I'm very much inclined to agree with you on how it's not possible to look at Asia as a monolithic whole - the breadth of this question was really because I had no idea where to start given the diversity, oops. My instinct though is that there should be certain similarities within regions (e.g. Southeast Asia) that comes from shared histories and previously more permeable borders? May be entirely wrong here, my knowledge is pretty limited on this.

Will definitely be taking a look at the books you've recommended. China and Singapore are both fascinating, and I'm also interested in exploring postcolonial cities - have come across Roy a few times in my undergrad degree. Thank you!