Habitat Defense in Southeast Asian Cities

Abstract

AbstractUsing interviews with public officials and activists as well as research reports available in Southeast Asia, this research compares the level of organization, mobilization and collective action among neolocal urban groups threatened with removal and relocation for large infrastructure projects. The results show that habitat defense is extensive in Bangkok, Jakarta and Manila, but minor or non-existent in Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. A model of collective action is nested in an ecological model to explain differences in level of habitat defense among the six Southeast Asian cities.