Unlikely Boomtowns
The last half-century was the age of the megacity. The next will belong
to their smaller, humbler urban relations.
....
There are several megatrends that get lost on a top-10 list, however.
One is the concentration of fast-growing cities in emerging economies:
of the top 150 fastest-growing cities in this size class, the most by
far, 55, are in China, followed by an intense boomlet of 12 in
Indonesia, and 10 in India. In the developed world, while none make the
top 150, metropolises in the United States are growing much faster than
those of Europe and Japan. This is due in part to the fact that overall
population is declining in those places, but it drives home the relative
dynamism of the Asian and American superpowers. The growth cities of the
United States and China are growing faster than 2 percent, leading a
pack of small cities, while those in Europe are growing at maybe half a
percent, and are typically the rare exceptions in nations where most
cities are shrinking.
In a way, the emergence of Second Cities has flowed naturally (if
unexpectedly) from the earlier success of the megacities. In the 1990s,
megalopolises boomed as global markets did. This was particularly true
in metropolitan areas with high-tech or "knowledge based" industries
like finance—witness the renaissance of New York and London, and the
explosion of growth in Shanghai or Hong Kong. Bonuses got bigger,
bankers got richer and real-estate prices in the world's
most-sought-after cities soared. The result has been the creation of
what demographer William Frey of the Washington-based Brookings
Institution calls "gated regions"—places like New York, London, Tokyo—in
which both the city and many of the surrounding suburbs have become
unaffordable for all but the very wealthy.
....
Why does one town become a booming Second City while another fails? The
answer hinges on whether a community has the wherewithal to exploit the
forces pushing people and businesses out of the megacities. One key is
excellent transport links, especially to the biggest commercial hubs.
Though barely a decade old, Goyang is South Korea's fastest-growing city
in part because it is 30 minutes by subway from Seoul. Burgeoning IT
hubs outside Delhi like Gurgaon and Noida, for which Ghaziabad serves as
a new bedroom community, all sit on good roads into the capital.
cont'd....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13528594/site/newsweek/
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Ghaziabad among 'hottest cities'! Even residents are surprised
By Indo Asian News Service
New Delhi, June 30 (IANS) From a hick town dismissed by snooty Delhiites
to one of Newsweek's 10 hottest cities in the world - residents of
Ghaziabad that borders the Indian capital are both thrilled and incredulous.
'I just cannot believe that Ghaziabad has been listed (by Newsweek)
among the top 10 dynamic cities of the world. Though I don't agree with
the assessment, yet the news is thrilling,' said S. Aggarwal, a leading
architect of the Uttar Pradesh town that till not too long ago was
viewed as dirty, provincial, crime-prone and just not with it.
'As a resident of Ghaziabad, I would like to be associated with the tag
formed. To be a resident of dynamic cities is a matter of pride,'
Aggarwal told IANS, adding that the Uttar Pradesh industrial town needed
to be developed in a planned way.
Newsweek's list takes into account the fastest-growing cities in each of
the world's 10 most important economies. Apart from Ghaziabad, cities
like Munich, Las Vegas, Goyang (South Korea), Toulouse (France), Fukuoka
(Japan), Nanchang (China) besides Moscow and London have also made it to
the prestigious magazine.
cont'd....
http://www.dailyindia.com/show/38680.php/Ghaziabad_among_hottest_cities!_Even_residents_are_surprised