ABSTRACT
The genesis of urbanization in agrarian areas in the region is often ascribed to Indian and Chinese civilizational influences. Southeast Asia is a unique region in which different civilizational influences impacted on the urban architecture, city layout as well as the political, cultural, and social systems. Urban development based on agriculture required more social organization and political management and there is rather scant evidence to show how nascent indigenous urban centres developed. Both in the urban landscape hardware and societal software, the Indianization influence remains. The colonial city took a long time to gestate in the region as with other colonies in the tropical world. The Islamic city in Indonesia is a syncretic representation of indigenous, Indianized and Islamic traditions. Urban nodes in the region have for centuries been the intersections and crossroads of ideas, innovations, world religions, cultures, capital, entrepreneurs and investments.
