THE PACIFIC SUMMIT : Sizing Up Pacific Cities : Crowds, Crime and Children

As the economies of East Asia industrialize, their metropolitan centers are catching up with--and in some cases surpassing--the more developed nations in the Pacific Rim in terms of urban ills: violent crime, traffic congestion and overcrowding.

Area Population People Rush hour (millions) per room traffic flow (mph) Tokyo-Yokohama 28.7 0.9 28.0 Seoul 15.8 2.0 13.8 Los Angeles 11.5 0.5 19.0 Jakarta 9.9 3.4 16.3 Manila 9.2 3.0 7.2 Shanghai 9.2 2.0 15.3 Bangkok 7.0 3.2 13.0 Taipei 6.1 1.1 11.5 Hong Kong 5.2 1.6 12.2 Sydney 3.6 0.5 10.7 Singapore 3.1 1.2 37.3

*

Area Murders Children in Infant deaths per secondary per 1,000 100,000 school live births Tokyo-Yokohama 1.4 97% 5 Seoul 1.2 90% 12 Los Angeles 12.4 90% 9 Jakarta 5.3 77% 45 Manila 30.5 67% 36 Shanghai 2.5 94% 14 Bangkok 7.6 71% 27 Taipei 8.7 81% 5 Hong Kong 1.5 86% 7 Sydney 1.7 77% 10 Singapore 2.0 82% 7

Environment

Roads jammed with automobiles in Jakarta give this city the worst marks for air pollution in the Pacific. Taipei and Sydney enjoy the cleanest air among the region’s major urban centers. Alas, few cities are very quiet.

Air Quality Noise Level Tokyo-Yokohama 6 4 Seoul 3 7 Los Angeles 4 6 Jakarta 1 6 Manila 6 4 Shanghai 7 5 Bangkok 3 7 Taipei 10 3 Hong Kong 8 5 Sydney 10 3 Singapore 8 2

Air Quality: 1: poor, 10: good Noise Level: 1: noisy, 10: quiet SOURCE: Population Crisis Committee, Washington, D.C., 1990. Air quality rankings based on 1988 survey by the U.N.Environment Program and the World Health Organization

COST OF LIVING

Think Los Angeles is expensive? Try living in Tokyo or Hong Kong. The index below takes London’s cost of living as the standard score of 100.

Cost of Inflation Income spent Living Index Rate on Food Tokyo 179.8 0.9% 18% Seoul 104.8 4.8% 34% Los Angeles 109.8 3.2 12% Jakarta 85.0 9.6% 45% Manila 93.4 7.4% 38% Shanghai 92.3* 11.0% 55% Bangkok 97.5 3.6% 36% Taipei 118.4 3.1% 28% Hong Kong 122.9 8.5% 38% Sydney 92.7 1.2% 15% Singapore 100.2 2.4% 38%

* Specific Shanghai figures not available; figures used are for Beijing. SOURCE: P-E International, a consultancy based in Surrey, England, as reported in the Financial Times Nov. 5, 1993.