Globalizing Taipei

Taipei's quest to become a global city is the key to its urban development. Globalizing Taipei looks at this "Asian Dragon", a major city in the South China Growth Triangle and a centre for transnational production, revealing how the development of this capital has received firm state support but is conditioned by international and domestic politics. The book is divided into four parts: economic and spatial restructuring, state and society realignment, social differentiation and cultural reorientation. Each analyzes the interaction of international, state and local politics in the shaping of the city's urban environment since World War II. All contributors to this edited volume are Taiwan scholars presenting critical insiders' views. Based on each author's specialization and research focus, each chapter provides an in-depth consideration of one of Taipei's developmental issues generated by globalization. Collectively they provide broad, insightful and coherent coverage of this crucial time in Taipei's global transmutation.

Reginald Yin-Wang Kwok is Professor of Asian Studies and Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Hawaii in Manoa. He is the founding director of the Centre of Urban Planning and Environmental Management at the University of Hong Kong. His research interests cover the political economy of Chinese development and urbanization, globalization in East Asia, urban econmic and spatial development, and cultural impact on urban design.

Introduction: Asian Dragons, South China Growth Triangle, Developmental Governance and Globalizing Taipei Part 1: Economic and Spatial Restructuring 1. The Evolution of Economic Base: From Industrial City, Post-Industrial City to Interface City2. The Development of Economic Structure: Producer Services and Growth Constraints3. The Transformation of Spatial Structure: From a Monocentric to a Polycentric CityPart 2: State and Society Realignment 4. Urban Politics and Spatial Development: The Energence of a Participatory Planning5. Provision for Collective Consumption: Housing Production under Neoliberalism6. Domestic Politics in Urban Image Creation: Xinyi as the "Manhattan of Taipei"Part 3: Social Differentiation7. Social Polarization and Income Inequality: Migration and Urban Labor Market8. Daily Consumption in a Globalizing City: Food Markets at the CrossroadsPart 4: Cultural Reorientation 9. Modernization Ideoscope: Imaginative Geography and Aesthetic Landscape in Taipei Rapid Transit System10. Commentary on the Marginalized Society: Tsai Ming-Liang's Films11. Postscript: Current Dilemma and Future Uncertainty