapid in the past 30 years. This rapid development, with poor planning and decision-making has led to many serious urban environ- mental problems. In the process, people from the coun- tryside would migrate and settle in the urban areas to work or to look for a better quality of life. This migration, on the one hand, has drastically increased the population in the urban areas and contributed significantly to their economic activities. On the other hand, large urban popu- lations have caused serious urban related problems; one of which is transport. In most developing Asian cities, road congestion is attributed to inadequate transport infrastructures, planning and management. The level of self-discipline on the part of the traveling public could further aggravate this con- dition. This problem has in turn crucial economic and environmental impacts on society as a whole. For this reason, it is very important to study how to improve the quality of life in urban areas by addressing the issues re- lated to transport. A key to the solution of the problem is to have an in depth knowledge on the potentials and limitations of both the physical and non-physical components of urban transport. It is imperative then to account for infrastruc- ture, social and institutional components of the system when looking for opportunities to improve the effective- ness of urban transport. Similarly, it is important to un-