The age of cities is at hand
By Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng
March 2010 EDITORIAL
Urbanisation is not a process that people in Penang think about.This is not strange, since British George Town came into being in 1786 for trading and strategic reasons. And although Singapore would surpass it in many ways over the following century, Penang identity has always presumed a basic urbanity, with the accompanying sense of being locked in by an extensive hinterland beyond its cityscapes.The island’s population did grow very quickly, going from 1,000 one year after Francis Light landed to...
Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng
is the Executive Director of Penang Institute. His latest book is Signals in the Noise: Notes on Penang, Malaysia and the World (Singapore: Faction Press) Homepage: wikibeng.com.
