Rangoon

► Narrative of historical and contemporary urban change and development. ► Appraisal of transition to the urban form across time. ► Identification and description of contexts shaping urban growth. ► Recognition of threats to urban cultural heritage. Rangoon is the largest city in Burma and dates back more than a 1000years to the Mon Dynasty. It has evolved into a large metropolis that has experienced substantial demographic, economic, and environmental transition. As the largest Burmese settlement in terms of population and extent, and as the nation’s chief port and the center of its commercial and tourism sectors, it has been the site of massive urban growth and environmental change, reflecting the ideological, strategic, and economic goals of Burma’s national government. The population has risen to about 5 million people, instigating considerable suburban sprawl as well as significant transformation of the colonial core. With a significant percentage of the total urban population of Burma now residing in Rangoon, the importance of the city to the country should not be underestimated even though it is no longer the national capital and its infrastructure lags behind that of other major metropolises in South East Asia.