ABSTRACT
Social, cultural, historical, and physical narratives are observable through different time in history chronologically and synchronically, and through the relationship of different aspects in a certain period of time diachronically. Comprehensive and holistic readings of the city based on a three-dimensional model of time, scale levels, and layers are useful to read the historical morphology of the city. The coastal regions and their hinterlands therefore became fertile grounds for the growth of mixed civilizations, blended urbanism and hybrid architecture. The spread of Hinduism and Buddhism to Southeast Asia through trade also carried the Mandala-based spatial concept that influenced urban patterns by the local rulers. The Southern Chinese diaspora reached the coastal cities of Southeast Asia before the fifteenth century, and this became more intensive during the European colonial period. Town-house dwelling typology is the most important component in the morphology of Southeast Asian cities. In the colonial cities, the interplay between European, Chinese and native urban elements took place.
