ABSTRACT
The nature of public space and the challenges that it faces are, for the most part, formulated based on observations in developed Western countries. Through a literature review and our research in the Southeast Asian cities, we argue that theories on public space that apply to the West do not necessarily fit the context of “Eastern” cities. Traditionally, differences in the public sphere between Western and Eastern cultures have been physically translated into specific features and characters in the respective public spaces. However, we also recognize and explore converging trends in the nature of public space in both the West and the East, which are due to neoliberalism and privatization, coupled with globalization.
