1. Introduction

Excerpt

Urban development in major cities of East Asia has been for a long time considered as an instrument of economic growth and was historically strongly affected by the central or more recently local governments. Local communities have rarely influenced urban development directly. Only recently it became clear that decades of steady economic growth are over, and cities in East Asia and elsewhere around the world are facing growing social, economic, environmental and political uncertainties. Many of these cities are now at a critical crossroads of urban transition, where active involvement of local communities in urban development is increasingly seen as an alternative to the growth-oriented and market-driven urban development of the past. This new urban paradigm is based on the awareness that provision of safe and affordable housing with adequate social amenities and infrastructure, along with participatory planning and management of residential areas not only strengthens communal life and shared identities in localities, but can also improve the overall quality of life in cities and lead towards their sustainable development in the long run. These efforts were recently recognised as an important part of global goals and targets for sustainable development and integrated into The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (United Nations 2015). …