Jeffrey Hou and Manish Chalana
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9789888208333
- eISBN:
- 9789888313471
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208333.003.0001
- Subject:
- Architecture, Architectural Theory and Criticism
This chapter outlines the rubric of “messy urbanism” in terms of its significance, threats, and theoretical frameworks. Messiness is simultaneously a range of urban conditions and a notion that we ...
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This chapter outlines the rubric of “messy urbanism” in terms of its significance, threats, and theoretical frameworks. Messiness is simultaneously a range of urban conditions and a notion that we attempt to unpack and challenge in this work. Here, messiness denotes urban conditions and processes that do not follow institutionalized or culturally prescribed notions of order. It suggests an alternative structure and hierarchy as well as agency and actions that are often subjugated by the dominant hierarchy, including notions of spatial and visual orders as well as social and political institutions and cultural norms. In this book, by examining a range of cases and contexts that span from Northeast Asia to South Asia, we are interested less in the distinct spatial and formal properties of specific locations and structures per se, but more on the social, spatial, and institutional politics of messiness, and the context in which messiness has been constructed. More precisely, we are interested in the questions that messiness raises with regard to the production of cities, cityscapes, and citizenship.Less
This chapter outlines the rubric of “messy urbanism” in terms of its significance, threats, and theoretical frameworks. Messiness is simultaneously a range of urban conditions and a notion that we attempt to unpack and challenge in this work. Here, messiness denotes urban conditions and processes that do not follow institutionalized or culturally prescribed notions of order. It suggests an alternative structure and hierarchy as well as agency and actions that are often subjugated by the dominant hierarchy, including notions of spatial and visual orders as well as social and political institutions and cultural norms. In this book, by examining a range of cases and contexts that span from Northeast Asia to South Asia, we are interested less in the distinct spatial and formal properties of specific locations and structures per se, but more on the social, spatial, and institutional politics of messiness, and the context in which messiness has been constructed. More precisely, we are interested in the questions that messiness raises with regard to the production of cities, cityscapes, and citizenship.
Manish Chalana (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9789888208333
- eISBN:
- 9789888313471
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208333.001.0001
- Subject:
- Architecture, Architectural Theory and Criticism
Seemingly messy and chaotic, the landscapes and urban life of cities in Asia possess an order and hierarchy which often challenge understanding and appreciation. With a cross-disciplinary group of ...
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Seemingly messy and chaotic, the landscapes and urban life of cities in Asia possess an order and hierarchy which often challenge understanding and appreciation. With a cross-disciplinary group of authors, Messy Urbanism: Understanding the “Other” Cities of Asia examines a range of cases in Asia to explore the social and institutional politics of urban formality and the contexts in which this “messiness” emerges or is constructed. The book brings a distinct perspective to the broader patterns of informal urban orders and processes as well as their interplay with formalized systems and mechanisms. It also raises questions about the production of cities, cityscapes, and citizenship. Messy Urbanism will appeal to professionals, students, and scholars in the fields of urban studies, architecture, landscape architecture, planning and policy, as well as Asian studies.Less
Seemingly messy and chaotic, the landscapes and urban life of cities in Asia possess an order and hierarchy which often challenge understanding and appreciation. With a cross-disciplinary group of authors, Messy Urbanism: Understanding the “Other” Cities of Asia examines a range of cases in Asia to explore the social and institutional politics of urban formality and the contexts in which this “messiness” emerges or is constructed. The book brings a distinct perspective to the broader patterns of informal urban orders and processes as well as their interplay with formalized systems and mechanisms. It also raises questions about the production of cities, cityscapes, and citizenship. Messy Urbanism will appeal to professionals, students, and scholars in the fields of urban studies, architecture, landscape architecture, planning and policy, as well as Asian studies.
Yue Chim Richard Wong
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9789888139446
- eISBN:
- 9789888180349
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888139446.003.0009
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
Jane Jacobs’ (1916-2006) observations of economic life in big cities challenged and modified the way the world sees cities. This chapter explores what we can learn from her work for Hong Kong and ...
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Jane Jacobs’ (1916-2006) observations of economic life in big cities challenged and modified the way the world sees cities. This chapter explores what we can learn from her work for Hong Kong and other East Asian cities. Her observations offer new insights into why a diverse combination of land uses might not necessarily lead to chaos or confusion. In this chapter, the author expresses his opinions and criticisms regarding the recent development of urban areas in Hong Kong and some East Asian cities.Less
Jane Jacobs’ (1916-2006) observations of economic life in big cities challenged and modified the way the world sees cities. This chapter explores what we can learn from her work for Hong Kong and other East Asian cities. Her observations offer new insights into why a diverse combination of land uses might not necessarily lead to chaos or confusion. In this chapter, the author expresses his opinions and criticisms regarding the recent development of urban areas in Hong Kong and some East Asian cities.
Peter van der Veer (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780520281226
- eISBN:
- 9780520961081
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520281226.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This book highlights the creative and innovative role of urban aspirations in Asian world cities. It does not assume that religion is of the past and that the urban is secular, but instead points out ...
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This book highlights the creative and innovative role of urban aspirations in Asian world cities. It does not assume that religion is of the past and that the urban is secular, but instead points out that urban politics and governance often manifest religious boundaries and sensibilities—in short, that public religion is politics. The chapters in this book show how projects of secularism come up against projects and ambitions of a religious nature, a particular form of contestation that takes the city as its public arena. Questioning the limits of cities like Mumbai, Singapore, Seoul, Beijing, Bangkok, and Shanghai, the chapters assert that Asian cities have to be understood not as global models of futuristic city planning but as larger landscapes of spatial imagination that have specific cultural and political trajectories. Religion plays a central role in the politics of heritage that is emerging from the debris of modernist city planning. Megacities are arenas for the assertion of national and transnational aspirations as Asia confronts modernity. Cities are also sites of speculation, not only for those who invest in real estate but also for those who look for housing, employment, and salvation. In its potential and actual mobility, the sacred creates social space in which they all can meet.Less
This book highlights the creative and innovative role of urban aspirations in Asian world cities. It does not assume that religion is of the past and that the urban is secular, but instead points out that urban politics and governance often manifest religious boundaries and sensibilities—in short, that public religion is politics. The chapters in this book show how projects of secularism come up against projects and ambitions of a religious nature, a particular form of contestation that takes the city as its public arena. Questioning the limits of cities like Mumbai, Singapore, Seoul, Beijing, Bangkok, and Shanghai, the chapters assert that Asian cities have to be understood not as global models of futuristic city planning but as larger landscapes of spatial imagination that have specific cultural and political trajectories. Religion plays a central role in the politics of heritage that is emerging from the debris of modernist city planning. Megacities are arenas for the assertion of national and transnational aspirations as Asia confronts modernity. Cities are also sites of speculation, not only for those who invest in real estate but also for those who look for housing, employment, and salvation. In its potential and actual mobility, the sacred creates social space in which they all can meet.
Peter van der Veer
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780520281226
- eISBN:
- 9780520961081
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520281226.003.0025
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This book explores “urban aspirations” in Asia. Focusing on cities such as Singapore, Seoul, Beijing, Mumbai, Bangkok, and Shanghai, it examines notions of “urban society” to understand the different ...
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This book explores “urban aspirations” in Asia. Focusing on cities such as Singapore, Seoul, Beijing, Mumbai, Bangkok, and Shanghai, it examines notions of “urban society” to understand the different trajectories of urbanization and social formation in human society, along with their insertion in forms of governmentality. It discusses city planning and its implications for a politics of heritage, the political consequences of the imagined and real urban-rural divide between the city and the rest of the country, the porous and arbitrary limits of the city, and how settlements in the city create “urban villages” of immigrants that become intricate parts of the urban fabric. The book also proposes to use religion as a lens through which we can acquire a better view of what urban aspirations are, regardless of whether they are called secular or religious. Finally, it highlights the role of imperial modernity in the postcolonial politics of Asian cities, as well as the ways in which the sacred is mobile and creates social space in the city.Less
This book explores “urban aspirations” in Asia. Focusing on cities such as Singapore, Seoul, Beijing, Mumbai, Bangkok, and Shanghai, it examines notions of “urban society” to understand the different trajectories of urbanization and social formation in human society, along with their insertion in forms of governmentality. It discusses city planning and its implications for a politics of heritage, the political consequences of the imagined and real urban-rural divide between the city and the rest of the country, the porous and arbitrary limits of the city, and how settlements in the city create “urban villages” of immigrants that become intricate parts of the urban fabric. The book also proposes to use religion as a lens through which we can acquire a better view of what urban aspirations are, regardless of whether they are called secular or religious. Finally, it highlights the role of imperial modernity in the postcolonial politics of Asian cities, as well as the ways in which the sacred is mobile and creates social space in the city.
Jini Kim Watson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816675722
- eISBN:
- 9781452947556
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816675722.003.0005
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter traces the literary assimilation of the high-rise building as a metonymical device for government and global capitalist alliances. It examines the urban esthetics used in expanding ...
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This chapter traces the literary assimilation of the high-rise building as a metonymical device for government and global capitalist alliances. It examines the urban esthetics used in expanding Seoul, Singapore, and Taiwan of the 1960s and 1970s, which center on the logic of an export-oriented production that fueled economies. In contrast to the metropolitan experience of horizontally expanding industrial cities, growth in the geographically and resource-limited New Asian City is typified by height, density, and constant reconstruction. Where European metropolitan residents have been overwhelmed by the city’s endless extension, subjects of the New Asian City are alienated by decisive qualities of newness, repetition, and ominous compression.Less
This chapter traces the literary assimilation of the high-rise building as a metonymical device for government and global capitalist alliances. It examines the urban esthetics used in expanding Seoul, Singapore, and Taiwan of the 1960s and 1970s, which center on the logic of an export-oriented production that fueled economies. In contrast to the metropolitan experience of horizontally expanding industrial cities, growth in the geographically and resource-limited New Asian City is typified by height, density, and constant reconstruction. Where European metropolitan residents have been overwhelmed by the city’s endless extension, subjects of the New Asian City are alienated by decisive qualities of newness, repetition, and ominous compression.
Gavin Shatkin
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781501709906
- eISBN:
- 9781501709715
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501709906.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Urban and Rural Studies
In the past three decades, urban real estate megaprojects—massive, master planned, for profit urban developments—have captured the imagination of politicians and policy-makers across Asia. This book ...
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In the past three decades, urban real estate megaprojects—massive, master planned, for profit urban developments—have captured the imagination of politicians and policy-makers across Asia. This book argues that state actors have been major drivers of these transformative projects, and have realized them through increasingly aggressive efforts to reclaim or acquire land, and to transfer land rights to corporate developers. State actors have specifically sought to monetize land as a strategy of state empowerment, a means to generate budget revenue, distribute patronage, and drive economic growth. This newly assertive state role in land markets constitutes the real estate turn in urban politics in the subtitle of the book. This real estate turn has significant implications for social, political, and ecological change in these societies. The book explores the varied spatial impacts of this real estate turn in three cities—Jakarta, Kolkata, and Chongqing—that differ in their systems of property rights and urban governance.Less
In the past three decades, urban real estate megaprojects—massive, master planned, for profit urban developments—have captured the imagination of politicians and policy-makers across Asia. This book argues that state actors have been major drivers of these transformative projects, and have realized them through increasingly aggressive efforts to reclaim or acquire land, and to transfer land rights to corporate developers. State actors have specifically sought to monetize land as a strategy of state empowerment, a means to generate budget revenue, distribute patronage, and drive economic growth. This newly assertive state role in land markets constitutes the real estate turn in urban politics in the subtitle of the book. This real estate turn has significant implications for social, political, and ecological change in these societies. The book explores the varied spatial impacts of this real estate turn in three cities—Jakarta, Kolkata, and Chongqing—that differ in their systems of property rights and urban governance.
Jini Kim Watson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816675722
- eISBN:
- 9781452947556
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816675722.003.0006
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter explains the role of the privatized interior in framing the disappearing female subject in works by Kang Sŏk-kyŏng, Su Weizhen, and Su-chen Christine Lim. It explores the textual and ...
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This chapter explains the role of the privatized interior in framing the disappearing female subject in works by Kang Sŏk-kyŏng, Su Weizhen, and Su-chen Christine Lim. It explores the textual and spatial production of the postcolonial New Asian City woman who appears at the threshold of public and private spaces. The chapter also emphasizes the asymmetry with Western urban and social forms of modernity, claiming that the shift to new spatial arrangements, such as nuclear families, individual bedrooms, and private spaces, does not produce the same kind of individualized feminist consciousness seen in the earlier industrializing Euro-American context.Less
This chapter explains the role of the privatized interior in framing the disappearing female subject in works by Kang Sŏk-kyŏng, Su Weizhen, and Su-chen Christine Lim. It explores the textual and spatial production of the postcolonial New Asian City woman who appears at the threshold of public and private spaces. The chapter also emphasizes the asymmetry with Western urban and social forms of modernity, claiming that the shift to new spatial arrangements, such as nuclear families, individual bedrooms, and private spaces, does not produce the same kind of individualized feminist consciousness seen in the earlier industrializing Euro-American context.
