Globalization and Southeast Asian capital cities: Introduction to Pacific affairs special forum

Abstract

This paper represents an attempt to show how globalization is interacting with local political and social forces in the shaping of Southeast Asian capital cities. Southeast Asia is known for the political and economic dominance of its capital regions. In the recent two decades, the concentration of government, expenditures, services and amenities in the capital city has been reinforced by new foreign investments and international migration. The paper introduces three papers which examine the tensions and promises globalization brings for the capital city. It concludes with the challenge national governments face to balance spatial policies that strengthen the competitiveness of its capital regions with redistributive policies that are needed to develop subregions in the shadow of globalization.