Culture and the City in East Asia
Mike Douglass editor Kong Chong Ho editor Sang-Chuel Choe editor Won Bae Kim editor
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:3rd Jul '97
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
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.
Culture and the City in East Asia ... contributes to the postmodern chorus of challenge to the assumptions and tendencies which have mapped out orthodox urbanisation research. * Michael J.G. Parnwell, Jnl of Devlpmnt Studies, Vol.35, No.4, Apr.99. *
A real strength of the volume lies in the prominence of local writers who are quite skilful in unravelling and explaining local contextual complexities ... Culture and the City in East Asia ... succeeds in drawing attention to a potentially stimulating and worthwhile field for future research and, as such, provides an excellent reference source and starting point for regional specialists and scholars of urbanisation. * Michael J.G. Parnwell, Jnl of Devlpmnt Studies, Vol.35, No.4, Apr.99. *
Well conceived and tightly structured. There are many strengths in this welcome addition to the literature on Asian urbanization...this is a handsome and thoughtful book that probes the relationship between urban growth and cultural-social processes. - Yue-Man Yeung. The Journal of Asian Studies.
The coverage of these essays is extensive....the editors have brought together a number of stimulating essays which illustrate both the power and the weakness of cultural explanations. The result is a valuable addition to the literature on a theme which is currently of much interest. - Rupert Hodder. Journal of Energy Literature. 1998.
ISBN: 9780198233589
Dimensions: 243mm x 163mm x 20mm
Weight: 563g
280 pages