This study examines the production of a new regional space known as the Growth
Triangle. The Growth Triangle represents a (re)integration of the economies of Singapore,
the Riau Archipelago in Indonesia and Johor State in Malaysia. It is argued that the
Growth Triangle should be seen as an ‘open region.’ The open region is affected by a wide
range of ‘external’ influences and is open to shifting representations which are important to
its unfolding. The study takes on the interpretation of the open region through a
consideration of the unstable and amorphous realm of ‘middle space.’
Middle space is manifold. It includes: 1) the middle spaces between the global and
the local; 2) the middle spaces between conceptual divisions (e.g., urban/rural and
labour/capital); and 3) the middle spaces of circulation (i.e., connections between
individuals, firms and places). The triangulation of these three arenas provides a heuristic
device for the examination of the changes sweeping the Growth Triangle.
The analysis moves from a time when the region’s global niche was based on the
movement of goods to more recent developments where-in the movement of information and
capital are crucial. The global flows of information and capital are the ‘winds’ of the title.
The region, and various ways of conceptualizing it, are the ‘shadows.’
The main fmdings are that: 1) global change must be seen in terms of local roots and
consequences; 2) local differentiation and the representation of difference are increasingly
important, even in the frame of globalization; 3) analytic strength may be gained by dulling
the edges of interpretive constructs (such as information or labour); 4) there are strong
connections between the circulation of goods, people, money and information (spatial interaction) and the generation of new and distinct geographies (areal differentiation); and 5)
there are strong linkages between Singapore’s shift towards advanced world city functions
(‘intensive globalization’) and the mega-urbanization of the near-by international hinterlands
(‘extensive globalization’). To understand each of the three corners of the Growth Triangle
one must engage Singapore as a World City and as an Open Region. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/8693 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | MacLeod, Scott Alexander |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 20823203 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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