ABSTRACT
The Asian financial crisis intervened and brought a transformation of the Indonesian economy. The selection criterion for the Chinese cities is related to the several competitiveness rankings used for the other Asian cities, but is somewhat different as there were so many Chinese cities that improved between the several ranking periods. The National Capital Region is situated in one of 17 independent cities in the region, of about 13 million residents, and is the seat of the national government, and many of its agencies and departments. The cities, including Shenzhen and Chengdu, were enabled to introduce technology parks, infrastructure, industrial districts, and so forth, with fiscal transfers from the central government. The topographical location and configuration of cities such as Bangkok, Jakarta, and Manila make them prone to flooding, typhoons, subsidence, and limitations on expansion of the urban space.
