Page 322 - 2019 6th AFIS & ASMMA

One issue that has been maybe a little bit overlooked is transportation,
In our report, we look at the various policies across countries. When
you compare these policies, you can see some common features across
the countries. I just want to mention these six. Start with the first one,
which is about data collection. Many cities don't have very systematic
and good data on the housing market. If you don't have data on the
housing market, how can you manage that housing market? So, we have
seen efforts by governments in Malaysia and the Philippines to collect
really systematically housing price data and labor market data, in order
to better understand the housing market. Then, of course, the supply,
which is very much critical, when it comes to expanding the supply of
housing. And cities should do more to relax the supply constraints.
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because if you provide cheap efficient transportation, you expand the
area where people can commute into the city center. We have done
some research to measure how bad the traffic congestion is in Asia. So,
we downloaded from Google Maps about 40,000 trips for 300 cities in
Asia, and we found that during peak hours, it takes you about 35 percent
more time to travel. And this congestion increases with the city size.
So, if you live in a city that has more than five million, then your peak
travel time is about 50% higher than the off-peak travel time. We also
looked at the option of public transportation. We again used Google
Maps data, and checked whether public transportation is offered and Session II
how long it takes, and we were quite shocked to learn that it takes about
three times more than driving. So, people want to buy a car, they want to
drive, but the roads are not made for such a massive increase in terms of
cars, which leads to severe congestion. There's also data that shows that
commuting takes a huge share of the income of urban dwellers in Asia.
So, commuting is expensive, and that's why we, ADB, try to do more, in
terms of investment in urban infrastructure.
Let me finish my presentation with three more lessons learned. First
of all, it needs the engagement of the private sector, because it's a huge
problem. The public sector cannot solve this unaffordability issue. We
need to develop smart housing policies that are adapted to the income
levels of different income brackets. In addition, we should promote the
rental market. Asia is still very much looking into home ownership,
but we think that a thriving rental market can be a very important
contribution to solve the housing and affordability crisis. Lastly, what's
important is of course the effective implementation. Implementation is
always an issue, when it comes to developing countries. I think there's a
lot of room to improve in terms of the implementation of policies.
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