ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part describes ethnography to revisit the dichotomy of the formal and informal in studying Southeast Asia's urbanization. There are several approaches to analyze the social production of the urban fabric. The part shows that studying urbanization in Southeast Asia challenges scholars to be able to conduct multifaceted analysis to navigate through various dimensions – physical, social, cultural, political – and to make sense of the interdependency and interweave the various scales of analysis. It offers insight into Henri Lefebvre's "rhythmanalysis" as a tool to analyze how morphological patterns of alleyway neighborhoods result in particular variations of space, time, bodies and senses in their everyday life. Yangon and Mandalay offer a contrast between colonial-influenced morphology and the royal influence. The part discusses various scales of analysis, from the micro level of the everyday formation of public market spaces through social interactions and personalized arrangements.
