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Eastern Asia provides a propitious ground for studying the great difference opposing the large agglomerations of the countries of the North and those of the countries of the South, in the context of the steady increase in the globalization of financial flows and expertise transfer. We are seeing, at the same time as a “trans-nationalization” of urbanization processes, a will among governments to enhance the value of their specific national characteristics in order to increase their potential to attract investment flows generated by globalization. This dual process is examined from a case study of Singapore. Since the 1990s, the urban planning discourse maintained by the Singapore authorities has been associated with the idea of “tropical city of excellence”. This approach, for the government, is a matter of anchoring Singapore in a local geographical reality while projecting its future development along non-geographical lines geared to global economic competition. The article aims to decipher the theoretical bases for this approach and its consequences for urban planning.