Interaction between islands and special economic zones: Spatial processes of containment and exclusion

Abstract

Despite considerable research into special economic zones (SEZs) and Island Studies, islands and SEZs are rarely considered together. Islands and SEZs are, however, closely associated, in part due to the attractiveness of island characteristics (remoteness, boundedness, isolation) for exclusive economic processes. Many prominent SEZs are located on small islands, and many island economies function similarly to SEZs. Defining SEZs as ‘bounded spaces of economic and regulatory exception’, this paper considers deregulated industrial zones and exclusively branded smart cities and eco‐cities, as well as island SEZs designed for external benefit and for local benefit. The study shows that spatial processes of containment and exclusion are supported by islands and are especially useful for crafting SEZs, which may specialise in industries such as financial services, manufacturing, gaming, port services and high‐end tourism. Nevertheless, SEZ processes often create negative social, economic and environmental impacts. Island SEZs developed for external interest often seek to contain harm within islands or to exclude unfavourable factors, resulting in a spatial mismatch of harms and benefits. Island SEZs developed for local interest struggle to externalise harms, creating problems for island populations. The paper argues for the value of understanding islands and SEZs together, without exceptionalising them.

Assessing the social risks of flooding for coastal societies: a case study for Prince Edward Island, Canada

“…Different from the SVI analyses in mainland areas, in which socioeconomic factors and population aging used to have the highest weightage (Török 2018, Kirby et al 2019, Wu 2021, our result shows a relatively more equal impact of each domain, such as demographic, society, culture, economy and infrastructure. This may reflect that the economic structure of island usually has less complexity with limited specialized industries (Grydehøj and Su 2023). Meanwhile, as the urban agglomeration in PEI hasn't facilitated a higher resilience of those highly vulnerable cities and towns, it reveals that the support of social security in these areas has the potential lack compared to the other smaller towns and rural areas.…”