Megacities in Asia have been growing and showing dynamic 'compressed' changes. Tokyo, Bangkok and Shanghai are serving as the centre of finance, production and other functions of the region, while disparities within the city are widening to form multi-layered stratification. Besides, in the advancement of globalisation, they now experience uncertainty, insecurity, and more difficult new challenges - facing challenges of global cities in developed countries and of cities in developing countries simultaneously. In order to consider social environment where individual can live well in such Asian cities, this paper explores potential urban risks, risk responses, and actual condition of well-being of urban residents in three cities. The data from field survey show that Tokyo residents face to the work-related problems, while Shanghai and Bangkok residents to the fundamental economic risks. As the responses to those risks, all three cities use some personal networks to ensure enough resources to overcome, even if what relationships they have developed and how to use those vary. An interesting but not surprising finding is that, despite a better living condition, Tokyo residents show the lowest level of life satisfaction among the surveyed cities. In reality, there is a limit in responding to the public needs due to the austerity, which results in a serious policy dilemma. Managing the urban risks in a creative way by multi-actors in local context, such as involving individuals' personal networks, is one of the key challenges to be tackled for the future development and economic and social sustainability of the world.

How can labor-intensive industries in middle-income countries avoid the 'middle-income trap' and evolve as dynamic industries? This article addresses this question by focusing on the local garment industry in Thailand. Thailand's garment industry became fully integrated into international production networks in the 1980s, and was once among the main drivers of its manufacturing-based export growth. However, with rising wages and labor shortages, there is strong need to upgrade and shift from labor-intensive assembly to higher value-added functions. In contrast to the export-oriented sector, the local garment markets are primarily served by small informal garment suppliers. Nevertheless, some of the suppliers undertake functions that are typically more knowledge intensive, including designing and marketing. In this context, this paper discusses what implications this local-based industry has in overcoming possible middle-income traps, and suggests that domestic oriented policies could play key roles. © 2014 © 2014 Taylor & Francis.

The garment industry was once the leading manufacturing-based export sector of Thailand. While its international competitiveness has been diminishing since the 1990s primarily due to increases in wage levels, it nevertheless remains an important source of income for a large number of workers. Given this fact, we look at what survival strategies garment suppliers have adopted. In particular, this paper will examine the Thai garment industry from a global value chains perspective, and determine whether upgrading in process, products or functions has occurred. In this context, the paper shows that the Thai garment industry has been stagnating in terms of process and product upgrading. This, in turn, has induced suppliers to move to rural areas where cheaper labour, including migrant labour, is more readily available. We attempt to provide a more evidence-based account of this industrial relocation using unpublished data. Functional upgrading in more locally oriented production networks has occurred; however, competition in such functions has also increased, leading to price-based competition and the erosion of economic rents of network co-ordinators. The paper further argues that informalisation is becoming more common in production and employment relationships, and concludes that such strategies may not be viable in the long run. © 2013 © Journal of Contemporary Asia.

This paper analyzes the occupational changes and upward mobility of urban low-income residents in Bangkok, using macro and micro data including field survey. In traditional theory, the image of upward mobility tends to be linear; that is, it assumes movement from the Informal Economy to the Formal Economy, from informal to modern sectors. However, analysis shows that the actual pattern of occupational paths and people’s perceptions of upward mobility is different from the assumptions found in traditional theory. First, the occupational opportunity of lower-class changes within a macro context and people choose their occupations by interacting with these changes. Therefore, their occupational paths are not linear. Second, for most workers, the final goal is not participation in the Formal Economy but the Informal Economy.

This article analyzes the impacts of global economic restructuring on the life course of Thai women workers by using a case study of a community in Bangkok. In the 1980s, the growth of labor-intensive industries was a main driving force behind the economic growth of Thailand, and women manual workers were major contributors in this process. Over time, these industries rapidly lost their competitiveness, and many women workers were forced out of their jobs. Subsequently, during the transition period they moved on to various occupations, especially in the low-productive informal sector. Their choices depended on three factors: (1) their own capability, (2) conditions and structures of households, and (3) occupational opportunity. The combination of these factors regulated their choices in different types of occupations. However, there are also socio-economic disparities within the informal sector workers, and it was observed that the strength to correspond and cope with changes and increased competition are not evenly distributed. © 2005, Sage India: New Delhi, India. All rights reserved.