Globalization and the Metropolis: The Challenges that Asias Cities face in the future

Clarissa A. Barrenechea/ Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines

Globalization is the catchphrase of today. There is no denying this trend and phenomenon of our times, which no one will easily disprove. This presents a new challenge that must be dealt with. We are not used to seeing borders between states being removed, enabling resources both tangible and intangible, to freely flow from one country to another. People around the globe are more connected to each other than ever before. Information and money flow more quickly than ever. A Hollywood box-office hit with African actors starring on it is viewed on a

Korean manufactured television set while dining to Italian dishes bought from an American franchise, and in a nearby room a child listens to J-pop music. And that is just a part of it. People around the globe are more connected to each other than ever before. Information and money flow more quickly than ever. Goods and services produced in one part of the world are increasingly available almost everywhere. International travel is more frequent and International communication is commonplace thanks to the advent of the internet and other comforts that advances in technology have to offer. Even the term Globalization" in itself, is in fact, fast becoming the preferred term for describing the current times. Just as the Depression, the Cold War Era, the Space Age, and the Roaring 20's were used to describe particular periods of history; globalization describes the political, economic, and cultural atmosphere of today. While some people primarily think of it as something synonymous with global business, it is much more than that. First and foremost, it is not a phenomenon nor is it just some passing trend. At present, it is an overarching international system shaping the domestic politics and foreign relations of virtually every country, and there is a need to understand why this is so. What is globalization, and why is it being debated? Majority of the people normally associates the idea with international trade but in reality goes far beyond that. What it also really means is changing the way things are done at home. Take for example the import of foreign goods; not only does it affect local manufacturers but it also changes consumer expectations on the quality, price and even the way of
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life in itself. This can also be seen in the entry of foreign businesses, which, in turn forces local companies to adopt new practices, whether it is in the form of improving corporate governance or at its worst, downsizing. Even exporters change the nation which they chose to export it to, and factories, both big and small are slowly replacing rice paddies and other tillable land as farmers turn into production-line workers instead and as they become more familiar with the exotic goods they manufacture; money courses through the community, and the entire rhythm of life is altered. Make no mistake though as change can be good. Asia's development over the past half-century is a major example. As Singapore Trade and Industry Minister George Yeo said, the economic miracle of Asia is largely a result of globalization. But as goods and services flow across borders, ideas and values are also changing. The spread of

media and information is raising expectations and customs in both the private and public aspect of life. Although it cannot be denied that globalization has brought both wealth and development to most parts of Asia over the past decade, it has also brought economic crises. As the region approaches another period of rapid growth, the question that is probably on everyones mind is if the world or Asia for that matter is equipped and ready to handle its side effects and if there is really something if at all to worry about? The regions concerns about globalization come on three levels. First, there is the economic side of it. Western economies are no longer willing to absorb Asian exports without getting equal access to its markets. It is through international institutions such the World Trade Organization or the WTO that they are demanding a level playing field. It sounds fair, but many Asians are calling it otherwise. As Stephen Leong of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies based in Kuala Lumpur says It is not about having a level playing field rather it is the size of the players which is important. To illustrate this, he further states that it is big countries with huge corporations, which have all the advantages, whereas smaller countries simply do not have the means to compete. A closely associated concern is that Western initiatives to link trade with the improvement of labor conditions and environmental protection, which in turn could and inevitably destabilize Asia's competitiveness in the world market. These, on the one hand are the concerns of officials and businessmen. The Social activists in turn, point to a different set of problems and say that trade liberalization has boosted only a privileged few. As Martin Khor, director of the Penang-based Third World Network says, "You can't say the whole world has benefited" and further supports this by citing U.N. statistics which show that it is only the worlds top five richest countries population which enjoy the 82% increase in export trade. For the Labor activists, it is mostly the ordinary workers who are suffering as competition intensifies and factories go beyond borders. Heads of states meanwhile, see globalization merely as a way to open up markets and attract investment. As G. Rajasekaran of the Malaysian Trades Union Congress states, "They have forgotten the human side of it." Environmentalists meanwhile lament that the rich countries' desire for commodities and manufactured goods is destroying and polluting Asia, and is further aggravated by development-obsessed
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governments and businesses. Finally, there is the grey area, which encompasses the intervention of globalization in ones values and culture. While most of that debate is focused on Hollywood movies, McDonald's restaurants or the way that internet has changed the lives of almost everyone, the real problem and greatest impact that it has had may be more subtle and can be clearly seen on the edges of society as it even affects remote ethnic minorities. In the home front alone, some parents don't even want to teach their children their

own dialect because they believe that if they want them to have a future, to have jobs and to be accepted would heavily depend on their ability to blend into modern society. Even development that on the surface may seemingly support traditions such as tourism in reality can erode them. At first, it may seem that

the things, which used to be done for merit are nowadays just being done for money and thus a loss of values. From these problems it can be seen that the advent of globalization brings about, two related forces. First, to climb on board the development bandwagon to the extent that some people have and

are voluntarily getting rid of their excess baggage. And second, ethnic and local traditions are being judged by using the global value system of wealth. Interestingly enough and from a taking it from a historical point of view, in the beginning of the 19 century,East Asia or Asia as a whole was among the least developed parts of the world; now it is a region where for the most part, cities are growing very rapidly and becoming increasingly important It is
th

regional centers not just in terms of the global urban hierarchy. Take Tokyo, Japan as an example.

unquestionably a key and important national and global city, which easily tops the list as one of the many newly industrialized countries, otherwise known as NICS. Hong Kong follows very closely, while Seoul

and Taipei are also moving up in the ranks. At the other end of the continuum however, its the overpopulated, pollution-filled and poverty-stricken cities of the Southeast Asian region that are seen and considered to epitomize the concept of Third World mega cities. All these urban intermingling and expansion that are associated with these dramatic changes give rise to additional questions mentioned in the previous paragraphs. The astonishing number of developments and changes taking place in the region come in different forms, functions and is a forewarning against simplistic and hasty generalizations. Nevertheless, the understanding of historical and cultural ideas and finding fascination in dissimilarities should also not influence experts such as historians or scientists to end their search for some all-encompassing theoretical framework to be able to fully understand the dynamics of urbanization and underdevelopment and their relation with globalization. This paper approaches these problems aimed at the theoretical notion of global and world cities and global urban hierarchies. The discussion only focuses on those swelling metropolises in the Asian region and suggests that perhaps there is need to return to old debates about cities in the area and the relationship between urbanization and underdevelopment. This paper also takes into consideration the
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fact that oversimplified images which hide the diversity of urban development in different countries in Asia will prove useless if a more theoretically and sociologically-based analysis of comparative urban patterns and processes is used. Throughout time, cities have played an important role in the development of Asian societies. Almost everywhere, traditions from the past such as palaces, temples and other infrastructures and simple dwellings are just some of architectural proofs that demonstrate respect to the environment, innovative planning and artistic wealth. More so, the formation and changes of the city has always taken place in

the context of social, political, economic and cultural forces that operate across and beyond broad geographic regions and numerous international borders. In our present day and age, the role of cities is just as vital. However, the traditional relationship between cities and the countryside, which has remained unchanged for centuries, has undergone a radical transformation. For better or for worse, over the last thirty years, an unparalleled economic boom has beset Asian societies that were traditionally rooted in the economy of agriculture. The industrial expansion in

the 1960s that started in Japan did not take long to affect the three so-called "tigers of the region, namely, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, shortly followed by some countries in Southeast Asia, China and to a lesser degree, India. This is not to say that local processes and structures were at times unique, unequal or more significant than the other; neither does this imply that nation states do not greatly influence the course of the cities within their boundaries but instead it clearly states that many cities have long been embedded in the matrices of global processes and developments which in turn have greatly produced change in cities. This is as apparent in major Asian cities as it is in New York, London or Paris. Hong Kong grew in population and developed as an important Transshipment and banking center as a British Crown Colony. Shanghai, became one of the worlds major seaports and leading trading center under the

influence of Britain, the U.S., and, later on Japan. The Indonesian capital of Jakarta, on the other hand was a bustling port with regional relations with the arrival of the Portuguese in the early 16th Century, which was soon followed by the Dutch and the English, making this city an important Southeast Asian connection in the rising European-centered world-economy. Equally influential in this citys growth and development has been the influence of Chinese immigration, and, as with Shanghai, Japan made it dominance felt on the metropolis in the 1930s. Trans-border relations on the other hand, also influenced

the two Vietnamese capitals. First and longest with China then with European powers, predominantly France and of course the United States. Though Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City cannot be entirely classified and considered to have world city status, like Hong Kong, Jakarta, and Shanghai, they are, nevertheless global in a lot of ways. Given their past histories, both are currently being more involved in the global processes but in somewhat different ways, and as a result seem to be rapidly changing. Moreover and as stated in the introduction, there is the undeniable importance that states,
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citizens, and domestic politics play to both to the worlds biggest and smallest of cities and the crucial role played by global processes in shaping their direction. Furthermore, there is a need to write off the possibility that, in the current era, large-scale processes such as globalization may take part in a qualitatively more important role in relation to cities as compared to in the past. But the questions the concerns posted beforehand imply that they should be answered with thorough research and not just through widely held discussions or mere theoretical statements. Questions of such nature will be more

adequately dealt with by looking at how local, national, and global social forces interact with one another, and by also keeping in mind the strong possibility that it differs over time and from city to city or country to country. Noticeably and as what some statistics show, a rural exodus on a magnitude matching the region's economic development and population growth has taken place and in the process has relocated hundreds of millions of peasants to the cities and inevitably changed their social structure, ways of life and culture. To further illustrate this staggering change, in the 1970s; the Asia-Pacific region only had eight cities with had a population of more than five million. Today, there are more than thirty. Among the most populous are Bangkok, New Delhi, Calcutta, Seoul, Jakarta, Osaka-Kobe, Manila, Bombay, Madras and Karachi, with each having at least ten million people, while Beijing and Shanghai are estimated to have fifteen million and twenty million respectively. As for the megalopolis of Tokyo, which forms one fourth of Japan's population and is estimated to have around thirty million inhabitants concentrated along a 150kilometer metropolitan strip, which is equivalent to the size of Osaka and Kobe combined. In just a few years, the city has made its presence felt almost everywhere. Those who are in charge of managing this urban explosion face a difficult and puzzling challenge. At present, it appears that "the limit" has been reached, where the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages. Surprisingly enough, none of these Asian mega cities have stopped growing. In fact, it is far from it. In 1990, after thousands of years, the population of Asia's cities was pegged at one billion. According to some analysts it is said that by the year 2020, the urban population of Asia will have doubled, totaling nearly two and a half billion. By then, more than half of the urban areas of the planet will be found in Asia. They will hold more than a third of the world's population. And more will remain untapped, as some 45% of the Asias inhabitants will still be living outside the cities. Those who have seen these cities expand, saturated, pulsating, stretched to its limits and on the verge of paralysis and chaos will have difficulty imagining a doubling of the population. The idea seems impossible, even bizarre, like attempts at setting the record for the maximum number of persons to fit in a small car. Nonetheless and at the rate things are going, it is inevitable. One can only look for answers in past experiences as to whether humankind will be able to rise to the challenge in a long-term and logical manner, one that will be imposed by history, demography and the frantic race for development. On the other hand, the rise in power and the control of the city is not an entirely ugly and dark
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picture. It has also had numerous positive effects in the economic social and cultural domains. From one day to the other, millions of people have gained access to "progress" and to the new distribution of wealth. For many, the city became synonymous with work, housing, culture and, more importantly, education, health and social advancement. The cities themselves in fact have been transformed. With the

movement of the rising bourgeoisie and middle class along with the acceptance of the value of prosperity, a new and progressive urban culture was established alongside new consumer trends and architecture. However the negative effects of urban explosion far outweigh the positive. Whether it is in the form of uncontrolled development, lack of infrastructures, slums, pollution, crime and breakdown of the social fabric-- the list of problems suffered by most Asian mega cities of yesterday and today is as long, like with other continents. In some cities, the middle class has even been taken over by the elite, and the poor have been pushed out towards the poverty-stricken suburbs. Yet, in some places, it is the middle classes who are taking over the fashionable suburbs and have abandoned the city centre to the poorer population. Everywhere, speculation and fluctuations in the real estate market threaten the city with cultural and social ruin. In many cases corruption, laissez-faire leadership and the lack of political will, as well as misguided regional planning, have seriously crippled the city and estranged some sector of its citizens. The uncontrolled flurry of construction has also brought about ecological, aesthetic and cultural disasters right to the historic heart of the cities claiming many icons of art, history and tradition to the point that it is only the financial and tourist interest represented by many of these places which has also saved the historic areas from demolition. But, over and above commercial concerns, it is as a symbol of the cultural identity of the citizens and the community and that its heritage should be protected and used as a basis for new cultural creations. To give a rough sketch of what Asias mega cities would look like 20 years from now, a leading regional publication called it as Asiapolis 2025 and envisioned it as a cluster of towers rising above the smog which represents the business and financial center, citadels protected by electronic security systems at each entrance it has. They fail to include the slowly crumbling and close to being torn-down apartment buildings, which serve as lodging to millions who have left villages and provincial towns in search of a better life. Beyond there is a small space allotted for some trees and other flora, the suburbs for an struggling middle class that commutes to work in robotized and perhaps armor-plated vehicles. In the horizon are overflowing landfills from which the most unskilled laborers make a living. These in a few words, is what an extreme vision of what urban destruction would possibly look like, but possibly not that far-fetched if Asia's cities don't shape up. The population pressures will be enormous. To further illustrate, although major cities are growing at about 2.5% annually, secondary

and regional cities are swelling by as much as 4% each year from the rural influx. Development experts estimate that by 2020, more than two thirds of people in Asia will live in urban centers. Beijing, Bombay, Calcutta, Jakarta, Osaka, Seoul, Shanghai, Tianjin and Tokyo already rank as mega cities or those with
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populations of 10 million or more. By 2025, the Asian Development Bank or ADB believes another 11 others are likely to join the club, namely Bangalore, Bangkok, Dhaka, Hyderabad, Karachi, Lahore, Madras, Manila, New Delhi, Shenyang and Yangon. But other experts say that half of these city dwellers will be poor. That is if urban life will be allowed to be synonymous with sprawling slums, traffic congestion, deteriorating metropolitan services and suffocating pollution. The Center for Science and the Environment in India estimates that there is one premature death per hour in New Delhi due to dirty air, mainly from motor vehicles and is even said that the air quality in Hong Kong, at its worst, has been compared to that of Mexico City. In addition and according to the World Banks department manager for urban development for East Asia and the Pacific, Keshav Varma, the next 20 years will be "strategically important" for major cities in the region. Competition between cities for capital and talent will be tougher than ever, both within a particular country and around the world. From globalization, important changes will widen the

gap between them and with developments in information technology, rapid urbanization and as Asia shifts away from agrarian economies. He further states that the trend of people moving toward cities cannot be stopped but the process can be managed and that is the reason why urban governments need to reconsider their opinion. He also says

that with globalization, mediocrity cannot be accepted and it is no longer possible for ineffective cities to use domestic issues as a scapegoat. The challenge is not just to provide sanitation and keeping the streets clean even if many civic authorities cannot even fulfill these basic requirements. If cities are to have a place in the new order of things they would need professional managers, and for them to use all their resources, especially the human aspect of it. Secondary cities need not be considered as important too. As ADB strategist Naved Hamid suggests they, too, should look into new opportunities. First, there's the livability factor: some With the

people may prefer smaller cities for a more relaxed lifestyle, cleaner air and cheaper housing. advent of technology, location also may not be as an important requirement for some jobs.

Transport will be an important element in determining not just a city's efficiency but its sustainability as well. Consider how fundamental Tokyo, with its population of 12 million, avoids unending traffic jams while travel in cities a portion of its size crawls along at a snail's pace. A policy of lessening the use cars while promoting good public transport also helps. As a

concrete example, the Japanese capital's rail system carries 7.2 million passengers a day, safely, quickly and on time. Many inter-urban trains can already travel at 300 km per hour but in the future new magnetlevitation trains will double that speed. As some experts suggest, if trains whose carriages can be taken

on and off at stations, will be made then one can truly say that they have a truly rapid and efficient transit system. There are also cheaper solutions available. A good example would be Curitiba, a medium-sized
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city in Brazil and its buses. Its coaches pick up and unload passengers swiftly at enclosed; space-age looking stops similar to underground trains. In the future it is seen that improved transport systems in Asia may link motorists to networks, which will keep them updated on commuter demands and traffic conditions. For cities surrounded by canals such as Bangkok, automated waterways are an option. Smoke-belching vehicles meanwhile can and are being converted. Cars, which offer everyone mobility, need not be welded to steel and fossil fuels. There are numerous examples of complex plastic cars with light, strong and recyclable parts and efficient electric-hybrid engines already available in the market. Those working from home may also help in lessening overcrowding by using more cost-effective and environment-friendly alternatives sources of energy and products among others. To illustrate, some economists from Japan estimate that in two decades, 15%-28% of the country's labor force will be telecommunicating. But of course, for most employers and employees, there is no alternative for the buzz and face-to-face communication, which can only be found in the so-called work place. Some futurists have even proposed cities on ocean beds or anchored out at sea that will mine vast marine resources. fetched idea, once While others have suggested living in other planets, which used to be a far

all livable space on earth has been consumed.

If that would be the case then, it would be better to imagine instead of higher skylines, as such technology exists. Ultra-strong concrete is available and allows vertical streets to be raised on tiny areas, served by state-of-the-art speed lifts. Towers reaching several kilometers high may already rise in Tokyo among other major world capitals before long. Such skyscrapers will be quakeproof with its computercontrolled shock-absorbers and foundations. Offices in such buildings will have built-in motion

detectors that will sense when occupants have left the room and adjust the power supply and other control units, which used to be a far-fetched idea. Moreover it is interesting to note that while most

cities regularly vie to build the world's tallest building, they pay much less attention to smart, energyefficient structures that minimize the ecological damage and wastage done. For a glimpse of what the future on innovative architectures can do to help lessen the numerous impacts of globalization, consider the new headquarters for the manufacturing company Kyocera in Kyoto. Designed by Kurokawa Kisho. It boasts environment-friendly technologies such as perimeter-zone air-cooling and an assortment of solar panels on its faade, which supplies almost 13% of its energy. Additionally, an innovation called Super

windows, which uses high-tech film to reflect away infrared light while absorbing visible light, may soon replace the ones, which are currently used. These minimize heat absorption and the need for cooling. Consider also adding to these, features such as turbines, which use wind drafts, found at the base of buildings. From here and for the most part, smart towers can be constructed to be space, energy

sufficient. These are just some examples; in reality the possibilities are endless. At the end of the day cities are for people. They are not just engines of economic growth but also of social development. It is in cities that civilizations emerge. And for those, which could offer healthy environments, mobility and lively cultural and civic life will flourish and naturally will attract the
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best and most creative people. In the information technology age, numerous innovations in world-class metropolises, such as real-time voting among others may decide most of those city issues and other problems, which is just one of the many examples for mayors of mega-cities to be. But, this does also

not mean that people should feel hopeless, restless and tense all the time. As emphasized above, there is just a need to be more proactive and seek to be better understood. This can be done in a number of ways and with multifaceted dimensions. To reiterate, Globalization has brought wealth and development to much of Asia over the past decade, but on the other hand it has also brought economic, social, political crisis to name a few. Now, as the region approaches another period of rapid growth, is it really equipped to handle the side effects? To address this situation primarily requires an understanding of them, meaning the different concepts coming from other countries and cultures. But it is not easy as it sounds nor does this not the give one the whole nor clear picture since globalization is neither a one-way street nor a straightforward concept. It requires a two-way give-and-take relationship and even multilateral interactions. Moreover, one should strive not only to be understood by others but also get them to see the other side of things. In this way, one will be able to take the initiative of globalization, the keyword of the times, and not just simply be swayed by it. Accordingly, there is also need to do go beyond understanding "others." There is a need to encourage others to understand ones country and its people, and to go beyond than what is "required." The more closely a pending issue is related to ones personal or national interests, the more efforts are needed to do more than just what one would say as "enough." That is to say that ones efforts should not end at trying to learn about other cultures but pro-activeness on the individual level as well. Since with just one-way understanding, one will likely lose his way in the whirlwind of globalization. A concrete example would be the geopolitical circumstances of Asia or the ACA Workshops host for that matter. Being surrounded and within the periphery of such powers as the U.S., China, Russia, and Japan, make it all the more vital for its people, culture and history to be properly understood. North Korea and its ever-present nuclear crisis put forward the subject of being understood with such importance and urgency. This is interconnected and one of the main reasons why North pay such close attention to Washington's policy toward East Asia or Japan's efforts to transform itself into a normal and stable state. Additionally what developing countries can do despite the promises brought about by globalization, dealing with social and economic problems must and always should begin at home by creating political, social and economic institutions needed to maximize the gains from this phenomenon at the same time minimizing its costs and dealing with the problems which it is not prepared to handle. Some of these include the development of democratic, accountable and transparent political, legal and business institutions, which includes labor market institutions, public investments in education and health care, and the development of appropriate merit systems to deal with the environmental problem.
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In relation to how it affects the worlds economy and inevitably a nations values and culture, the reality of the situation and each individual city for that matter remains unique and complex. There can be neither real model for it; only case studies. In order for a city and its future to be secured in a rapidly globalizing world it should be anchored in its individual identity. Its urban heritage must be the starting point for the development of an urban policy. Its history, its neighborhoods and its residents must be studied, recorded and told. In addition, the success of most developing countries and how it would cope up with globalization and its effects is mainly reliant on its government as it alone has the resources, organization and authority to provide these public goods at the scale and speed needed for rapid improvement. Concerned and responsible citizens from developed countries can also contribute to this process by contributing their capital, skills, technology, expertise and experience. More so, they can highly influence the short-term, protectionist and anti-competitive decisions and policies that their governments and other public institutions have taken in the global arena which inevitably prevents poor countries from the benefits that globalization promises and delivers to those who are fortunate enough to experience it. In conclusion, Globalization is not the sole answer to the social problems of the developing world, but neither is it the source of all problems as it also provides access to the resources and conveniences it affords nearly everyone -- from the new technologies, new information, new employment, and other forms of social and democratic organization, which improves cities and inevitably the lives of its citizens almost everywhere. What is needed then is a harmonious balance between the two, which is

the real challenge each and everyone faces.

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