Gendering transnational communities: a comparison of Singaporean and British migrants in China

Studies of transnational communities and transnational labour migration have focused almost exclusively on the movement of low-skilled and unskilled workers across international boundaries. While these groups may be numerically dominant, it must be recognised that there are increasing numbers of managers and professionals engaged in work-related migration in association with the intensification of economic globalisation processes. Work which has been conducted on highly skilled migrants has largely been limited to examinations of intra-firm mobility and the workspace. This approach fails to consider the ways in which the migrants' experiences are embedded in the social, economic and political practices of the host country, but also in a specific household context. It is unsurprising, therefore, that the gendered dimensions of the life of these migrants and their accompanying family members has been somewhat under-researched.Flows of expatriates can lead to the constitution of both ‘communities of transnationals', as particular cities become foci of the activities of the ‘transnational capitalist class', as well as ‘transnational communities' which involve regular and sustained contact between individuals across national boundaries. In this paper we examine these social formations using two groups of migrants––British and Singaporean migrants to China (both mainland China and the Hong Kong SAR). We focus on the gender characteristics of these groupings, but also the gender division of labour in the creation and maintenance of these ‘communities'. The paper is based on qualitative research carried out in China, Singapore and the UK 1997–2001.     

Transnational elites in global cities: British expatriates in Singapore's financial district

Skilled international migration is as an important process of both contemporary globalization and the global city. The establishment of a transnational elite of expatriate labour in international finance plays a vital part in the accumulation of capital within international financial centres (IFCs). Expatriate labour has become a major determinant of the IFC, creating financial capital through complex social relations, knowledge networks, practices and discourses. The principal argument being made in this paper is that expatriates are major agents in the accumulation and transfer of financial knowledge in the IFC, and that such processes are undertaken through expatriate global–local knowledge networks and other social practices. The paper is divided into three major parts. Following a discussion of transnational elites as expatriates in global cities, which also conceptualises their contribution to the spatialization of financial knowledge networks, the empirical study investigates the working, social and cultural knowledge networks and practices of British expatriates in Singapore. Finally, the paper revisits the conceptual work on transnational elites and suggests that expatriates were deeply embedded in global–local relations in the workplace and the business/social sphere through interaction with local ‘western educated/experienced' Singaporeans, but were disembedded from the local in the home and other household social spaces due to the invisibility of the local population in their interactions. Both the theoretical and empirical analyses suggests that expatriates are flow in the Castellian spatial logic of the network society.     

The Asia-Pacific Rim's transport and telecommunications systems: spatial structure and corporate control since the mid-1980s

There is a need to move from discussing the Asia-Pacific Rim's leading port cities as shipping centres measured by container throughput. This shift in focus involves examining how different transport and telecommunications systems are interacting with each other at an international scale under the power and control of major world operators. Using a three-level network framework an attempt is made to illustrate and explain the formation of multilayered trade/communications corridors and hubs/headquarters in the Asia-Pacific Rim since the mid-1980s and to identify the factors affecting them. From this examination of spatial structure and corporate control three levels of cities in the Asia-Pacific Rim are recognised: first level cities with strong corporate representation in container shipping, air cargo, air passenger and telecommunications; second level cities with marked corporate representation in one but not all four modes; and third level cities with no marked corporate representation in any mode but with strong throughput. The third level includes the Asia-Pacific Rim's ‘true’ port cities. Perhaps the ambiguous category ‘port city’ should be reserved for them. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Skilled migration in global cities from `Other' perspectives: British Arabs, identity politics, and local embededdness

Migration scholars increasingly have turned their attention to skilled migration, focusing, in particular, on the transfer of professionals within and between transnational corporations. Recent efforts have been made to bring a `cultural' analysis to this phenomenon, including greater scrutiny of the corporate cultures and social networks in which skilled migrants are embedded. This research has emphasised the importance of locality even among these most footloose and transnational of migrants. But despite these complex views of skilled migration, analyses have generated a somewhat limited conception of `skilled migrants' as managerial elites disengaged from local life. This paper examines skilled migration from a different perspective. First, using the case of Arab immigrants in London, this paper highlights the complicated nature of migration trajectories and reveals the diversity of patterns and experiences within the category of skilled migrant. Second, focusing on responses from female study participants, this paper examines the ways in which skilled migrants, rather than disengaging themselves from the host society context, may participate in the local politics of multiculturalism and integration.     

Caribbean skilled international migration and the transnational household

The increased proportion of skilled workers in the total number of Caribbean international migrants since the mid-1960s has been the cause of much concern by governments of Caribbean countries. It has been interpreted as a loss in human resources with detrimental implications for development. This paper briefly outlines the occupational profile of Caribbean migrants and raises questions concerning the extent to which migrant outflow represents absolute loss. The argument is advanced that the traditional conceptualization of migration as displacement is largely responsible for the assumptions made. It oversimplifies the process to present a set of sources and destinations, ignoring the interactions accompanied by significant counterflows of people, ideas, influence, capital and goods. It is argued that circulation is not confined to commuter-type mobility but in the Caribbean it is also a feature of long-stay migration and the establishment of what are effectively transnational households. Though the characteristics and spatial behaviour of the household vary with the specific migration type, the transnational household provides a more appropriate model for analysing Caribbean migration and its implications than does the model based on migration as displacement.     

Identifying China’s leading world city: a network approach

This paper reports our research on China’s world cities. Formal network analysis of air passenger linkages for recent years among China’s most populous cities and among many of the world’s largest cities allows us to identify the country’s leading world city from among the leading Mainland candidates, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. We theorize our findings about China’s world cities in relation to both global forces (and China’s increasing entanglement with them) and the policies and actions of the national state. We examine the national and global urban network through a longitudinal, two-level analysis of airline passenger travel for four time points between about 1990 and 2005. We show that Beijing was China’s leading world city at the beginning of the time period, a status it lost nationally in as early as 1995, and then globally 10 years later. On the other hand Shanghai became China’s leading world city, and it acquired this status first nationally in 2000, and then globally in 2005. The changing status of the Chinese capital corresponds to the country’s increasing involvement with the capitalist world economy. Shanghai’s ascendance as the leading world city in China may indicate that global forces have come to play an increasingly important role relative to that of the developmental state.

World cities and territorial states under conditions of contemporary globalization II: Looking forward, looking ahead

The influence of globalization on the future study of political geography is investigated through research on world cities. It is argued that political geography, like most social science, has been excessively state-centric in its organisation and that this will not help in understanding new transnational processes within contemporary globalization. Study of the state should not be abandoned, of course, but it must be set in a new context where much politics takes place beyond the state. This is illustrated through using the world city network as an alternative spatial framework to the world political map. The political geography of the twenty first century will have to incorporate traditional concern for political areas with new concerns for power networks in more subtle geographies than heretofore.     

Changing poverty distribution in Bolivia: the role of rural–urban migration and urban services

Bolivia is a country with high levels of poverty and inequality among its peoples and regions. For the nation and its urban and rural areas, trends in the social and spatial distribution of poverty (and extreme poverty) are identified from 1976 to 2003 using UBN data with minor support where appropriate from poverty lines. The main survey between 1992 and 2001 uses composite and selected UBN to track detailed poverty change for the country’s nine departments, its ten largest cities and a selection of other smaller urban and rural municipalities. Because of rising background increases in population in the various surveyed administrative units, many instances of relative reductions in poverty are accompanied by rising absolute increases. Marked spatial variations in poverty and development in the country over the last several decades are identified as the main driver for the country’s quickening pace of rural–urban migration. As a result, the paper concludes by assessing two different but closely related views. One investigation tests the notion that because more poor people have been living in Bolivia’s cities than in its rural areas since the mid to late 1990s, rapid rural–urban migration has simply shifted the locus of poverty from the countryside to the cities in a process called, the ‘urbanisation of poverty.’ A second, more challenging, investigation assesses the view that the flow of poor rural people to the better serviced urban areas of Bolivia has actually acted to alleviate national poverty levels.     

The binational cities of Dover and Calais and their region

This paper analyses the question of cities that are localised at each part of an international border. We take as an example the two cities of Dover and Calais and look at if they can be considered as binational cities, because they have been recently connected by a tunnel, the ‘fixed link’, and because since 1993, the inner state borders of the European Union have disappeared. It determines firstly if these two towns have been brought closer by the construction of the Channel tunnel and if specific ties are linking these two towns. The article scrutinizes actions taken under INTERREG funds under the general framework of the creation of the ‘Transmanche Region’ and its extension towards a Euroregion to sort out these two cities joint involvement. Finally, it checks if this new area could lead to cross-border activity either for work or tourism and leisure purposes that could conduct the cities of Dover and Calais toward a new type of relationship, premises of a binational city. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The daily travel of villagers to the city in a case study of Northern Iran

Rural urban migration can often result in decreased agricultural output in countries with scarce land resources. It also can hasten the socio-economic problems associated with the overcrowded cities of the developing world. As only 10% of Iran is arable it is particularly vulnerable to threats to food security and self-sufficiency. This paper examines the daily flow of villagers to a major city near the vital staple crop producing rural district of Lakan, where out-migration is already occurring. Although most discussions of daily travel to cities is typically relegated to commuting, this paper aims to analyze travel for the purpose of access to a variety of facilities and services that villages in the rural district of Lakan lack including secondary schools, post offices, banks, and even telephones and newspaper stands. The paper emphasizes that daily journeys make permanent moves to the city more likely because of the major inconvenience that results from the scarcity of basic facilities within Lakan villages. Travel to a distant city for staple foods at grocery stores or for access to secondary schools, for example, could intensify future out-migration because the heavy inconvenience of constant travel might eventually outweigh the benefits of maintaining residency in villages. The paper utilizes information about daily travel to Rasht to recommend various government construction projects and initiatives to improve the quality of life for villagers and avert future rural–urban migration and the reduction in staple crop production that might result.     

Globalisation, information technology and the emergence of niche transnational cities: the growth of the call centre sector in Dublin

The development of information and communications technologies (ICT) has facilitated the emergence of a complex global urban system in which many formerly lower-order cities have been carving out “niche” specialist functions serving urban fields of transnational dimension. This is illustrated in the case of Dublin, which in recent years has been transcending its traditional role as Ireland’s national metropolis through the development of a range of functions servicing mainly European markets. One such function comprises pan-European telephone call centre operations. The development and characteristics of this newly-emerging sector are described. It is argued that the growth of the sector confirms Dublin’s — and Ireland’s — dependent position in the international division of labour, and that its long-term sustainability is open to question.     

“Racism in a Melting Pot…?” Trinidadian mid-life transnational migrants’ views on race and colour-class on return to their homes of descent

This paper deals with second-generation, one-and-a-half generation and “prolonged sojourner” Trinidadian transnational migrants, who have decided to ‘return’ to the birthplace of their parents. Based on 40 in-depth interviews, the paper considers both the positive and critical things that these youthful transnational migrants report about returning to, and living in, this multi-ethnic plural society and the salience of racial and colour-class stratification as part of their return migration experiences. Our qualitative analysis is based on the narratives provided by these youthful returnees, as relayed “in their own words”, presenting critical reflections on racism, racial identities and experiences as transnational Trinidadians. It is clear that it is contexts such as contemporary working environments, family and community that act as the reference points for the adaptation “back home” of this strongly middle-class cohort. We accordingly encounter a diverse, sometimes contesting set of racial issues that emerge as salient concerns for these returnees. The consensus is that matters racial remain as formidable legacies in the hierarchical stratification of Trinidadian society for a sizeable number. Many of our respondents reported the positive aspects of racial affirmation on return. But for another sub-set, the fact that multi-ethnic and multi-cultural mixing are proudly embraced in Trinidad meant that it was felt that return experiences were not overly hindered, or blighted by obstacles of race and colour-class. For these returnees, Trinidad and Tobago is seen as representing a 21st century “Melting Pot”. But for others the continued existence of racial divisions within society - between ethnic groups and among those of different skin shades - was lamented. In the views of these respondents, too much racial power is still ascribed to ‘near-whiteness’. But for the most part, the returnees felt that where race played a part in their new lives, this generally served to advantage them. However, although the situation in Trinidad appears to have been moderated by assumptions that it remains a racial ‘Melting Pot’, the analysis strongly suggests that the colour-class system of stratification is still playing an essential role, along with racial stereotyping in society at large.     

国际城市地下空间开发利用现状、趋势与启示

城市地下空间开发是缓解“城市病”、实现城市可持续发展的重要举措。欧美等发达国家和地区已经积累了丰富的城市地下空间开发的经验和教训。通过调研国际上一些主要城市的地下空间开发利用状况,剖析了当前国际城市地下空间开发的现状、问题及发展趋势,以指导我国城市地下空间开发。目前,国际城市地下空间开发形成了以缓解城市交通拥堵、扩大城市生存空间、建立集约型城市、构建舒适宜居城市环境为导向的开发模式,并以建设绿色、智慧的立体化城市为未来的发展趋势。我国应在充分吸收和学习国际上城市地下空间开发的经验和教训基础上,结合自身城市特点,高质量开发城市地下空间。     

Transition stages from a traditional city to an industrial city (Social and cultural environment of Tehran)

Some of Iran’s cities, specially Tehran that is the capital city of Iran have faced sudden changes of industrialization due to political, economic and ecological considerations. There is no doubt that it is not possible to conduct a thorough investigation of the cultural structures of these cities by theoretical models and they shall be evaluated in comparative and combinational terms. Because of the consideration mentioned above, different ethnicities and groups from different cultural backgrounds have been attracted to these cities and subcultures are highly influential in socialization, acculturation, solidarity, and integration of the individuals in the society. Although, one of the problems of the industrial cities all over the world, including Tehran is migration (from towns and villages), inflexible solutions and approaches to the migration problem are not logical. In addition, recourse to the weakness of the villages and attractions of the capital can not solve the problem (as shown by the author’s experience). Therefore, it seems that creating occupational opportunities in villages and towns is one of the practical and useful ways for the survival of small towns and reduction of the migration to big cities, including Tehran.     

Amenity migration: diverse conceptualizations of drivers,socioeconomic dimensions,and emerging challenges

Rural communities throughout the postindustrial world are in the midst of a significant transition, sometimes referred to as rural restructuring, as traditional land uses, economic activities, and social arrangements transition to those associated with “post-productivist” or “multifunctional” landscapes. Amenity migration, the movement of people based on the draw of natural and/or cultural amenities, can be thought of as both driver and implication of this transition, resulting in significant changes in the ownership, use, and governance of rural lands, as well as in the composition and socioeconomic dynamics of rural communities. In concert with other social, economic and political processes, amenity migration is contributing to the fundamental transformation of rural communities throughout the world. This paper presents a review of the social science literature related to the concept of amenity migration, focusing on the ways in which it has been conceptualized, theorized, and documented by different communities of scholars. We then profile and summarize diverse perspectives on drivers and socioeconomic impacts, highlighting emerging challenges and opportunities related to this type of migration occurring at multiple scales and in multiple sites. The paper also identifies and discusses particular areas where further research is needed.     

Transnational ties and intra-immigrant group settlement experiences: A case study of Indian Bengalis and Bangladeshis in Toronto

Transnational theories have established that, after migrating to a new country, migrants often maintain their pre-existing social, economic, and political ties to their home country. The extent to which however, transnational institutional and social connections may affect the residential location and housing experiences of immigrant and refugee groups, and why and how these experiences differ within broadly defined immigrant groups such as the ‘South Asians’ remains unexplored. Building on transnational theory and previous research on the housing trajectories of new Canadians, this paper examines the housing experiences of two recently arrived ‘South Asian’ subgroups in Toronto–Indian Bengalis and Bangladeshis. By highlighting important intra-immigrant group differences, the study reveals how diverse transnational ties affect their neighbourhood choice and the type, tenure, and quality of housing when they first arrived in Toronto.     

From brain drain to brain gain: reverse migration to Bangalore and Hyderabad, India’s globalizing high tech cities

This paper assesses the mutual impact of returning Indian-origin skilled workers on the cities of Bangalore (Bengaluru) and Hyderabad, which have emerged as India’s leading “tech cities”. During the 1970s and 1980s, there was concern that India was losing its educated workforce to the West, particularly to the United States through a phenomenon known as “brain drain”. More recently, there is evidence that reverse brain drain is occurring, as U.S.-trained Indian professionals are returning to their home country in increasing numbers to take advantage of new growth and employment opportunities. The effects of this skilled, transnationally active labor force on various sectors of the economy, on the social and physical infrastructure of Bangalore and Hyderabad and in forging and solidifying transnational linkages between India and the United States are explored in this paper. This study also investigates the reasons why successful US professionals of Asian-Indian origin are returning to their home country via a series of personal interviews. The paper offers Bangalore and Hyderabad as “worldwide leading cities” with a niche status in the global Information Technology (IT) sector.     

The middle space of migration: A case study on brokerage and recruitment agencies in Nepal

Foreign employment has become a global phenomenon. With the increasing commercialisation and formalisation of transnational labour migration, recruitment agencies and agents have gained importance. The paper aims to contribute to a more differentiated understanding of the role and the practices of the main actors in the middle space of migration, the brokers in the recruitment process for transnational migration. Based on empirical material from Nepal, it argues that the detected negative reputation of labour brokers is only partially justified. Besides common bad practices and fraud cases, recruiters perform important roles for the facilitation of transnational mobility and present the necessary infrastructure for labour migration. They connect people and places, establish networks and can play an important role in making migration safer. Brokers are important facilitators in supporting alternative income strategies and new livelihood options of people. At the same time they are entrepreneurs in a competitive and risky economic field, confronted with multifaceted constraints. As long as the gap between the dreams of potential migrants and the reality of marginality in Nepal remains wide, labour brokers might persist as important middlemen for global work. Thus, migration brokerage is likely to remain big business.     

International students’ post-graduation migration plans and the search for home

Research on international student’s post migration plans treats migration as a binary stay-return category and focuses on push-pull factors as the cause of this migration. In this paper we expand the definition of migration and consider the role of life experiences and aspirations, particularly the concept of home. We ask, what are the different conceptualizations of home and how are these tied to differential migratory plans? We analyze data from 232 interviews with international students from more than 50 countries who attended a flagship public university in Canada from 2006–2013.We find that students have four ways of thinking about home: as host, as ancestral, as cosmopolitan, and as nebulous. These understandings of home correspond to particular post-migration plans. While students who view home as a host plan to stay, and those who view home as ancestral plan to return, those with cosmopolitan and nebulous conceptions of home have more open migration plans.     

Skilled migration and cumulative disadvantage: the case of highly qualified Asian Indian immigrant women in the US

The research on skilled international migration focuses primarily on the experiences of male migrants. Little work has been done on female migrants, especially those who migrated as dependents of highly skilled males. This paper presents some data on Asian Indian women in the US, and argues that these women suffer from cumulative disadvantage. The paper emphasizes that it is necessary to adopt a complex model involving the interaction of gendered/racialised immigration laws, workplace and household experiences in order to understand the experiences of these women.