The Importance of Regional Planning in Big Asian Countries

Harmonized regional development is a very important target in economic policy-making. It is important to realize a good balance between regions to secure political stability and to stimulate the active participation of the people. But harmonized economic growth sometimes necessitates a large subsidy from an advanced region to a more retarded region, or from central governments to local governments, which imposes a big cost to economic growth. Rapid urbanization necessitates the great social cost of providing basic infrastructure in urban areas. So there may exist a trade-off between the efficiency (or growth) target and the equity target (or decrease of adequately measured interregional disparity). Such a trade-off does not exist in a country which is geographically small, such as a city state or an island state, and there is no great difference between the centre and the periphery within a country. But this trade-off becomes an important economic as well as a political issue among the three demographically large Asian countries on the western Pacific Rim: China, Indonesia and Japan. China and Indonesia also have vast territories and accompanying diversity in their stages of development, and in the cultural as well as the social backgrounds among regions. So harmonized regional development in China and Indonesia requires tactful consideration and the necessary input of various resources.