1st Edition
The Making and Unmaking of Multicultural Colombo A History of Urban Development at the (Post-)Colonial Periphery
Part 1: Background Introduction: Urban development at the (post-)colonial periphery 1. Muslims, Chetties, and the origins of a port city Part 2: Mercantile capitalism 2. Insiders and outsiders in the Portuguese walled city 3. Dutch planners, urban grids, and an orderly life Part 3: Plantation capitalism 4. Plantation capitalism and the bourgeois city 5. Port expansion and the invention of slums Part 4: Post-colonial ethnonationalism 6. Town planners, ethnonationalists and the search for the ‘rural spirit’ 7. A colonial city in a post-colonial nation-state Part 5: Neoliberal urbanism 8. Building a global city in a time of conflict 9. Making way for the World-Class City Part 6: Post-script 10. A rising city in a failing economy Conclusions: Connecting threads
Biography
Sanjaya DeSilva is Associate Professor of Economics and Asian Studies at Bard College, New York. His interdisciplinary teaching and research are at the intersection of economic development, urban studies, and Asian economic history. Born and raised in Colombo, DeSilva holds a Ph.D. in Development Economics from Yale University.
