needed to secure Burma’s national sovereignty and the financial welfare of the Tatmadaw elite. Strategic population reconfiguration was not the only tactic used by the militarystate during the post-1988 era. As part of the campaign to redesign the capital city, the Yangon City Development Law was enacted in May of 1990 formally establishing the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) (Kraas, Gaese & Kyi, 2006). The YCDC was given full autonomy over city planning and maintenance to carry out the responsibilities originally given to its predecessor, the Rangoon City Development Committee, under the Rangoon Municipal Act: Additional powers vested in the Committee by virtue of Yangon City Development Law authorize territorial limits of the city, to operate city development works independently with its own funds, to assess and levy its own taxes, to utilize the funds currency derived from the lease of its own lands and premises for development works and to take loans and grants from the Government or from foreign organizations on its own responsibility. (Khin Maung Phu, n.d.) The YCDC was used as a legitimizing force for the SLORC/SPDC regime in that it had the ability to undertake international joint ventures as well as development and infrastructure projects throughout the capital city. Most of these endeavors greatly benefited individual top-tier members of the military-government at the expense of the civilian population, as they aided in securing the longevity of the SLORC/SPDC on an institutional level. While securing financial endurance was critical concern for the SLORC/SPDC regime, popular support was essential to its survival. To obtain this, the militarygovernment established the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) under the guise of a social welfare body. Founded in 1993 under the SLORC government 35