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Extended Metropolitan Development in Southeast Asia: From Primate Cities to Territorial Urban Diffusion

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International and Transnational Perspectives on Urban Systems

Part of the book series: Advances in Geographical and Environmental Sciences ((AGES))

Abstract

Primate cities in Southeast Asia, primarily a Western colonization product, have evolved from port cities to metropolitan development since World War II. Their growth was mainly attributable to high postwar population growth rates, massive rural-urban migration, and export-led industrialization and agglomeration effects accelerated by global linkages. Spatial effects of globalization impacts used to be more substantial in more internationally integrated market economies (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia), but they have now penetrated also the transitional economies (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar). Our aim in this paper is to revisit the theoretical debate whether primate city regions have grown “too big” as well as reassess the question of equilibrium city size in the context of decentralization and regional integration strategies – namely, through extensive physical infrastructure networks – in the new ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) framework. Other issues such as the characteristics of the Southeast Asian primate cities in the urbanization process, their major development trends in the twenty-first century, and the ways in which they have responded to the territorial impacts of globalization are also addressed.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Though Thailand was never formally annexed as a colony, its economic system was integrated at the international scale as one of the largest exporters of rice and a key importer of Western-manufactured goods. This feature was shared by Yangon until Myanmar opted for a closed economy following Ne Win’s coming to power. Singapore should be considered the primate city of Malaya until the city-state left Malaysia for independence in 1965.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. AUSSER (UMR CNRS/ENSAPB) Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris-Belleville, University of Paris 8, Paris, France

    Charles Goldblum

  2. Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, Southern University College, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

    Tai-Chee Wong

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  1. Charles Goldblum
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  2. Tai-Chee Wong
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geography and Sustainability, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Celine Rozenblat

  2. University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, UMR CNRS 8504 Géographie-cités, Paris, France

    Denise Pumain

  3. Regional Office of UN-Habitat for Latin America and the Caribbean, United Nations Habitat, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Elkin Velasquez

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Goldblum, C., Wong, TC. (2018). Extended Metropolitan Development in Southeast Asia: From Primate Cities to Territorial Urban Diffusion. In: Rozenblat, C., Pumain, D., Velasquez, E. (eds) International and Transnational Perspectives on Urban Systems. Advances in Geographical and Environmental Sciences. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7799-9_16

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