A Study On The Urban Development In Rangoon During British Colonial Era(1852-1942)

Rangoon is located in the lower delta of the Irrawaddy River and has long been known as a Buddhist holy place in Burma since ancient times.It was occupied by the British during the Second Anglo-Burmese War and entered the 90-year period of British colonial rule.During this period,Rangoon developed into the largest city in Burma and the capital of Burma.In order to enhance the authority of British colonial rule in Rangoon,the colonial government introduced modern urban concepts to re-plan Rangoon,and used a large number of immigrants to build the city.The positioning of Rangoon as a new colonial city serving the British empire led to the British’s predatory rule in Rangoon.At the same time,Rangoon also started the process of modernization and became a window for Burma to connect with the global market.Rangoon was a representative colonial city and immigrant city in Southeast Asia.This paper explores the urban development of Rangoon from 1852 to 1942.Firstly,it reviews the development history of Rangoon before the British colonial rule,discusses the natural geographical location of Rangoon and the construction of Rangoon by successive dynasties.Secondly,it explains the two planning schemes proposed by William Montgomery and Alexander Fraser after the British occupation of Rangoon,and the colonial government’s choice,orientation and planning thoughts of Rangoon’s urban planning.Thirdly,it explores the urban construction of Rangoon during the British colonial rule from the aspects of urban space construction,urban management mechanism and urban development power.Finally,it explores the confrontation between coloniality and nationality,modernity and tradition in the process of Rangoon’s urban development.Through sorting out and exploring the history of Rangoon’s urban development,this paper holds that time,space,history and culture,colonial government decision and city orientation and other factors jointly affected the development course and development path of Rangoon.Among them,the decision and rule of the colonial government had the most far-reaching influence.The rule of the colonial government in Rangoon shaped a modern Rangoon full of colonial color,and the colonial rule spawned the growing nationalist power to push the people of Rangoon to resist the dual colonial rule of Britain and India.