Spatial Information Management for Megacity Research in Asia

Abstract

Asia offers an appropriate setting for the analysis of many of the institutional forces and the urban dynamics that impact the interconnections between humans and their management of environmental resources in the megacities of today (Lo and Marcotullio 2001). This paper presents significant initial results of the urban sustainability assessment research of housing policies at the urban planning level in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). The objective is to develop an urban planning information system based on urban growth theory to assist a more integrated approach to the future sustainable development of housing and settlement structures to balance urban growth and redevelopment in HCMC. Although environmentally inefficient settlement development structures are resulting in an ongoing unsustainable use of land-resources, planning instruments have their limitations to promote the necessary structural changes in spatial development planning. Based on current urban growth research, this paper offers an overview of available indicators that can describe the efficiency of regional and urban spatial structures in relation to land use and land consumption. A special focus will be laid on methodological issues of urban sustainability indicators and their spatial representation by urban typologies for the establishment of an urban planning information system in HCMC.