Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 10.15
Putrajaya, Malaysia.
Putrajaya is the newly built capital of Malaysia, r
eplacing Kuala Lumpur.
© Bazuki Muhammad/Reuters/Corbis.
Amsterdam, served as models for the newly independent
states (just as the state system itself did).
In many countries of the global economic periphery
and semiperiphery, the capital cities are by far the largest
and most economically infl uential cities in the state (i.e.,
primate cities, discussed in Chapter 9). Some newly inde-
pendent states have built new capital cities, away from the
colonial headquarters. Their goals in doing so are to sepa-
rate themselves from their colonizers, to bring together
diverse groups into one state with a city built to refl ect
their common culture, to extend economic development
into the interior of the state, or to help establish control
over a region with a population whose loyalties might not
be to the state.
Nigeria, for example, moved its capital from Yoruba-
dominated Lagos along the coast to an ethnically neutral
territory in the center of the state: Abuja. Malawi moved
its capital from Zomba, deep in the south, to more central
Lilongwe. Pakistan moved the capital from the colonial
headquarters of Karachi to Islamabad in the far north to
symbolize the country's reorientation toward its his-
torically important interior and north. Brazil moved its
capital from coastal Rio de Janeiro to centrally located
Brasilia in order to direct attention to the huge, sparsely
populated, yet poorly integrated interior. More recently,
Kazakhstan moved its capital from Almaty in the south
to Astana in the north, partly to be closer to Russia and
the center of the possibly restless Russian population.
Malaysia has also recently moved its capital from the colo-
nial capital of Kuala Lumpur to a completely new center
called Putrajaya, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the
south. The Malaysian government decided to build a new,
ultramodern seat of government to symbolize the coun-
try's rapid economic growth (Fig. 10.15).
Corporations can also make cities focal points of
development by concentrating corporate activities in a
particular place. Often, corporations build up the cities
near the resources they are extracting or near manufactur-
ing centers they have built. Multinational oil companies
create subsidiaries in countries of the periphery and semi-
periphery, creating or expanding cities near oil reserves.
For example in Gabon, Elf and Shell, two oil companies
based in Europe, run ElfGabon and ShellGabon in the
Central African country. The oil companies took the
small colonial town of Port Gentile in Gabon and turned
it into a city that the locals call “oil city.” The oil compa-
nies built housing, roads, and stores, and provide much of
the employment in the town (Fig. 10.16).
When a government or corporation builds up and
concentrates economic development in a certain city or
small region, geographers call that place an
island of devel-
opment
. In Chapter 3, we identifi ed islands of development
in the periphery and semiperiphery and discussed why peo-
ple migrate to these cities from rural areas and other poorer
cities. The hope for a job drives many migrants to move to
these islands of comparative prosperity.
Creating Growth in the Periphery of the Periphery
One of the greatest challenges to development is creating
development opportunities outside of islands of develop-
ment. In the most rural, impoverished regions of less pros-
perous countries, some nongovernmental organizations
