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Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society Advance Access published online on June 19, 2008
Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, doi:10.1093/cjres/rsn008
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Globalization and the rise of mega-cities in the developing world

Frederick van der Ploega and Steven Poelhekkeb

a Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, Manor Road Building, Oxford, OX1 3UQ, UK and University of Amsterdam, Roetersstraat 11, 1018 WB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. rick.vanderploeg{at}economics.ox.ac.uk
b European University Institute, Badia Fiesolana, Via dei Roccettini 9, I-50014 San Domenico di Fiesole, Florence, Italy and De Nederlandsche Bank, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. steven.poelhekke{at}eui.eu


  Abstract

Thomas Friedman has argued in The World Is Flat that those who deny rapid globalization will not survive in the global economy. First, we critically discuss Friedman's views and highlight the new globalization driven by outsourcing and vertical specialization. Second, we argue that Friedman pays insufficient attention to the spectacular growth of mega-cities in the developing world. The world is not flat, and the developing world certainly is not. Still, mega-cities tend to become too big. Their growth also goes hand in hand with formation of slums and congestion. We thus argue that there is a role for public policies.

Keywords: globalization, unbundling, offshoring, mega-cities, congestion, public policies

Received on November 1, 2007. Accepted on March 7, 2008.

The World is Not Flat

JEL codes: F01, H40, O10, R10


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