Arndt Graf is Adjunct Professor of Austronesian Studies at the University of Hamburg.

Chua Beng Huat is Leader of the Cultural Studies Research Cluster, Asia Research Institute and Professor in the Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore.

Preface Arndt Graf and Chua Beng Huat Part 1: History 1. The Port of Osaka: From Ancient Times to Today Towao Sakaehara 2. Relations between Marseille and East and Southeast Asia Laurent Metzger Part 2: Contemporary Developments 3. Three Harbour Cities: An Exploration of the Ports of IJmuiden (the Netherlands), Banjul (the Gambia) and Jakarta (Indonesia) Peter J.M. Nas, Timoer Reijnders and Eline Steenhuisen 4. 'Ever-changing Waterfronts': Urban Development and Transformation Processes in Ports and Waterfront Zones in Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai Dirk Schubert 5. The 1999 Decentralization Policy, Local Politics and Local Capacity of the Port City of Surabaya Kacung Marijan 6. 'The Future Lies in the Past': Re-inventing the Former Port City of George Town, Penang Morshidi Sirat Part 3: Contact Zone 7. When Port Cities Encounter Revolution: The Hong Kong and Singapore Experiences Yong Mun Cheong 8. Port Cities in Northern Japan and Pacific Russia: Relations and Exchange Miriam Rohde Part 4: Representation 9. Representation and Nostalgic Reinvention of Shanghai in Chinese Films Yvonne Schulz Zinda 10. Marketing a City-state: Hamburg and Singapore in Comparison Arndt Graf 11. Eclipse of the Port: Cultural Industry and the Next Phase of Economic Development of Singapore Chua Beng Huat Part 5: Beyond Port Cities 12. Singapore's Story: A Port City in Search of Hinterlands Tan Tai Yong

With the demise of European socialist economies and the marketization of Asian communist countries, a new global capitalism has reshaped the configuration of the world economy, with speed a determining factor to all transactions of information, finance, goods and services and people.
Sea-ports that were significant for a slower but no less global economy have been undergoing transformation to stay economically and culturally relevant. Some manage to reinvent themselves as tourist cities, some face decline if they do not manage to transform. This volume looks at a number of port cities in Asia and Europe that face this pressure. With contributions considering history, contemporary developments, contacts between ports, the representation of ports and the relations between port cities and their hinterlands.
This comparative study identifies many parallels between local histories and developments in the Asian and European port cities, as well as new opportunities for sharing experiences and learning from the developments and decisions in similar situations in other port cities.