Postcolonial Urbanism: Southeast Asian Cities and Global Processes

A common assumption about cities throughout the world is tht they are essentially an elaboration of the Euro-American model. Postcolonial Urbanism demonstrates the narrowness of this vision. Cities in the postcolonial world, the book shows, are producing novel forms of urbanism not reducible to Western urbanism. Despite being heavily colonized in the past, Southeast Asia has been largely ignored in discussions about postcolonial theory and in general considerations of global urbanism. An international cast of contributors focuses on the heavily urbanized world region of Southeast Asia to investigate the novel forms of urbanism germinating in postcolonial settings such as Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Hanoi, and the Philippines. Offering a mix of theoretical perspectives and empirical accounts, Postcolonial Urbanism presents a panoramic view of the cultures, societies, and politics of the postcolonial city.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements List of Contributors 1. Perpetuating Cities: Excepting globalization and the southeast Asian supplement Ryan Bishop, John Phillips and Yeo Wei-Wei 2. Global Cities, Terror and Tourism: The ambivalent allure of the urban jungle Kathleen Adams 3. The City as Target, or Perpetuation and Death Ryan Bishop and Gregory K. Clancey 4. From the Hypermodern City to the Gray Zone of Total Mobilization in the Philippines John Armitage and Joanne Roberts 5. Urban Space in the French Imperial Past and the Postcolonial Present Richard L. Derderian 6. Sharing Space in the Urban Botanic Gardens of Singapore and Malaysia, 1786-2000 Emma Reisz 7. Gay Capitals in Global City History: Cities, local markets and the origins of Bangkok's same sex cultures Peter A. Jackson 8. Actually Existing Postcolonialisms: Colonial urbanism and architecture after the postcolonial turn Anthony D. King 9. Jakarta and the Zone of Fragmentation James Rosenau and Diane Wildsmith 10. Regionalism, English Narrative and Singapore as Home and Global City Shirley Geok-Lin Lim 11. Some Aspects of the Relations Between Governance, Order and Decent, Secure Life in Contemporary Cities with Colonial Pasts and Global Futures George E. Marcus and Angela Rivas Gamboa 12. City as Theatre: Singapore, state of distraction Yeo Wei-Wei 13. Perpetual Returns: Vampires and the ever-colonized city Steve Pile 14. Benjamin's Arcades Project and the Postcolonial City Rajeev Patke 15. Deus ex Machina: Evangelical sites, urbanism and the construction of social identities Robbie B. H. Goh

About the Author :

Ryan Bishop is a Senior Fulbright Fellow in the American Studies Center at the National University of Singapore
John Phillips is Senior Lecturer at the National University of Singapore
Yeo Wei Wei is Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore.

Annotated
"Featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education's New Scholarly Books section, May 2, 2003." -- Journal of Economic Literature
"[T]his book is a welcome addition to the growing literature on Southeast Asian cities. Planning educators and researchers will do well with understanding, challenging and integrating perpectives provided by writers from other disciplines such as authors of this book." -- Journal of Planing Education & Research,Bhishna Bajracharya
"This is a sophisticated and cosmopolitian book." -- Pacific Affairs, 76: 1, Abidin Kusno