This book is an in-depth study of the Indo-Pacific region for effective interventions in the megacities system. First, based on several criteria, the region is identified as homogeneous country groupings of diversity, a multi-polar spatial system, and as program regions of QUAD and I2U2 for action programs and investment transcending many nations but mostly the ocean space of the Indo-Pacific, connecting all megacities sub-regions spatially and functionally. Then, the megacities with problems and prospects for economic integration are studied from the point of view of regional economics and international trade, and finally, the rural-urban interface with case studies of selected countries is presented. Prospects of systems of megacities and individual megacities for regional economies are designed. Existing interconnections through rail, air, and ocean of megacity systems, their capacity, performance, and potential are analyzed for emerging issues. International trade among the megacity systems/countries with emerging issues and barriers are presented. The mobility of money, goods, and services among the systems of megacities is analyzed. Rule-based diplomacy and other emerging options are discussed to sustain the above calls for a study of the Security of the Indo-Pacific region. Finally, the emerging architecture for megacity system governance is also presented.
Out of 21 megacities in the Indo-Pacific, an in-depth study of a few in India and Japan in the Indo-Pacific region for effective economic interventions in the megacities system at the city level was studied. COVID-19 has affected most of the countries in the Indo-Pacific. With a contraction of GDP and a GDP growth rate negative, the number below the poverty level increased. Foreign Direct Investment is not forthcoming in any of these countries. Job creation becomes a priority in addition to public health concerns connected with COVID-19.
Professor T. M. Vinod Kumar has 50 years of academic and professional experience. He is specialized in Urban and Regional Planning, Urban and Regional Infrastructure, Urban Environmental Management, Application of GIS in Urban Planning, Models in Planning, Urban Design and Smart Cities. He has extensive consultancy experience in urban and rural development, infrastructure, tourism, and health care throughout India, new town planning and development, city center and housing planning, and structure planning in Malaysia. He has worked in Bhutan, China, Pakistan, Nepal, and India as a Regional Program Coordinator for the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development. Academically, he has worked at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, as a Professor, Head of the Department of Urban Planning, Head of the Centre for Analysis and Systems Studies, Head of the Centre for Urban Studies, and finally, Dean of Studies at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. He also worked as a Planner-Engineer with the Ford Foundation India. He is a former Visiting Professor at Bandung Institute of Technology Indonesia and a current Visiting Professor at the National Institute of Technology, Calicut. He has authored numerous books and journal articles and has been a Project Manager for many consulting projects in India and abroad. He coordinated and edited Geographic Information System for Smart Cities (Copal:2014), E-Governance for Smart Cities (Springer:2015), Smart Economy in Smart Cities (Springer:2016), E-Democracy for Smart Cities (Springer:2017), Smart Metropolitan Regional Development-Economic and Spatial Design Strategies (Springer-Nature:2018) and Smart Environment for Smart Cities (Springer-Nature:2019).
