Each volume aims to capture the heartbeat of the contemporary city from multiple perspectives emblematic of the authors own deep familiarity with the distinctive faces of the city, its history, society, culture, politics and economics, and its evolving position in national, regional and global frameworks. While most volumes emphasise urban developments since the Second World War, some pay close attention to the legacy of the longue durée in shaping the contemporary. Thematic and comparative volumes address such themes as urbanization, economic and financial linkages, architecture and space, wealth and power, gendered relationships, planning and anarchy, and ethnographics in national and regional perspective.
By Swati Chattopadhyay
April 17, 2006
Representing Calcutta: Modernity, Nationalism, and the Colonial Uncanny is a spatial history of colonial Calcutta, addressing the question of modernity that haunts our perception of Calcutta. The book responds to two interrelated concerns about the city. The first is the image of Calcutta as the ...
By James Heitzman
December 22, 2009
The macro-region of South Asia – including Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka – today supports one of the world’s greatest concentrations of cities, but as James Heitzman argues in the first comprehensive treatment of urban South Asia, this has been the case for at least 5,000 ...
By Stephen Chiu, Tai-Lok Lui
July 13, 2009
Hong Kong is a small city with a big reputation. As mainland China has become an 'economic powerhouse' Hong Kong has taken a route of development of its own, flourishing as an entrepot and a centre of commerce and finance for Chinese business, then as an industrial city and subsequently a regional ...
By Jeffrey N Wasserstrom
January 09, 2009
This book explores the play of international forces and international ideas about Shanghai, looking backward as far as its transformation into a subdivided treaty port in the 1840s, and looking forward to its upcoming hosting of China’s first World’s Fair, the 2010 Expo. As such, Global Shanghai is...
By Carl A. Trocki
March 06, 2006
This volume examines Singapore’s culture of control, exploring the city-state’s colonial heritage as well as the forces that have helped to mould its current social landscape. Taking a comparative approach, Trocki demonstrates the links between Singapore’s colonial past and independent present...
By Marc Askew
August 02, 2002
Bangkok is one of Asia's most interesting, varied, controversial and challenging cities. It is a city of contradictions, both in its present and past. This unique book examines the development of the city from its earliest days as the seat of the Thai monarchy to its current position as an infamous...