Competing axes, rival dynasties: The new Kingdom of Cambodia

This article discusses the spatial and symbolic politics associated with competing expressions of leadership in the built form of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It does so across two episodes. The first one is the Sangkum era, post-independence, urban modernizations initiated by Prince Norodom Sihanouk. Here royal authority gave expression to an emerging nationhood by establishing a landmark urban axis. The second, and more recent, episode sees an alternative urban axis being initiated by the de facto ruler (until 2023), Prime Minister Hun Sen. Using the disciplinary lens of visual culture and new materialism, the article unpacks the resonances between the two episodes and explores how these are distinct process of “dynasty-making,” one royally and nationally framed, the other politically and globally framed, associated with those forms. The article argues that persistent “strongmen” symbolism and “new monarchy” symbolism are woven into the urban fabric, albeit under very different circumstances.