A Tale of Three Cities

This week, we take a look at three cities: Hong Kong, Gwadar and
Jakarta (as well as Jakarta's forthcoming replacement,
Nusantara), cities that were once the focus of big dreams, but
are now facing major disappointments. They are cases of
governments investing enormous sums of political and financial
capital, without the intended benefits. Cases of when top-down
planning and governance fall short.


In this episode, we begin with an analysis of Hong Kong's fall
from grace with Monica Hunter-Hart (02:35). Then Uzair Younus of
the Atlantic Council joins us for a discussion of what's going
wrong with the development in Gwadar (06:06). Then our
correspondent in Jakarta, Erwida Maulia, comes in with a report
about Indonesia's forthcoming new capital (18:32). We end with a
quick update on the 1MDB trial in New York City from Jack Stone
Truitt (27:53). 


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Asia Stream is hosted by Wajahat S. Khan, our digital editor and
executive producer, and produced by Monica Hunter-Hart and Jack
Stone Truitt.


Related to this episode:


Indonesia's new capital, Nusantara, sparks controversy, by Erwida
Maulia


So long, Hong Kong: Asia's business hub loses its luster, by Pak
Yiu


Too big to fail: China eyes Afghanistan investment amid fears of
state collapse, by Betsy Joles