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Resistance for Resilience: A Reflexive Exploration of Battambang, Cambodia

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Urban Climate Resilience in Southeast Asia

Part of the book series: The Urban Book Series ((UBS))

Abstract

As a secondary city in Cambodia, Battambang has been facing increasing flooding under the pressure of urbanization, modernization, and climate change. Like many other Southeast Asian cities, the issue of land use and management is perhaps the most contentious and significant issue in Battambang, linked closely with building urban climate resilience. This chapter utilizes a reflexive exploration to investigate urban resilience in Battambang. Using researcher interviews, this study showcases different layers of resilience with an emphasis on the conflicts of power hierarchies. We demonstrate a more proactive perspective of resilience by revealing forms of resistance among disadvantaged populations. This perspective is seldom presented in current resilience studies.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The frying pan is the literal meaning in Khmer, which describes how the location is flooded like a lake.

  2. 2.

    Free riders are people who receive land but did not pay or qualify for it. The practice generates tension and even conflicts regarding land distribution and management.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Natural Resource Management and Development, Faculty of Development Studies, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Federation of Russia Blvd, Toul Kork, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

    Try Thuon

  2. Urban Climate Resilience in Southeast Asia Partnership, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, 1 Devonshire Place, Toronto, ON, M5S 3K7, Canada

    Yanjun Cai

Authors
  1. Try Thuon
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  2. Yanjun Cai
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yanjun Cai .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Planning, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada

    Amrita G. Daniere

  2. Vulnerability Assessment Risk Management and Adaptive Planning (VARMAP), Institute for Environment and Human Security, United Nations University, Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

    Matthias Garschagen

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Thuon, T., Cai, Y. (2019). Resistance for Resilience: A Reflexive Exploration of Battambang, Cambodia. In: Daniere, A., Garschagen, M. (eds) Urban Climate Resilience in Southeast Asia. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98968-6_7

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