Conference proposal (accepted)
17th International Seminar on Urban Form (Hamburg and Lübeck)
`Formation and persistence of townscapes´, ISUF 2010
`Behaviours of settlement´: patterns of inertia and change in the history of Cambodia This paper deals with morphological dynamics of settlement patterns in the south-western part of mainland Southeast Asia. The vicissitudes of Cambodia’s history from pre-Angkorian times to the present offers unique insights in the formation and persistence of townscapes and human settlements. Recently, ancient Angkor has been hallmarked as “the world’s largest preindustrial settlement complex” (PNAS 2007)
1. This paper analyzes the dialectic of form and function over time. It examines first the original morphology of this wide spread, low density settlement, a “hydraulic city” inspired by antique Indian town planning and shaped by environmental constraints. Secondly, the later urban models of that particular region, based on French colonial layouts and modern town management, will be examined, based on extensive field work and personal research in and about the capital Phnom Penh.
Contact & affiliation Thomas K o l n b e r g e r
Junior researcher, MA (Vienna, Austria), Assistant at the University of Luxembourg PhD-cand. (Topic: Urban development of Phnom Penh)
University of Luxembourg
FLHASE (Faculté des Lettres, des Sciences Humaines, des Arts et des Sciences de l’Education) – Research Unit IPSE (Identités, Politiques, Sociétés, Espace)
Route de Diekirch
L-7220 Walferdange, Luxembourg E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (+352) 46 66 44 9639 Fax: (+352) 46 66 44 9900
Universität Passau
Institut für Südostasienkunde (Lehrstuhl II Festlandsüdostasien) Innstraße 43
D-94032 Passau, Deutschland
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