Spatial Disparities in Developing East Asia: a survey

Intra-country regional disparities and centre-region relations are important issues in developing East Asian countries. Most governments are experimenting with decentralisation initiatives, some of which are quite radical. There is disaffection towards centralised capital city control in several countries, most notably in Indonesia, where the possibility of further territorial fragmentation cannot be discounted. Rapid economic growth is inevitably uneven in its sub-national impacts. Some regions—usually those with better connections to the international economy—grow faster than others. In the wake of the 1997/98 economic crisis, fiscally constrained governments find it increasingly difficult to finance fiscal equalisation mechanisms and other measures designed to assist poor regions. Paradoxically, as international boundaries become increasingly porous and blurred, regional identities and aspirations are more sharply defined.