ARI Working Paper Series

This series of interventions speak to the wider literature on interrelations between state territorialization processes and border-crossing urban linkages. Focusing on cases in Asia, we seek to bring into view a greater diversity of transborder urban political geographies than are visible in metageographical imaginings of city networks spanning state boundaries. Specifically, the interventions address four main areas that extend beyond the dominant metageography that conceives of the world in terms of territorially bounded nation-states. The first concerns the territorial unit of analysis which forms the basis of a world of urban networks. Second, it is important to recognize that it is not merely nation-state borders that are crossed by urban networks, but also the governance of urban areas that extend beyond the official administrative boundaries of a city which often necessitate collaborative connections between city officials and their counterparts in neighbouring districts. Third, we highlight the range of actors involved in forging urban networks, especially the possibilities for urban networking ‘from below’. Finally, our interventions are all viewed from the temporal and regional frame of contemporary Asia because of the region’s urban density and diversity. As such, we invite further comparative engagement in relation not only to other Asian cases, but also to cross-border experiences and urban realities elsewhere in the world.