Theorizing the Southeast Asian City as Text examines the ways in which culture, ethnicity, languages, traditions, governance, policies and histories interplay in the creation of the urban experiences in contemporary Southeast Asian cities. It focuses on the ways in which urban spatial forms are textual experiences, subject to interpretative strategies and the influence of other discourses. In addition it also analyzes the experiences of modernization in such cities, but also in terms of the strategies of containment, refurbishment, and loss which this has occasioned.

Theorizing the Southeast Asian City as Text examines the ways in which culture, ethnicity, languages, traditions, governance, policies and histories interplay in the creation of the urban experiences in contemporary Southeast Asian cities. It focuses on the ways in which urban spatial forms are textual experiences, subject to interpretative strategies and the influence of other discourses. In addition it also analyzes the experiences of modernization in such cities, but also in terms of the strategies of containment, refurbishment, and loss which this has occasioned. Contents:Urbanism and Post-Colonial Nationalities: Theorizing the Southeast Asian City (R B H Goh & B S A Yeoh)Reading the Southeast Asian City in the Context of Rapid Economic Growth (K S Tay & R B H Goh)“The Rise of the Merlion”: Monument and Myth in the Making of the Singapore Story (B S A Yeoh & T C Chang)Things to a Void: Utopian Discourse, Communality and Constructed Interstices in Singapore Public Housing (R B H Goh)Selective Disclosure: Romancing the Singapore River (S Huang & T C Chang)Malaysia's High-Tech Cities and the Construction of Intelligent Citizenship (T Bunnell)Museum/City/Nation: Negotiating Identities in Urban Museums in Indonesia and Singapore (K M Adams)The Urban and the Urbane: Modernization, Modernism and the Rebirth of Singaporean Cinema (A R Guneratne)Benjamin in Bombay? An Asian Extrapolation (R Patke) Readership: Undergraduates, graduate students, academics and professionals in architecture and urban planning. Keywords:Urban Studies;Southeast Asian Cities;Society and Culture;Literature;MediaReviews:“… there is much of value in the book both theoretically and empirically and it certainly deserves a readership beyond those interested in South-east Asia … this edited collection provides a good illustration of the benefits of taking the cultural turn, interpreting texts very broadly to cover anything from the built environment through museums and films as cultural artifacts to the role of the flâneur in construing rather than constructing the city.”Urban Studies

Theorizing the Southeast Asian City as Text examines the ways in which culture, ethnicity, languages, traditions, governance, policies and histories interplay in the creation of the urban experiences in contemporary Southeast Asian cities. It focuses on the ways in which urban spatial forms are textual experiences, subject to interpretative strategies and the influence of other discourses. In addition it also analyzes the experiences of modernization in such cities, but also in terms of the strategies of containment, refurbishment, and loss which this has occasioned.

Modern Southeast Asian urban life follows cultural lines set out by the region's early Indic cities. In this indigenous urban tradition the city rules society through a division of power and elaboration of urban-centered status distinctions. Where earlier studies sought Western patterns in Southeast Asian cities, this is the first study to interpret the region's cities wholly within their own historical cultural continuities.

Chapters on Asia features selected papers written by scholars who have been awarded the National Library’s Lee Kong Chian Research Fellowship. These works examine the history and heritage of Singapore and the region, and contain fresh research based on materials and resources from the collections of the National Library and National Archives of Singapore.

The rise of independent cinema in Southeast Asia, following the emergence of a new generation of filmmakers there, is among the most significant recent developments in global cinema. The advent of affordable and easy access to digital technology has empowered startling new voices from a part of the world rarely heard or seen in international film circles. The appearance of fresh, sharply alternative, and often very personal voices has had a tremendous impact on local film production. This book documents these developments as a genuine outcome of the democratization and liberalization of film production. Contributions from respected scholars, interviews with filmmakers, personal accounts and primary sources by important directors and screenwriters collectively provide readers with a lively account of dynamic film developments in Southeast Asia. Interviewees include Lav Diaz, Amir Muhammad, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Eric Khoo, Nia Dinata and others. Tilman Baumgärtel taught film and media studies in Germany, Austria and the Philippines before joining Royal University of Phnom Penh in 2009. He has curated international film series and art exhibitions, and has also published books on independent cinema, Internet art, computer games and the German director Harun Farocki. His blog can be found at http://southeastasiancinema.wordpress.com

The extended metropolitan regions of Southeast Asia are the dynamic cores of their national economies and societies and the frontiers of accelerating globalization. This title explores ways of moving beyond outmoded paradigms of the Third World City or a Southeast Asian city 'type'.