civic spaces in a global age: an agenda for pacific asia cities

The rise of civil society in Asia has an equivalent in the built environment:
the construction of civic spaces that are vital for voluntary societal associations to bridge
divides through shared experiences, and for people to engage in resolving social, political
and economic issues in common. Eight typical types of civic spaces are identified as a
way into assessing trends in the vitality of civil society. Evidence from the U.S. and
Europe shows that each type is facing new constraints as well as new sources of support.
Many have all but disappeared while some, such as the internet, appear to be potentially
expanding rapidly. In Pacific Asia, with its traditions of strong “developmental” states,
the emergence of civic spaces has largely been through resistance and insurgence.
However, on-going political reforms lead to new possibilities for the routine provision of
civic spaces open to all and are protected by the rule of law against state abuse. At the
same time new questions arise concerning the impacts of globalization on civic spaces as
cities shift attention to competition for international investment and as urban spaces
become fragmented through global linkages and privatization for commercial interests.
An agenda for policy on civic space thus needs to pay attention not only to progressive
reforms in state-civil society relations, but also to ways in which relations between
localities and globalization are transforming the content and uses of urban spaces.