Asian metropolis : urbanisation and the Southeast Asian city

Author Forbes, D. K. (Dean Keith), 1949-

Title Asian metropolis : urbanisation and the Southeast Asian city / Dean Forbes.

Published Melbourne : Oxford University Press, 1996.

UniM Archit High Use 307.760959 FORB SEVEN DAY LOAN

UniM Baill 307.760959 FORB

Series Meridian, Australian geographical perspectives

Notes Includes index.

Bibliog. Bibliography: p. 109-116.

Contents 1. The Southeast Asian city in history -- 2. The city after independence -- 3. Economic reform and urbanisation -- 4. The economic life of the metropolis -- 5. Urban society and the environment -- 6. The expanding urban region -- 7. Southeast Asia's urban prospects.

Summary From vietnam to Indonesia, Singapore to Thailand, Southeast Asia's economies are growing at unprecedented rates. The metropolises are the heart of economically dynamic Southeast Asia. Singapore is bidding to be a global 'information city'; Bangkok is acquiring an international reputation as a business and transport centre; Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur have rapidly expanding core business centres dominated by sleek, highrise office blocks; and Ho Chi Minh City is certain to play a key role in Vietnam's re-emergence into the world economy.

Yet this high-profile image presents only one dimension of the Southeast Asian metropolis. This book penetrates the facade of contemporary growth, exploring the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial city. Asian Metropolis: Urbanisation and the Southeast Asian City describes the divergence of the urbanisation process and urban development under capitalist and socialist regimes, and the gradual convergence in the 1990s. It looks at the problems in the fast growing metropolis, from the exploitation of women in the labour force, to the over-stretched infrastructure and urban environmental crises. Southeast Asia's metropolises have played a key role in the region's growth. Unless greater attention is given to the sustainability of these large, complex settlements, they threaten to undermine the societies that created and continue to depend upon them.

Subject Cities and towns -- Southeast Asia.

Urbanization -- Southeast Asia.