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Moore, Elizabeth and Osiri, Navanath (2013) 'Urban Forms and Civic Space in Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Century Bangkok and Rangoon.' Journal of Urban History, 40 (1). pp. 158-177.

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Abstract

Buddhist spaces in Bangkok and Rangoon both had long common traditions prior to nineteenth and early twentieth-century colonial incursions. Top–down central city planning with European designs transformed both cities. While Siamese kings personally initiated civic change that began to widen economic and social interaction of different classes, British models segregated European, Burmese, Indian, and Chinese populations to exacerbate social differences. In addition, the Siamese rulers maintained and enhanced civic spaces of religious compounds while the British occupied the Shwedagon pagoda for military purposes and created spacious gardens for their own use. The article underlines the disparity in the provision of urban forms in central city planning between the royal vision of nation-building developed by King Chulalongkorn and his successor King Vajiravudh and the new capital of Rangoon laid out by colonial engineers where the traditional ritual spaces became the staging ground for nationalist movements. In both cities, urban forms and civic spaces were essential in legitimizing political authority. The article demonstrates the manner in which spatial and visual systems colored the production of civic space to initiate social integration in Bangkok and preamble disintegration in colonial Rangoon.

Item Type: Journal Article
Keywords: urban space colonial royal Bangkok Rangoon Chulalongkorn
SOAS Departments & Centres: Legacy Departments > Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Department of History of Art and Archaeology
ISSN: 15526771
DOI (Digital Object Identifier): https://doi.org/10.1177/0096144213504381
Date Deposited: 11 Oct 2013 08:57
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/17172
Related URLs: http://juh.sage ... 096144213504381 (Publisher URL)

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