亞洲城市經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展分析報(bào)告

　　Analysis report of rapid economic development in Asian cities

　　在過去的30年中，亞洲城市的經(jīng)濟(jì)出現(xiàn)了驚人的發(fā)展，吸引了很多專業(yè)人士的關(guān)注，并產(chǎn)生了成千上萬的書籍和文章來試圖解釋這種現(xiàn)象。最突出的例子就是日本，韓國，新加坡和中國的一些城市，它們經(jīng)常被稱為“化腐朽為神奇”的城市。在本文中，我們將從三個(gè)方面，即人口動(dòng)態(tài)，經(jīng)濟(jì)市場，社會(huì)和政治，來討論影響經(jīng)濟(jì)快速發(fā)展的可能性因素。

　　Over the past 30 years, there have been amazing economic developments in Asian cities, which has attracted professional attentions and evoked thousands of books and articles attempting to explain this phenomenon. The outstanding examples are cities in Japan, Korea, Singapore, and China, frequently referred to by these articles as "miraculous"[1]. In this paper, three aspects including population dynamics, economic markets, and socio-political conditions, will be discussed as the possible factors which may have attributed to this economic acceleration.

　　幾個(gè)亞洲城市的經(jīng)驗(yàn)表明，經(jīng)濟(jì)增長可以達(dá)到降低人口出生率的作用。

　　The experience of several Asian cities indicated that economic gains can be achieved by reducing the birthrate of population.

　　大約在50年前，亞洲大多數(shù)城市人口稠密，那里的人生活在極度的貧困之中，由于人口眾多，大量消耗量極其有限的自然資源。自20世紀(jì)60年代以來，大力控制人口增長的政策被廣泛的執(zhí)行，在此期間，亞洲大多數(shù)城市的經(jīng)濟(jì)增長開始加速。圖1.1清楚地顯示，亞洲大部分地區(qū)在1955年至1995年期間生育率大幅降低。

　　Fifty years ago, most Asian cities were densely populated, where people were living in poverty due to large populations consuming extremely limited natural resources. Since the 1960s, vigorous policies to control population growth were widely applied, and the economic growth of most Asian cities started to accelerate in the meantime. Figure 1.1 clearly displays that the rate of childbearing in most Asian regions was drastically reduced from 1955 to 1995.

　　The reduction of the population was not the only reason for the boost in the Asian economy, but also the change of demographic structures in Asian cities. Based on the recent statistical data, it is reported that over 40% of the Asian population was urbanized [2]. Increasing amounts of young people came to cities seeking more working opportunities, which enlarged the size of the working-age population in the urban age-structure. Figure 1.2 reveals the demographic structure change of Tokyo, a Japanese city, since 1925. The percentage of the young people in the total population started to strongly extend after 1955.

　　By consuming fewer natural resources and by having a larger working population aggregated in cities, Asian cities experienced economic increases.

　　Compared with western cities, most developing Asian cities have many potential markets waiting for development. However, the market is a necessary condition rather than a sufficient condition for the boom of an economy. In other words, a vast potential market does not warrant any of the prosperity of trade. Political and social policies that encourage and benefit merchants usually work faster and more directly than any other factors.

　　After World War II, Asian developing countries set up various industrial policies to encourage frontier technologies. Innovation and learning were widely triggered by imitating technologies that are already being applied elsewhere [5]. Technology and innovation are the key drivers of productivity growth, which enabled the local producers in Asian cities to cope with increasing international competition.

　　More and more foreign investments are further contributors to the fast development in Asian cities. Before the 1980s, most Asian governments view foreign investments and Multinationals Corporations (MNCs) with great wariness. Both were believed would impinge on national sovereignty and security, as the modern form of economic colonialism and exploitation. After 1985, some Asian cities started to remove restrictions and implement policies to attract foreign investment inflows, when they realized this may accelerate technological change, emergence of globally integrated production and marketing networks. http://ukthesis.org/jr/  only $53.7 billion in 1980, foreign investment to Asian cities reached $1.4 trillion in 2000.

　　In sum, the rapid economic development in Asian cities happened due to multiple reasons, even more than the ones discussed above. After the World War II, the economies in most Asian cities were severely damaged. Compared with western cities, they had lower starting points and larger spaces for growth. With this background, the change of the population structure and the industrial polices stimulating economies successfully catalyzed the “miraculous” development of Asian cities. Their experiences in these two aspects could be used as good reference points by other western cities for future economical development.