The major cities of Asia are facing ticking time bomb Infrastructure

Residents marched through streets flooded in Marikina City East of Manila, Philippines, on Wednesday (8/8). The great flood in the country that has killed 23 people and made millions of people suffer. The rescue team deployed a rubber boats to rescue thousands of people still stuck in some villages.

BANGKOK, KOMPAS.com -Asian countries must act quickly to protect their cities from floods and other natural disasters, such as the rapid urbanization poses a risk to the environment, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) stated, on Wednesday (15/8/2012).

Large investments in infrastructure and urban planning a smart green growth-focused on-is the only way to limit the impact of such disasters as the cities in the region, the ADB report said growing.

"Asia has seen the growth of urban population that has never happened before, but this was accompanied by an enormous pressure on the environment," said ADB Chief Economist Changyong Rhee.

"The challenge now is to implement policies that will reverse that trend and facilitate the development of green technology and green urbanization," he added.

"Trend (urbanization) will continue at a pace that is very fast ... Asian cities have very little time to set up and build the right infrastructure. "

Deadly floods that submerged 80 percent of Manila last week, flooding killed dozens in the capital of China in July and inundate parts of Bangkok last year, are signs warning that major cities in Asia are unable to cope with the challenges of climate change and protect their population, the ADB said.

This situation is likely to worsen, the bank fight poverty reminds, because Asian economies grow and hundreds of millions of people flock to the "big city" with a population of 10 million or more.

Alluring Asian cities over a billion new residents between 1980 to 2010 and will attract a billion more in 2040, according to research by ADB, more than half of the major cities in the world located in the area.

As a result of spiralling crime, pollution, social disparities and slum life is heaping pressure on existing infrastructure, accelerating the need for daring to respond from the City Government, said the organization based in Manila.

Asia has "spent a lot of money for infrastructure, but it is not enough to protect people," Rhee said.

"We focus on quantity ... but do not have the luxury to spend money on quality," he added, citing the construction of roads without adequate drainage for example the development of a disability.

The report says policymakers could be narrowing the gap with the introduction of the congestion charge, the levy on carbon and collect more taxes for investing in green infrastructure, including public transportation.

ADB also States, hoping it will take advantage of new technologies that can encourage greener cities that mitigate the effects of climate change.