Globalisation and Urban Transformations in the Asia-Pacific Region: A Review

Abstract

In the Asia-Pacific context, over the past several decades, economic globalisation permitted the deepening of intrafirm trade, foreign direct investment and the division of labour between head offices and their subsidiaries abroad, thus effecting a greater interdependency between the developed nations and developing nations in the region. The linkages of this emerging transnational economy are embedded in the region's cities through the world city formation process and have led to the development of a 'functional city system'. Urban functions, within the system include, inter alia, production, finance, telecommunications, transportation, direct investment and even amenity provision. The accumulation of different functions by a given city provides for the foundation of its external linkage and economic growth and also underlies transformations in its physical form. While all cities have a variety of functions and play many roles within the regional economy, dominant characteristics found in cities allow for the identification of different types including capital export cities, regional entrepots, industrial cities and amenity cities.