The urban development of Phnom Penh: "A happy garden with an ever-bright sun"

Authors

Christina Warning

Publication Date

2019-07-01

Abstract

Phnom Penh has been one of Southeast Asia’s fastest growing cities. Throughout the past decades the urban development processes throughout Southeast Asia have led to evictions, many of which have been violent. In many countries, evictions and the violent removal of entire communities has become a defining feature of modern urban development. Phnom Penh is no exception. This paper provides a condensed account of some of the essential urban policy decisions over the past four decades that help to understand the conflicts and fault lines that have shaped the contemporary urban landscape of Phnom Penh. Using the example of an innercity community, which was home to many artists with close connections to the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, the article shows how entire urban spaces in Phnom Penh have been re-designed in line with the needs of an increasingly inter-connected and wealthy political and economic elite.

DOI

10.58837/CHULA.ARV.32.2.2

First Page

23

Last Page

40

Recommended Citation

Warning, Christina (2019) "The urban development of Phnom Penh: "A happy garden with an ever-bright sun"," Asian Review: Vol. 32: No. 2, Article 3.
DOI: 10.58837/CHULA.ARV.32.2.2
Available at: https://digital.car.chula.ac.th/arv/vol32/iss2/3