Author Description

From Vietnam to Indonesia, Singapore to Thailand, South-East Asia's economies are growing at unprecedented rates. This book penetrates the facade of contemporary city growth, exploring the pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial city. It describes the divergence in urban development under capitalist and socialist regimes, and the gradual convergence in the post-reforms era of the 1990s. And it looks at the current problems of the fast growing metropolis, from the exploitation of women in the labor force, to the overstretched infrastructure and urban environmental crisis.