River Cities in Asia uncovers the intimate relationship between rivers and cities in Asia from a multi-disciplinary perspective in the humanities and the social sciences. As rivers have shaped human settlement patterns, economies, culture and rituals, so too have humans impacted the flow and health of rivers. In Asia, the sheer scale of urbanization increases the urgency of addressing challenges facing urban rivers, leading to the importance of historically, socially, and culturally relevant solutions. However, cities are also uneven landscapes of power, affecting chances to achieve holistic ecological approaches. The central premise of River Cities in Asia is that a “river city” is one where proximity between a river and a city exists across time and space, natural and social dimensions. Recognition of these deep connections can help to better contextualize policy solutions aimed at rivers and their ecologies, including human life.

Rita Padawangi is Associate Professor (Sociology) at Singapore University of Social Sciences. She is Coordinator of the Southeast Asia Neighborhoods Network (SEANNET).

Paul Rabé is Coordinator of the Urban Knowledge Network Asia (UKNA), based at the International Institute for Asian Studies in Leiden, and Editor of the Asian Cities Series. He is also Lead Expert in Urban Land Governance at the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Adrian Perkasa is a PhD candidate at Leiden University, and a lecturer in the Department of History, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Airlangga in Indonesia.

List of Illustrations and Captions
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. River Cities in Asia: Waterways in Urban Development and History (Rita Padawangi, Paul Rabé, and Adrian Perkasa)
Chapter 2. Water World to Inundation: River Cities in Southeast Asia, from Old to New Millenium (Howard Dick)
Chapter 3. From the City to the Sea: Riverside Temple Networks in South India (Emma Natalya Stein)
Chapter 4. The Political Economy of Banjarmasin’s River Landscape during the Sultanate Period (1526–1860) (Vera D. Damayanti)
Chapter 5. Through the Passage and Across the Worlds: The Bridge-and-Temple Complex in the Popular Processions in a ‘Rurban’ Town in Jiangnan Region (Xiaomei Zhao)
Chapter 6. Challenges to an Iconic River-City: Contesting Communities, Threatened Heritage and Endangered Ecology in Varanasi (Pralay Kanungo)
Chapter 7. River-Edge Relationships: A Comparison of Riversides in Indonesian Cities (Michaela F. Prescott)
Chapter 8. Recovering the Stream: River Access as a Catalyst for Political Mobilization in Suwon City, South Korea (Youngah Guahk)
Chapter 9. Water’s Edge Urbanisms along the Buckingham Canal in Chennai (Karen Coelho)
Chapter 10. The Social Downside of Flood Control: The Case of a Marginalized Community in Taipei (Kuei-Hsien Liao)
Chapter 11. Hybrid Riverscapes: Governing River Cities beyond Land and Water Dichotomies—the Yamuna in Delhi, India (Alexander Follmann)
Index