ABSTRACT
Comparative research is not new in urban studies. Comparison in this context, however, is not just about identifying similarities and differences by putting “more than one event, object, outcome or process” (Ward 2010: 473) under the same analytical lens, neither is it merely a “systemic study of similarity and difference among cities or urban processes” (Nijman 2007: 1). In fact, scholars have argued that comparative urbanism is about taking a political stance in contributing towards broader theorizations and understandings of urban processes and their consequences on cities and urban life (McFarlane 2010; Robinson 2016). Recent contributions highlight the need to postcolonialize existing urban theories and epistemologies, particularly in reference to cities beyond the Anglo-Western and Global North contexts (O’Callaghan 2012; Peck 2014; Robinson and Roy 2016).
