Events

CHAIRPERSON

Prof Ho Kong Chong, Asia Research Institute, and Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore

ABSTRACT

Inter-referencing within the global South has become an important development strategy for cities in the region: Singapore, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Seoul emerge as a source of inspiration by other cities in the global South, despite questions about the replicability of their development models. Against this backdrop, this talk scrutinises the practices of South Korean and Singaporean real estate developers who have made a marked presence in Vietnam by building commercial housing estates and new towns targeting Vietnam’s middle or upper classes. By doing so, it examines the extent to which such foreign developers’ participation in Vietnam’s urban and housing development process reflects their own visions of urbanism accumulated through their participation in urban and housing development in their countries of origin, and what such participation resulting in the rise of enclave urbanism means for the spatial justice in Vietnam. The discussions are based on the empirical data (archives, in-depth interviews and observation) collected during the author’s field trips to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in spring and summer 2017.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Hyun Bang Shin is Professor of Geography and Urban Studies in the Department of Geography and Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He is also Director of LSE Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre. Prof Shin’s research centres on the critical analysis of the political economy of urbanisation with particular attention to cities in Asian countries such as Vietnam, Singapore, South Korea, and China. Prof Shin has published widely in major international journals and contributed to numerous books on the above themes. His most recent books include Planetary Gentrification (Polity Press, 2016), Global Gentrifications: Uneven Development and Displacement (Policy Press, 2015), and Neoliberal Urbanism, Contested Cities and Housing in Asia (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019). Other forthcoming books include The Political Economy of Mega Projects in Asia (Routledge) and Making China Urban (Routledge). Prof Shin is a trustee of the Urban Studies Foundation, sits on the international advisory board of the journal Antipode and serves on the editorial boards of major journals including CITY, Urban Geography, and from January 2020, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research.

REGISTRATION

Admission is free. We would greatly appreciate if you complete the form below to RSVP.