THE INFORMATION INDUSTRY,MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS AND URBANISATION IN THE ASIAN PACIFIC COUNTRIES: A RESEARCH AGENDA

The production of information has been accepted as a new economic factor for urbanisation, particularly in the industrialised world. It creates new urban employment opportunities, changes urban spatial patterns, transforms demographic structures and social patterns. This ‘new’ production activity has been introduced into the Asian Pacific region — often by multinational corporations — and now begins to make its presence felt in major cities. This paper investigates the nature of the information industry in general, the role of multinational corporations and attempts to understand especially the effects of international information demand on Third World urbanisation. More specifically, it attempts to assess their relationship to urbanisation in the Asian Pacific countries. Lastly, it hopes to formulate areas and issues for further research.