Continuity and change: Transformations in the urban history of Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Abstract

In simple terms, transformation is the process that occurs when something changes from one state to another. Irrespective of the definitional nuances in urban and rural research, there is consensus that such events are complex and ongoing. To disentangle the factors and drivers from the outcomes and features, this paper’s conceptual ap-proach differentiates between the transitional process, or the “flow”, and the “status”, which refers to the existing state of affairs at a specific time in the past. My historical analysis, however, in the guise of snapshots, presents several in-between stages in Phnom Penh’s urban development status with particular reference to its urban mor-phology. This angle prioritizes long-term historical and slowly evolving structures also they advancing traditional to societies”