Pacific Asia - from Burma to Papua New Guinea to Japan - is the most dynamic and productive region in the developing world, the result of an economic explosion fuelled by industrial activity. This is where the Green Revolution began, where more women are employed in factory work than anywhere alse; the region is also the most predominately socialist in the Third World. David W. Smith assesses Pacific Asia both in terms of its historical development and the present global system, placing general development issues in their local contexts. The book will be an invaluable introduction to the region.

    1. Introduction: The Regional Character 2. An Historical Geography of Pacific Asia 3. Physical and Human Resource Management: Malaysia and Papua New Guinea 4. Rural and Regional Development: Thailand, South Korea and Vietnam 5. Population Growth and Mobility: Indonesia 6. Ethnic Plurality and Development in Malaysia 7. Industrialization and the Four Little Tigers 8. Urbanization and Urban Planning in Hong Kong 9. Gender and Development in Taiwan

    Biography

    David W. Drakakis-Smith

    `Professor Smith has produced a concise and well-ordered textbook, which covers a wide range of development issues in the region by a clever use of case studies ... not here the unalloyed success stories of economic growth records, but rather a sharp focus on looking far behind and underneath the very real problems accentuated or caused by that very commitment to growth, often at all costs.' - Asian Affairs

    `The most fascinating features of the volume...are found in a good number of the really interesting, detailed sample studies, often small vignettes, focusing on, for instance, the occupations of village migrants in the urban areas of West Java or the solutions to the transport problems of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur ... most welcome and valuable.' - Geography

    `Pacific Asia is an attractive book and highly recommended for self-study as a quick introduction and a case study of concrete illustrations of development problems.' - Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie