Asian Cities: Globalization, Urbanization and Nation-Building

Asian Cities challenges Western paradigms of urban growth and questions the status accorded globalization in explaining contemporary Asian cities, arguing instead that they are being transformed by three major forces – urbanization and nation-building as well as globalization. The examination of urban life in a sample of middle-sized cities in East, Southeast, and South Asia has implications for our understanding of globalization generally.

This is a nuanced study grounded in quantitatively-based findings but enriched by qualitative research that both provides additional evidence and brings the findings alive.

• Malcolm McKinnon, Author