International dependence and urbanization in East Asia: Implications for planning

Abstract

In recent years the political economy of the world-system approach to macrostructural change has asserted itself as a dominant paradigm in the sociology of development. Increasingly, comparative urban researchers have pointed to the linkages between the growth of Third World cities and the role these places play in the changing international system. This article begins by summarizing the major elements of this perspective on "dependent urbanization." Then the urban experiences of the less-developed nations of East Asia are interpreted using this approach. This analysis leads into a discussion that centers on the main objective of the article, which is to tie the dependency/world-system perspective to policy-making and planning. How can this research contribute to debates about practical problems and suggest realistic, implementable solutions? The article concludes with some general comments about the relationship between theoretical analysis, planning, and action directed at bringing about social change.

Lessons of global neo‐liberalism? The East Asian economic crisis reconsidered

“…My own work has long pointed to the ways that the region's position in the contemporary world-system constrained and limited East Asian economic development (Smith 1985;Smith and Lee 1990;Smith 1996;Smith 1997). And I emphasized the extent to which this global political economy perspective highlights both the external constraints of the world context and the internal ones of national class structure and political economy.…”