19 - Corridors and Cities: Connectivity or Integration Process in Southeast Asia?

Summary

INTRODUCTION: COMPARISON OF TRANSNATIONAL STRUCTURES EMERGING IN THE GREATER MEKONG REGION AND THE MALACCA STRAITS

In conclusion to this work, before undertaking the comparison of transnational integrations in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) and the Malacca Straits (triangular cooperation between Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand and Singapore, Johor and Riau, respectively referred to as IMT-GT and SIJORI), it is worthwhile remembering the basic elements justifying the comparison of the regions chosen by the Transiter programme (Transnational Dynamics and Territorial Changes.

The first basic element in the comparison of these two emerging integrations in the context of regionalization as part of the process of globalization, concerns their location at the crossroads between major North-South and East-West international and subregional trade routes. Southeast Asia is at the junction not only between Northeast Asia and South Asia on the world container route, but also between its two components: continental for the Greater Mekong Subregion and maritime for the Malacca Straits.

These regions, located at the crossroads of world and subregional traffic, also share spatial profiles with a north-south structure resulting from the respective positions of sea coasts, rivers and highlands. The Himalayan river system, in the corner of the Asian continent, is framed by the North-South shorelines of the Indochinese peninsula. The Malacca Straits, situated between two oceans, are bordered by island and peninsular spaces structured by highlands with a north-south orientation. These two North-South profiles, combined with the abovementioned connections between world and subregional traffic, lead to a dynamic of spatial recompositions where emerging transnational North-South corridors play an essential role.

To these spatial considerations forming the basis for comparison we may also add the parallelism in the time-scale of the transnational dynamics implemented during the last two decades with the help of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The approach by corridors in the Greater Mekong Region and growth triangles in the straits, adopted in the first decade (1992–2001) has been superseded by a regional network approach structured by a mesh of corridors during the second decade (2002–12).