Asian metropolitan areas are currently undergoing growth in population and size, and are being pressed to deal with issues such as congestion and environmental problems. Since urban development defines the structure of a metropolitan area over the long term, metropolitan areas in Asian countries need urban management that takes into account both "coping with and promoting growth" under the existing circumstance and "preparing for the declining phase" in the immediate future.

Based on these issues, this study is a multinational joint research project with research institutions in Malaysia, Vietnam, and Singapore, using metropolitan areas in Japan as a benchmark. Specifically, we will analyze the relationship among various elements including the understanding of base evidence in each metropolitan area and the establishment of a restructuring system, urban development trends, infrastructure development and maintenance, population trends, economic structure, governance system, and natural environment, in order to promote understanding of each metropolitan area as a system, and to develop a framework for studying the desirable growth and decline of cities.