ABSTRACT
This chapter considers anthropological studies which have concentrated on the ways in which urban-dwellers adapt to life in rapidly changing, densely settled, cosmopolitan, open communities. It briefly considers the importance of Clifford Geertz's distinction between the bazaar (informal) and firm (formal) sector in urban social organization. The chapter looks at the anthropological results of these compromise studies in the diverse cityscapes of Dagupan City, Singapore, Surakarta and, briefly, Bangkok. Dagupan City in Central Luzon about 150 kilometres north of Manila has a population of 100,000 and is 'the only fully urban center' in the province of Pangasinan. In the late 1960s, the Singapore government embarked on an urban development programme which aimed, among other things, to re-house its citizens in modern flats and to ensure that all its citizens would be provided with education, amenities and facilities leading to employment.
