ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the factors brought into view by the Asian context that need to be kept in mind when conducting a comparative analysis of cities. Even before the modern era, Asian cities have been strongly influenced by the military and economic advances of Western nations. Many Asian cities have been characterized by both traditional rural norms and order and modern urban lifestyles and values, not being completely separated but rather meshed in varying degrees. Currently, Asian cities have become a distinctive place in which various agents encounter an art of being global. Instant success and structural vulnerability were both the results of globalization in many Asian cities. The experiences of Asian cities show that megacities are highly competitive under globalization and also very vulnerable in many cases for political or environmental reasons, for instance, Djakarta. The idea of public space was incorporated into Asian cities through the introduction of parks or public squares in Western urban planning.
