THE FORMING OF SPATIAL PATTERNS OF CONSUMPTION IN TAIPEI: Some Observations in a Third†World Metropolis

This paper argues that traditional central place theory is problematic because it (1) treats a central place system as a self†contained system isolated from the rest of the world and immune from outside disturbance; (2) regards spatial structure as a product of laws of economics, consumer behavior and demography, but never of socio†cultural forces; and (3) tries to depict the hierarchical structure of tertiary activities as a static situation. The paper then proceeds to view the formation of metropolitan spatial structures from the perspectives of (1) dependency development, and (2) as a top†down development process open to the outside influence of international cultural flows, which sustain commodity diversification and symbolic consumption, both essential to the capitalist global economy. To illustrate how this cultural process takes place and helps change the spatial structure of a third†world metropolis, a case study of the permeation of McDonald's hamburger stores in the Taipei metropolis is reported in the third part of the paper. It concludes that the spatial structure is a result of both economic and socio†cultural forces and processes, and that the provider of a culturally effective commodity is also a shaping force in the mass consumption society. When a corporation promotes a new product image or diffuses its services, it is culturally preparing the society for the next step in the endless course of symbolic consumption and, therefore, of spatial restructuring.