NOT ALL GLOBAL CITIES ARE CREATED EQUAL: A Comparative Case Study of Urban Development in Metro Manila and Bangkok, 1990 - 2020

How do non-Western cities navigate the complexities of global city formation amid the pressures of globalization? This thesis explores this question through a comparative analysis of Metro Manila and Bangkok from 1990 to 2020, challenging the prevailing Western-centric global city paradigms. Recognizing a significant gap in the literature, the study argues that existing theories inadequately address the unique trajectories and institutional frameworks of cities outside the Western context, often simplifying their diverse experiences into uniform models of urban development. In an attempt to address this deficiency, the thesis introduces an innovative theoretical framework that integrates global city theory with an in-depth examination of local historical and cultural factors, agent dynamics, and diverse economic integration strategies. This framework allows for a nuanced understanding of how historical imperatives and hybridity shape global city formation, the roles various agents play in this process, and how cities integrate into the global economy with distinct economic strategies and outcomes. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the research combines qualitative data from key informant interviews and policy documents with quantitative analysis. Findings highlight contrasting governance structures between the decentralized nature of Metro Manila and the centralized administrative approach of Bangkok, which significantly influence their respective responses to global economic integration and urban policy challenges. This comparative analysis underscores the need for a reevaluation of dominant global city criteria and development strategies, and it suggests that local governance structures and economic strategies in non-Western cities lead to varied outcomes on urban development. The study's insights into these disparate effects offer critical implications for policymakers and urban planners, and they serve as a call for a more context-sensitive approach in the global discourse on urban development. The thesis not only fills a critical gap in urban studies literature by deconstructing and decolonizing traditional global city models but also sets a precedent for future research in global urban dynamics, especially in the Global South. Because, after all, not all global cities are created equal.