Cities of the Future
Cities of the Future
By Mehmet Enes Beşer
Urbanization is transforming at a fast pace the population and economic landscape of developing ASEAN economies at all-time highs. From the metastasizing metropolises of Ho Chi Minh City and Manila to Jakarta’s and Phnom Penh’s suburbs, cities are increasingly becoming drivers of growth, hubs of innovation, and drivers of opportunity. But as the region urbanizes, so too does the energy appetite of the region—raising questions in the near term of sustainability, infrastructure, and the role of renewables in fueling Southeast Asia’s urbanization. At the heart of the challenge is a basic opportunity: harmonizing the trajectory of urbanization with the dynamics of growth in renewable energy to create resilient, low-carbon cities capable of defining the future of the region.
ASEAN urbanization is occurring at a pace that is astounding. More than half the geography of the region is now urbanized, and by 2050 two-thirds will be urban residents. They are no longer groups of individuals-they control electrical usage, construction activity, transport infrastructure, and economy-generating activity. The imperative for energy intensity in urbanization is most acute among middle-income countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, whose growing consumers’ living standards and industrialization are driving growth in demand for air conditioning and appliances, automobile fuel, and public infrastructure. In the past, that came from virtually exclusively fossil fuels with electricity coming from coal and natural gas. That supply is no longer available.
Already, urbanization at high-speed overloads national grids, contaminates the air, and exposes cities to volatile world energy prices. Climate change doubles the risk, with cities facing increasing heatwaves, flooding, and sea-level rise. For delta and coastal cities like Bangkok and Jakarta, which are located in low-lying areas, the threat is existential. Incorporating renewable energy into the momentum of urbanization is therefore not just a great idea—it is imperative. Encouragingly, ASEAN markets in expansion are already benefiting from this convergence. Rooftop solar power becomes increasingly popular in Vietnam and the Philippines as saving costs fuel demand as well as policy initiatives to welcome growth. Solar integration, energy efficiency for building codes, and district cooling infrastructure now become embedded in the master plans for cities in Malaysia and Thailand. Singapore, small as its land area is, is building floating solar photovoltaic farms, inter-regional grid coordination, and vertical solar panels to spur carbon intensity reduction and provide urban energy demand. Challenges remain behind.
ASEAN emerging country urban government agencies are rarely networked across cities, with redundant mandates between governments at the city and national levels.
This creates regulatory ambiguity and slows down integrating renewable energy into urban planning. Financing is another problem. Municipal governments or second-tier cities do not possess technical capacity or credit ratings to initiate renewable energy schemes independently without national guarantees or foreign donations. Moreover, slums that provide shelter to millions of urban poor are not often the focus of energy plans, and inequalities persist regarding access, affordability, and resilience. Infrastructure in grids is also a concern. Urban grids are already sophisticated, centralized, and configured to support non-decentralized renewable sources such as rooftop solar or neighborhood wind. Without the installation of smart grid technology and tools for demand-side management, connecting variable renewable power to urban infrastructure is problematic. Interoperability issues persist, particularly in the case of cities where energy reliability is an issue in commercial and industrial uses. To address such loopholes, the ASEAN countries must include urban energy planning as their priority agenda.
That is, integrating housing, transportation, and industrial growth with the deployment of clean energy from the beginning. Electric vehicles, for example, are only clean if they run on clean electricity. So are skyscrapers and civic buildings—these need to be constructed with solar potential, battery storage, and grid flexibility as priorities. Cross-industry planning between energy utilities, city planners, technology suppliers, and civil society is needed to unleash these synergies. Regional collaboration can be equally transformational.
Initiatives like the ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) and the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) offer a platform to exchange best practice, pilot innovation, and gain access to climate finance.
Partnership with external players—multilateral institutions, bilateral donors, or green tech companies—is necessary to de-risk investment and build local capability. But to succeed, these alliances must be framed in terms relevant to local contexts and build more robust city governments, and national governments. ASEAN urbanization is not to be imprisoned—it is a genie to be released. If used well, it can be a strong magnet for the adoption of renewable energy, economic change, and social integration. The cities of the region can avoid the old models of the past and create energy infrastructure that is fitting for the 21st century. But that requires vision, coordination, and above all, political will. Its energy future will be shaped not in remote power plants and offshore oil rigs, but in its transit corridors, urban city streets, and home neighborhoods of its metropolitanizing cities. The earlier that this reality is absorbed by policymakers, the earlier the region will move towards a green, sustainable metropolitan future.