傳統的經濟與都市發展理論，多半依賴羅斯托夫的「經濟起飛模式」以及經濟下滲效應，來討論區域經濟的發展，其實是仰賴區域中主要城市的發展，強調主要城市的經濟成長，會帶動區域的經濟發展。然而，在全球化與新科技經濟的發展下，過往這些區域經濟發展理論已經受到相當的挑戰。更多的研究指出，在當前全球城市與節點城市的經濟狀況，與其鄰近的區域的經濟成只速率並不相當。相反的，一種兩極化的區域經濟發展狀態正在發展且擴張中。特別是，在這些全球城市中，更多的門禁社區、領地與城堡行社區的出現，將富人與窮困者在物理空間上更清楚的分隔了。這樣的兩極化的區域發展不但讓這些全球城市與他們的民族國家漸行漸遠，更進一步侵蝕了原本早已不平等的城鄉發展，也造成了民族國家與城市內部的更多的社會緊張。本研究以台灣為研究案例，希望可以指證出全球化的歷程以及全球城市網絡的建構，已經擴大了碎裂城市的現象與危機。

Traditional economic theory and urban theory often rest on the “Rostovian take-off” model and on the “trickle-down” effect, both of which claim that the growth of a region’s economic development would be attributable to leading global cities inside this region. Nonetheless, with the emergence of globalization and the rise of a new technology-oriented economy, theories that stress such regional economic development have faced critical challenges. More recent research has showed that the economic conditions of these global/nodal cities’ surrounding regions do not grow at a similar speed. Rather, a polarization of regional development gradually emerges and expands. In particular, inside these global cities, more and more gated communities, enclaves, and citadels spatially separate the rich from the poor. This polarization of regional development has not only detached these global cities from their own nation-state and further eroded already uneven urban-rural development but also triggered social tension inside nation-states and cities. Employing Taiwan as a case, we wish to indicate that the process of globalization and the construction of global city networks have expanded the crisis and the phenomenon of quartered cities.