[Virtual Roundtable #11] “Constitutionalism and Megacities in Asia”

Virtual Roundtable #11 on “Constitutionalism and Megacities in Asia” took place last Wednesday afternoon. The Panel comprising Dr Ran Hirschl (University of Toronto), Dr Kevin Tan (National University of Singapore), Dr Chang Wen-Chen (National Chiao Tung University) and Mr Mathew Idiculla (Centre for Law & Policy Research) had a lively discussion on the ideas proposed in Ran Hirschl’s new book “City, State: Constitutionalism and the Megacity”. The session was moderated by CALS Director, Dr Jaclyn Neo.

Prof Hirschl’s book covers several themes, including the silence of the urban in constitutional thought; how constitutions speak about cities; constitutional law and the politics of city status; applying Lefebvre’s ‘right to the city’ to constitutional thought; innovative constitutionalism, etc. The Panel went on to discuss ideas specific to the context of megacities within Asia: India, Taiwan, Korea and the city-state of Singapore. The Q&A featured an interesting discussion on the urban-rural divide, drawing on case studies from South Africa and Mexico city.

The next Virtual Roundtable will take place on 10 December, details coming soon!