Globalisation and regional development chains: the impact of Metro Cebu on regional development in the Central Visayas, Philippines

This paper seeks to analyse translocal development in the context of the Philippines. In the course ofhistory, Cebu City (the Philippines' second city after Manila) has emerged as the hub for inter-islandshipping in the central archipelago. Based on this central location in the logistic networks linking islandswith each other and with the world at large, Cebu has emerged as a modest regional centre for tradeand manufacturing, as it can easily (cheaply) draw in raw materials as well as labour migrants fromneighbouring islands, while at the same time distributing imports as return cargo. Focusing on the flowsof goods, people and finance, attention is paid to how different localities are interlinked and how suchcorridors influence development of surrounding island economies.