Globalisation and urban transformations in the Asia-Pacific region: A review

In the Asia-Pacific context, over the past several decades, economic global isation permitted the deepening of intrafirm trade, foreign direct investme nt and the division of labour between head offices and their subsidiaries a broad, thus effecting a greater interdependency between the developed natio ns and developing nations in the region. The linkages of this emerging tran snational economy are embedded in the region's cities through the world cit y formation process and have led to the development of a 'functional city s ystem'. Urban functions, within the system include, inter alia, production, finance, telecommunications, transportation, direct investment and even am enity provision. The accumulation of different functions by a given city pr ovides for the foundation of its external linkage and economic growth and a lso underlies transformations in its physical form. While all cities have a variety of functions and play many roles within the regional economy, domi nant characteristics found in cities allow for the identification of differ ent types including capital export cities, regional entrepots, industrial c ities and amenity cities.