Straddling the conventionally defined fields of scholarship and practice, the Urban Asia Collaborative expands the boundaries and definitions of urbanism through a multidisciplinary and inclusive approach to Asian cities.

“Transformations” reflects on Asian urban landscapes that have transcended their original Modernist influences, and are now challenging these sources through new guises. It reflects upon urban phenomena that are surfacing distinctly “Asian” post-industrial identities and affirming that origins are not the only ways of understanding something.

In September 2010, the Yamuna River touched the base of Taj Mahal’s 300 m long river-facing terrace for the first time in more than two decades. Heavy rains in north India had raised the river’s water level creating a momentous event in the recent history of the celebrated monument that had fronted a near dry riverbed for too long.