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The Nomura Research Institute's study was insightful, though it was biased towards information from Japan and ignored agglomerations (e.g. Osaka and Kobe were considered separately). In 1991, an attempt was made by the author to update the material for world cities preliminary to investigating flows of goods, people, information, and capital between them. This provided additional insights into infrastructure but was inconclusive about the fortunes of individual cities. There is little doubt that Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo had maintained their first-ranking status. Evidence of Manila's reduced status and Bangkok's claim for upgrading to the topmost ranking could not be substantiated. Although Osaka and Taipei should have had little trouble in maintaining their second-ranked status, improved showings from Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta were not apparent. As is evident from table 3.4, there were few grounds on which Beijing and Shanghai could be classed as international cities in 1991. It is difficult, however, to draw authoritative conclusions from these data. An analysis is required of changes in flows of goods, people, and information over time - a need that comes up against the barrier of data availability.

Table 3.3 Classification of Pacific Asian cities, 1982

Source: NSK (1982).
Abbreviations: JAK - Jakarta; SIN - Singapore; KUL - Kuala Lumpur; BKK - Bangkok; MNL - Manila; TPE - Taipei; HKG - Hong Kong; SHA - Shanghai; BJS - Beijing; OSA - Osaka; TKO - Tokyo; and SEL - Seoul.

Evaluation: 1 = Super-integrated international city; 2 = Highly integrated international city; 3 = International city; 4 = Unranked.

Table 3.4 Classification of Pacific Asian cities, 1991

Sources: Besser (1991); Fortune, 30 July 1990; EPL (1989); M (1992); UIA (1989).
Abbreviations: JAK - Jakarta; SIN - Singapore; KUL - Kuala Lumpur; BKK - Bangkok; MNL - Manila; TPE - Taipei; HKG - Hong Kong; SHA - Shanghai; BJS - Beijing; OSA - Osaka; TKO - Tokyo; and SEL - Seoul.
a. Figures refer to both Osaka and Tokyo.

Table 3.5 Checklist of transactions between emerging world cities in Pacific Asia

Data availability

An ambitious list of items was earmarked for investigation comprising goods and commercial transactions, movement of people, and information and capital flows (see table 3.5). If dynamic changes in international linkages and interactions between Pacific Asian world cities are to be traced, however, the minimum requirement is to obtain dyadic data for at least two points in time. A major problem is the availability of appropriate statistics. Most dyadic data are not for world cities but for coarse areas (supra-regions or countries). For example, the tourism statistics for Pacific Asia are available only by country (WTO, 1990). The problem is complicated by some economies collecting statistics by country of residence. They include Malaysia and Hong Kong (table 3.6). Other countries record statistics only by nationality, notably China, Japan, and South Korea (table 3.7). Yet Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore supply statistics by both country of residence and nationality. No figures are provided for Taiwan by either country of residence or nationality, though they do exist (ROC, 1990a,b,c). These complications preclude effective use of annual tourism statistics, though some provide breakdowns by mode (air, sea, and road). Others supply information on tourist motivations (business, holidays, and visits to friends and relatives).

Table 3.6 Tourists from abroad within Pacific Asia by country of residence, 1988 ('000)

Source: WTO (1990).
Abbreviations: Ind - Indonesia; Sin - Singapore; Mal - Malaysia; Thai - Thailand; Phil -Philippines; Taiw - Taiwan; HK - Hong Kong; Chin - China; Jpn - Japan; Kor - South Korea.

Table 3.7 Tourists from abroad within Pacific Asia by nationality, 1988 ('000)

Source: WTO (1990).
Abbreviation: Ind - Indonesia; Sin - Singapore; Mal - Malaysia; Thai - Thailand; Phil -Philippines; Taiw - Taiwan; HK - Hong Kong; Chin - China; Jpn - Japan; Kor - South Korea.

Similar problems occur with statistics on overseas students (table 3.8). Data are available for Singapore, the Philippines, China, Japan, and Korea for the period 1985-1988 (UNESCO, 1991). There is no information for Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, and Hong Kong as hosts. Moreover, in 1988, the China data are actually those for 1983 and the Singapore data are for 1987. These problems seemed insuperable and the ambitious list of items was narrowed to a consideration of transport and communication flows.

Table 3.8 Foreign students by country of origin, 1988

Source: UNESCO (1991).

Abbreviations: Ind - Indonesia; Sin - Singapore; Mal - Malaysia; Thai - Thailand; Phil - Philippines; Taiw -Taiwan; HK - Hong Kong; Chin - China; Jpn - Japan; and Kor - South Korea.
a. Singapore data are for 1987.
b. China data are for 1983.

This decision was supported by city-pair data being available for air freight, air passenger, and air mail within Pacific Asia. Even then problems still remain because no corresponding regional figures for seaports and telecommunications exist. Consequently, some heroic assumptions have to be made about world cities dominating national spatial economies. Although this may be an acceptable proposition for many world cities (e.g. 90 per cent of Thailand's exports originate in Bangkok), it does not hold true for Beijing and Shanghai in China, and Osaka and Tokyo in Japan. On occasions, therefore, recourse is made to data-rich countries (e.g. Japan) and cities (e.g. Hong Kong) to provide case-study material. As data availability determines the depth to which international linkages and connections between Pacific Asian world cities can be studied, there is a more detailed preamble to information sources in examining international freight and mail, passengers, and telecommunications.

International freight and mail

Discussions of goods and commercial transactions have to be focused on trade figures. Preparatory to any discussion of international freight, the key features of Pacific Asia's intraregional trade have to be examined. With the exception of the city-states of Hong Kong and Singapore, trade statistics are provided only for countries. Statistics derived from the Australian National University's International Economic Data Bank are available between 1978 and 1990 (though those for 1990 are estimates). In discussing the key trends, interest is centred on 1983 - a year reflecting recovery from a worldwide recession - and 1989 - the most recent year for which a full set of data is available.

In 1983, Japan was the pivot of Pacific Asia's trading system (table 3.9). It enjoyed favourable trading relations with all Pacific Asian countries. The other feature was the key role played by the traditional entrepôts of Hong Kong and Singapore - the former as the de facto economic capital of China and the latter as the hub for South-East Asia, particularly for Indonesia and Malaysia. Although they had no trade with China, both Korea and Taiwan had strong but dependent relations with Japan.

By 1989, there had been a marked shift in the value of Pacific Asia's trade owing to East Asia's share increasing from almost 62 per cent in 1983 to over 76 per cent in 1989 (table 3.10). Japan had maintained its pivotal position, holding surpluses with all economies except Indonesia. There were, however, marked gains in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and, to a lesser extent, China and Korea. With the exception of Thailand, all economies in South-East Asia experienced a relative loss as the sub-region's share of Pacific Asia trade declined from 38 per cent in 1983 to 24 per cent in 1989. How have these changes affected the fortunes of individual world cities? A useful starting point is to examine container movements because they are most likely to reflect the shifts in trade.

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