Second, how might urbanization affect inequality in the future? The answer
is again country-specific. The PRC has already passed its “turning point,” that
is, holding urban and rural inequalities and urban–rural income ratio constant,
urbanization will help reduce inequality at the national level; and the Philippines
has not passed but is close to such a turning point. On the other hand, India and
Indonesia are still far away from their turning points, suggesting urbanization will
cause national inequality to rise in these two countries. It must be noted, however,
that the turning point is a function of urban and rural inequalities and the urban–
rural income ratio. Since these components depend on many other factors that
may not remain constant, and, in fact, they could be related to urbanization itself,
the turning point is not unique for each country. Nevertheless, it remains true that
urbanization is a major driving force of inequality in Asia.