From a Colonial Institution to a Neoliberal Real Estate Developer
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
From a colonial institution to a neoliberal real estate developer: Comparative analysis of universities in the urban process in East Asia Do Young Oh The London School of Economics and Political Science A thesis submitted to the Department of Geography and Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, September 2017 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 93,021 words. Statement of use of third party for editorial help I can confirm that my thesis was copy edited for conventions of language, spelling and grammar by Kieran Erie Nelson. - 2 - Abstract This thesis investigates the question of how East Asian universities have engaged in urban processes as spatially grounded variegated social processes from the colonial era to recent decades by adopting a comparative urbanism approach. Historically, universities in the US and Europe have been influential urbanisation actors in their hosting cities, having occupied a substantial amount of land. The relationship between a university and its hosting city was often defined as ‘Town and Gown’; that implies an adversarial link, but this traditional relationship has changed. Universities in East Asia have also participated in urbanisation processes in diverse ways since their birth, but the dynamics behind this multi-faceted process has rarely been addressed. Using research data collected mainly from fieldwork in Singapore and South Korea, including 42 interviews and archival records, this thesis highlights the relationship between universities and cities in East Asia, focusing on three distinctive periods: the colonial, developmental, and postdevelopmental eras. In all these enquiries, land ownership by universities acts as a thread that weaves the diverse facets of the role of universities into different periods. The findings of this thesis can be summarised as follows: Firstly, colonialism has been influential in the university-urbanisation relationship. During the colonial era, the East Asian university emerged as a symbolic and political institution in the city. Various colonial and local actors surrounded the colonial universities to promote or fight against the ideology of imperialism, which demonstrates the diverse aspects of colonialism in cities of East Asia. Such legacies of colonialism are still found today. Secondly, the East Asian developmental state is a variegated concept. The university plays an important role in society, but the way in which the university engages with the developmental state has varied across geographies. The developmental state attempted to utilise universities to support rapid economic and urban development, but such efforts were not always successful. This finding challenges the conventional understanding that assumes a homogeneous conceptualisation of the East Asian developmental state. Lastly, the entrepreneurial character of East Asian universities has become increasingly evident while the presence of the state is still visible. Thus the role of East Asian universities in urban processes has also become more diverse and dynamic in the postdevelopmental state - 3 - since the 1990s. While the entrepreneurial university has a long history in East Asia, the globalised and financialised interests are penetrating the university more actively through various urban development projects. This thesis concludes that there is an emerging need to recognise East Asian universities as land-based institutions playing an influential role in diverse and uneven urban processes. Investigating universities also provides an opportunity to identify linkages between their colonial legacies and contemporary urban processes in East Asia. - 4 - Acknowledgement This research would not have been completed without the support of those people I met over four years of my time at LSE. I might not realise that I am truly blessed to have such great people if I did not do my PhD. For me, writing a PhD thesis was thus not only an intellectual journey but also an opportunity to look around and appreciate people surrounding myself. To name a few here: First, I owe my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Hyun Bang Shin, for his full support, patient guidance, and constructive comments throughout the research. I truly feel proud and lucky to be his student. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Dr Tim Bunnell, my adviser at the National University of Singapore, for his support for my fieldwork in Singapore. LSE PhD Mobility Scheme and Santander Travel Research Fund also facilitate my fieldwork in Singapore. I cannot mention their names here, but I am very grateful to those who kindly agreed to be interviewed in Singapore and Korea to share their time and knowledge with me. My sincere gratitude also goes to all the people who supported my research including my review supervisor Dr Murray Low, Dr Nancy Holman, Dr Alan Mace, Dr Jung Won Sonn, Dr HaeRan Shin, Prof JeSook Song, and senior researchers at the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, the Korea Land and Housing Institute, and the Seoul Institute. My former teachers and colleagues at University College London, including Dr Claire Colomb, Prof Nick Phelps, Naofumi Araya, Petr Návrat, and Joaquim Guitart, also showed constant support. I would also like to acknowledge some of my colleagues for their support. Thank you very much, Dr Sin Yee Koh, Dr Yimin Zhao, Dr Mara Nogueira-Teixeira, Ulises, Yi, Laura, Didi, Harry, Pablo, and many others including whom I met at the Korean PhD Student and Researchers in the UK. Finally, I am deeply indebted to my family in Korea and my wife, Jia, for their unconditional support they have given me. This thesis would not have been completed without their support. - 5 - Abbreviations CBD Central Building District EDB (Singapore) Economic Development Board GDP Gross domestic product HDB (Singapore) Housing & Development Board HUDC (Singapore) Housing and Urban Development Company IAAP (Singapore) International Academic Advisory Panel JTC JTC Corporation (formerly Jurong Town Corporation) KRW Korean Won MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology NTU (Singapore) Nanyang Technological University NUS National University of Singapore OED NUS Office of Estate and Development OMA (Netherland) Office for Metropolitan Architecture PAP (Singapore) People's Action Party PCUSA Presbyterian Church in the United States of America PPP Public-Private Partnership S$ Singapore dollar SMU Singapore Management University - 6 - SMR Seoul Metropolitan Region SUTD Singapore University of Technology and Design UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNDP United Nations Development Programme URA (Singapore) Urban Redevelopment Authority USAMGIK United States Army Military Government in Korea USFK United States Forces Korea USD US dollar UTown NUS University Town WCU (Singapore) World Class University Programme - 7 - Table of Contents Declaration .................................................................................................................. 2 Statement of use of third party for editorial help ................................................... 2 Abstract ....................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgement ...................................................................................................... 5 Abbreviations ............................................................................................................. 6 Table of Contents ....................................................................................................... 8 List of Tables ............................................................................................................ 12 List of Figures ........................................................................................................... 14 List of Boxes .............................................................................................................. 17 Introduction .......................................................................................... 18 1.1. Research contexts: university and the city .................................................................. 21 1.2. Research questions ...................................................................................................... 27 1.3. Thesis overview .......................................................................................................... 30 Theoretical framework: Locating the East Asian university in the urban process ............................................................................................................ 33 2.1. The urban university in the capital circuits ................................................................. 35 2.1.1. The university in the process