Transnational practices and networks of capital, labour, business and commo
dity markets, political movements and cultural flows are both the products
of, and catalyst for, contemporary globalisation processes. An important si
te where the analytical lens can be trained to examine the way in which the
material processes and discourses of globalisation and transnationalism in
tersect lies in dominant cities of the world urban hierarchy. As key nodes
in the economic, social and technological networks spanning the world space
economy, these 'global cities' are also places in themselves, where the so
cial, cultural and economic fabric is not only woven out of local elements,
but also clearly involves a high density of transnational relationships. I
n this paper, we examine debates in Singapore focused on four categories of
transnational flows: the transnational business class comprising highly mo
bile, highly skilled professional, managerial and entrepreneurial elites; a
large group of low-waged immigrants filling unskilled and semiskilled nich
es in the urban service economy; expressive specialists who enliven the cul
tural and artistic scene; and world tourists attracted by the cosmopolitan
ambience. Specifically, we give attention to the interdependence among thes
e categories and assess the challenges which have to be addressed in Singap
ore's bid to develop 'best practices' for a 'cosmopolitan and creative' glo
bal city epitomising the essence of transnationalism while at the same time
remaining a 'home' distinguished by a strong sense of local identity and c
ommunity.