Globalization and Networked Societies

Globalization, along with globalism, continues its unrelenting and accelerating march as it draws more countries, cities, and people closer into interdependent relationships. This volume attempts to tease out some of the salient elements of this process, especially as it has affected urban centres in Pacific Asia over the last 20 years of the 20th century. All countries in the region are covered in this work, with special attention given to Hong Kong and to China, a late bloomer in the Asia scene but nevertheless one that has experienced phenomenal growth and accelerated globalization in recent decades. The empirical analyses reveal the outcome, dilemmas and meanings of globalization in the urban-regional scene. Equally grounded in theoretical and empirical perspectives, the volume seeks to offer cogent explanations of why the western Pacific Rim has become the fastest growth region in the world.