The pursuit of sustainable economic growth is a core feature of urban policies and programmes in cities worldwide. From London in the UK, to Taipei in Taiwan, the paramount objective of city planners and politicians is to achieve international city status, or, as the Department of Urban Development (2002: 2) in Taiwan has stated, the goal is to shape ‘Taipei into an exemplary pluricentric multifaceted international city of the 21st century’. Such sentiments are echoed in London, where its mayor, Ken Livingstone, has declared that ‘London can become a vibrant, successful, efficient and socially inclusive city…an example to the world' (London Plan, 2002: 1). Likewise, officials in Shanghai, the fastest growing city in the world, have sought ‘to act in accordance with international rules’, a popular slogan in local government documents which signifies the city’s pursuit of global or world city status.