Introduction: in search of Asian urbanisms: limited visibility and intellectual impasse

South, East, and Southeast Asia, which we will refer to as Asia in this book, have been undergoing profound social, economic, political, and technological changes for over three decades. This transformation’s impact on the world is profound, and many leading scholars, journalists, and politicians call this the “Asian century.” Curiously, it is the West, not Asia, that is at the center of globalization. Cities and urban spaces in Asia are – within these narratives – nowhere closer to such a century. They are either lagging behind social, economic, and political transformations or taking different paths, mostly Westernizing. We are skeptical about this urban spatiality.