Postindustrial East Asian Cities: Innovation for Growth

Throughout East Asia, the growth process and its sources are changing in a number of important respects, especially for middle and higher income economies. Growth will increasingly come from the strength of innovative activities in these economies instead of factor accumulation as in the past. Such innovative activities, especially in producer services and the creative industries are concentrated in high-tech clusters in globally-linked cities. The development of such cities is influenced by ongoing structural changes and initiatives by governments and firms. A successful transition from export-oriented manufacturing to a service economy that is competitive and integrated with the global systems, will involve a reshaping of the urban landscape so that providers of business services and the creative industries perceive it to be value augmenting for their purposes and a basis for competitive advantage. The Creative Metropolis in East Asia explores these issues by drawing on a wide literature and interviews of firms and suggests how policies and institutions can induce and furnish an urban environment that supports innovative activities with a focus on four cities in East Asia: Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo. This title provides researchers, students, urban planners, urban geographers, and policymakers interested in East Asia as well as other middle income countries with an in depth review and analysis of the role of high-tech manufacturing, creative industries and business services in urban economic growth.