(T.G.

McGee) The Emergence of Desakota Regions in Asia: Expanding a Hypothesis

In 2020, at least 57% of the world population is expected to live in urban areas, according to the
U.N. Centre for Human Settlements. The urbanization will be higher in developed countries
(77%) than in developing countries (53%). Within developing counties, the urbanization will
differ from 83% in Latin America to 50% in Africa and Asia. However, Asias urban population
will account for a very large amount of that of the developing countries.
The perspective from the author is that in the Asian context the conventional view of the
urban transition, which assumes that the widely accepted distinction between rural and urban will
persist as the urbanization process advances, needs to be re-evaluated. The conventional view of
the urban transition is inadequate in three respects:
1) it is too narrow in its view that the spatial separation of rural and urban activities will
persist as urbanization continues
2) the assumption that the urbanization transition is inevitable because of agglomeration
economics and comparative advantage, which are supposed to facilitate the concentration
of the population in linked urban places. Instead, the relatively cheap transportation
technology enables high mobility of commodities, people and capital, which creates large
mega-urban regions
3) former colonization created uneven incorporation of Asian countries into the world
economic system divergent patterns of urbanization, not comparable to western
urbanization.
Supposed new paradigm would include investigation of: historical elements, appreciation of
ecological, demographic and economic foundations, institutional components (role of the state),
transactional components (transport, commodity and population flows) and shifts in the labour
force (economic change).
A model is presented about spatial distribution, see figure 1.1 on p. 3 of the article. It
includes major cities, peri-urban regions, desakotas (= intense mixture of agricultural and nonagricultural activities that often stretch along corridors between large city cores. Can include
smaller cities and towns.), densely populated rural areas and a sparsely populated frontier.
Three types of spatial economy transition in Asia in regions with high-density, mostly
rice-growing agroeconomic niches:
Desakota type 1: migration to urban centre decline in rural settlement. Most of the
economically active work is in non-agricultural activities. Increasing income, but rural population
much poorer than urban.
Desakota type 2: rapid economic growth by increased productivity in agriculture and industry.
Desakota type 3: slow growth of income. Close to secondary urban centres with continuing high
population growth, surplus labour and low productivity.
Six common conditions and processes in the different types of desakotas: (1) large
population engaged in small-holder cultivation of rice with good transportation routes from preWW II. (2) Increase in diverse non-agricultural activities in previously agricultural areas. (3)
Extreme fluidity and mobility of population. (4) Intense mixture of land use: agriculture, cottage
industry, industrial estates, suburban developments etc. (5) Increased participation of females in
non-agricultural labour. (6) They are invisible or grey zones for the state authorities: not rural,
but not urban either. Urban regulations may not apply encouraging for informal sector.
Central processes are the dynamic linkages between agriculture and non-agriculture.
Expansion in agricultural output leads to an expansion in other activities and the other way
around.

Policy formation: concentrate on big-city growth or small and intermediate towns.

Maybe desakotas could be a middle option. Governments can choose to keep believing in the
dichotomy of urban and rural, but this can become fuzzy in the case of the mixed areas (like
desakotas).