ABSTRACT
Certain key issues in the study of major cities with colonial pasts and global presents (and futures) define national identity and urban life simultaneously. Hence our ongoing interest in the challenges that the unruly conditions of Bogotá, Colombia, present to those charged with its rule. These issues are given specific shape as distinctive contemporary forces and processes that are labeled "global" or "globalizing" in the work of Paul Virilio, the motivating frame in this volume. We present Bogotá as a striking contrast to the very orderly conditions of the ruling and the ruled in the city-state of Singapore, a primary focus of contemplation in this volume. The central issues for the successful regimen of city governance in Singapore are the same for Bogotá, yet the latter struggles to impose them. This suggests that comparisons outside of the Southeast and East Asia area frame can provide a useful dimension to this discussion; that is, for the issues in which we are interested, conditions in Singapore are just as relevant to conditions in Bangkok, Hong Kong, or Djakarta—or even Bogotá.
