ABSTRACT
Since the 1970s high-tech space developments, such as technology parks, science parks, science cities, technopolises, high-tech corridors and high-tech regions, have become a global phenomenon. The long-standing tensions between the Taiwanese national government and the local governments in Hsinchu city-region resulting from the large externalities generated by the Hsinchu Science Park (HSP) development highlight this critical governance issue. This chapter examines a set of critical concepts in relation to high-tech development and the territorial politics. The chapter reviews the development of Hsinchu cityregion in the past three decades and the tensions between the national state and the local governments upon the issues of collective provision, along with the rapid growth of HSP. The term the territorial structure of the state refers to the relations between the state and territory. An increasing socio-economic polarisation, triggered by the HSP development, has been recognised since the end of 1990s.
