ancient cities

orientation toward export-oriented industrialization.
Contemporary industrial development has, in
most instances, leapfrogged from inner-city locations
to the areas around the major cities.
Industrialization absorbed only a small proportion
of the available labor force in cities in Asia’s
less economically developed countries. The vast
majority of migrants to the city work in the “informal
sector,” in microenterprises providing cheap
goods and services. Metropolitan authorities frequently
sought to suppress microenterprises, viewing
them as inefficient and disruptive to the city.
Others have pressed for more positive policy interventions,
pointing out the need to provide employment
for growing numbers of city workers and the
low cost of the services microenterprises provide.
At the instigation of the Bangladeshi economist
Mohammad Yunus and the support of organizations
such as the Grameen Bank, and more recently
the Asian Development Bank, policies promoting
the availability of low-cost finance for microenterprises
have become more common.
A number of world cities are developing in Asia.
High-order services in finance, management, law,
and architecture support the location of head
offices of significant global companies, giving
them an important role in the global economy.
Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Singapore are prime
examples of Asian world cities. Seoul is the next
level down. The third tier of world cities includes
Jakarta, Osaka, Taipei, Bangkok, Beijing, Kuala
Lumpur, Manila, and Shanghai.
All of the Asian world cities are located in
Pacific Asia. No south or west Asian city features
in the list. The major cities of the Indian subcontinent
have not yet acquired sufficient world city
functions, because they are situated in economies
with limited global links. The consistent rates of
economic growth in India mean that Delhi,
Mumbai, and possibly Bangalore will be the most
likely to achieve world city status within a decade.
Asian cities are developing strategies to strengthen
their engagement in information industries. With
the slowdown in the information technology economy
in the United States, many Indian information
technology workers returned to India, and especially
to Bangalore, where they played a key role in
stimulating the industry. Bangalore is regarded as a
center of high-tech industry in India and is diversifying
into biotechnology and nanotechnology
Asian Cities
43
industries. Kuala Lumpur is now connected to the
“multimedia supercorridor,” which extends south
of the city to the Kuala Lumpur International
Airport in Sepang.
Society and Environment
Islam is the main religion of many large Asian
countries, including Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan,
Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and
Indonesia. Some Middle East urbanists highlight
the historical and contemporary influence of Islam
on the evolution of the city and attribute the problems
of contemporary Islamic cities to the negative
impact of colonialism. Critics such as Yasser
Elsheshtawy reject this “narrative of loss” and highlight
the significance of globalization in shaping
modern cities.
Assertive postcolonial voices on Asia’s cities
have become prominent. Turkish Nobel Prize winner
Orhan Pamuk has written autobiographically
about Istanbul, drawing inspiration from its long
history as the center of the Ottoman Empire. Its
pivotal location on the strategic Bosphorus Strait
provides the backdrop for the juxtaposition within
the contemporary city of evolving modernity and a
fading past. His family history provides a framework
around which Istanbul’s story is told.
Suketu Mehta’s outstanding writing on Mumbai,
the giant Indian city, explores the city’s history and
its underbelly. Through extended biographical
profiles of criminal “black-collar workers,” poets,
and makers of popular culture, he fashions an
eclectic picture of this sprawling metropolis.
The social characteristics of Asian cities are varied.
Most cities have high proportions of the
young. Singaporean and Japanese cities, in contrast,
have aging populations. Youth in the cities
are increasingly free of traditional constraints.
They are vulnerable to the scourge of Western cities,
the pockets of youth-centered urban drug cultures.
However, the opportunities for progression
through school and into university study have
increased at a faster rate than have populations. A
small but significant proportion of students go
abroad to the United States and Canada, the
United Kingdom, and Australia to attend university
and acquire the skills they hope will ensure
them a place in the global knowledge economy.
The Chinese and Korean governments have led the