Asia's Fastest Growing Economies Have the Fastest Growing Slums

Fast-growing emerging economies in Asia are grappling with the conundrum that a boom brings: hordes of villagers flocking to cities only for many of them to end up living in slums.

About 55 percent of the urban population live in shantytowns in Cambodia, 43 percent in Mongolia, 41 percent in Myanmar, and 38 percent in the Philippines, according to World Bank data that covers East Asia and the Pacific. The ratio is more than 20 percent in Vietnam, China and Indonesia, which are among the fastest-growing economies in the world.

In some respects these nations have become a victim of their own success amid massive urbanization, where inward migration is outstripping governments’ ability to supply necessary infrastructure and services. In places like Manila and Jakarta, a dense sprawl of illegal or unplanned housing have sprouted up to offer homes for millions of workers who power their economies.