Towards Child-Friendly Mega-Delta Cities in Asia A Critical Literature Review

Cities in mega-deltas of Asia are densely populated economic centres of the region. Decades of government policies and institutional reforms have transformed the local economy from an agricultural-based to a primarily manufacturing-based one. This creates highly uneven spatial development within and beyond the urban fringes, driving migration to areas where capital and investments are concentrated (Seto, 2011). The massive influx of population then puts severe pressure on the already limited healthcare capacities, scarce social resources, and lagging public infrastructure. Cities in mega-deltas of Asia are also confronted with specific ecological issues such as reduced delta aggradation, subsidence though groundwater extraction, increase flood hazard as well as rivers running dry due to damming and water diversion (Chan, et al., 2012). As a result, the rapid socio-environmental transformation witnessed in these economic centres endanger public health in the form of communicable (e.g. malaria, typhoid, tuberculosis, cholera and dengue) and non-communicable diseases (e.g. cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular and chronic respiratory illnesses) as well as environmental violence and injury, which are in turn exacerbated by climate change. In both practice and research, the field of planning has seek to address the aforementioned public health challenges faced by cities in mega-deltas. From water infrastructure provision and flood governance to promoting sustainable transport, this paper contends that such normative approaches have systematically overlooked a key social group—children—when deliberating the processes and outcomes of planning. According to the World Population Prospects, Southern Asia and South-Eastern Asia (i.e. where mega-deltas are geographically located) has 27.9 percent and 25.4 percent of population under the age of 15 respectively (UN, 2019). Furthermore, with children being more vulnerable to environmental risks, creating child friendly cities in mega-deltas of Asia is therefore imperative in addressing the compounded effects of rapid socio-environmental transformation that threatens public health in the very first place. A child friendly city is defined as “any system of local governance committed to fulfilling child rights as articulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is a city or community where the voices, needs, priorities and rights of children are an integral part of public policies, programmes and decisions” (UNICEF, 2018, p. 10). Whilst such a broad policymaking goal does not prescribe the exact role of the planning system nor does it describe the ways in which a locality should be designed for children, the ‘reinstatement’ of children within the urban discourse reflects a professional and scientific recognition of the interdependencies between urban environments and the health of specific social groups. More importantly, as the generation least responsible for climate change, children bear the greatest impact of its effects; their ability to survive, grow, and thrive is directly threatened by extreme weather events and increased environmental degradation (UNICEF, 2015). The aim of this paper is to therefore critically synthesis two distinctive strand of literature—urban adaptive strategies to climate change and child friendly cities—to highlight the conceptual gaps between the global sustainable development policy narrative and the planning of cities in mega-deltas of Asia. And based on findings from the literature review, this paper develops an analytical framework for child friendly mega-delta cities in the age of climate change. The paper then focuses on the uneven spatial development of Dhaka, Bangladesh (Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta) and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (Mekong Delta), exploring how the analytical framework can be applied to address the gaps in planning policy. Lastly, this paper considers how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect the planning of child friendly cities in mega-deltas.