Toward a Critical Understanding of the Roles of Planning in the Age of Globalization : A Literature Review on Globalization and Planning Responses

摘要

'Globalization' was not recognized as a significant concept in academic circles until the early or even mid-1980s. Today, scholars and professionals of various disciplines find it imperative to discuss globalization. For planning scholars and practitioners, globalization is also a critical issue because an increasing number of cities and regions have come to be affected by global forces, actors, and movements ever more directly. This paper examines a wide range of the theoretical discussions on globalization in the first chapter and explores its implications on planning and prospective planning responses in the second chapter. The paper focuses on six perspectives adopted by the major theoretical literature on globalization. They include historical, economic, cultural, flow, ideological, and spatial perspectives. Based on the wide range of theoretical approaches to globalization, the paper examines the literature on planning that considers globalization as a threat and opportunities for urban and regional planning. This review categorizes major theoretical approaches into the world-system approach, the locally oriented approach, and the protection approach, and it examines the limitations and potentials of planning in the face of globalization that can be understood from these six perspectives. The first approach aims to promote the linkage of localities with the global market to enhance economic competitiveness based on a laissez-faire capitalistic scheme. The second aims to strengthen local capacity for increasing employment and quality of life through local and global networks. The third aims to protect local life and economic spaces and resources from global forces. In the face of the complicated and multidimensional nature of globalization issues, it is necessary for planners to develop a theoretical foundation for globalization and to enhance the resilience of civil society when it is challenged by global changes and forces.