Abstract                   

Southeast Asian cities have a long history of connectivity, exchange and mobility as they heavily depended on international trade. Key attributes of these cities were the adaptation to changing circumstances and the incorporation of ideas and concepts from outside. Reminiscent of the port city network of the early modern era, new forms of adaptation, urban citation and policy mobility take shape in Southeast Asian cities in the 21st century. In the recent decades, the world has experienced an increased inter-city competition in the context of the global domination of neoliberalism. The constant comparison and competition between cities contributed to the phenomena of policy mobility and urban inter-referencing, which refer to mobile policy practices and their adaptations and underline the significance of urban symbols and images. Asian cities, in particular, serve as examples or follow other Asian cities in urban developments because of the similarities of their experiences of urbanism. The urban inter-referencing further reveals the aspirations of city policy makers to help their city to move up in the ‘hierarchy’ of cities around the world. Throughout Southeast Asia these policy makers look for inspiring models inside and outside of their countries. This presentation discusses several Southeast Asia examples of practices of urban citation, comparison, and competition.