Oxford Geographical and Environmental Studies Series Culture the City in East Asia

This text explores the role of culture in the urban transformation of Asian cities. Departing from the strictly economic treatment of urbanization that has tended to dominate urban geography, it demonstrates how the pervasive influence of culture has effected Asian urbanization. The significance of the relationship between culture and urban transformation in Asian cities is increasingly recognized. Culture and the City in East Asia is one of the first studies that illustrates and explains these complex processes as they occur in a wide variety of contexts. The book explores the role of culture comparatively across cities in the region before presenting major case studies of Hong kong, Singapore, Hanoi, Beijing, Tokyo, and Seoul. Whilst sharing the common characteristics of `compressed development' and 'rapid urbanization', each society in East Asia has taken its own specific route. Although Western research methodology has been employed, chapters on specific cities contain the stories and interpretations of urban transformations by local scholars. Departing from the conventional functional or simple descriptive approach the book places primary emphasis on the cultural dimmensions of urban transformation showing how, for example, though the two city-states of Hong kong and Singapore were colonial creations, they have not followed the same developmental path. Investigating a part of the world with a long urban history, the book reveals both cultural change and continuity shows how an understanding of the influence of culture can help shape the future of Asia and its cities.