Life between china town

Theories of Architecture And Urbanism (ARC61303/ARC2224) Project Part 2: Comparative analysis essays

By: Amir Fauzan Amiruddin 0321844 Tutor: Mr Nazmi Anuar

Life between China-Town Past and present of China-Town There is strong emotion of ChinaTown which is the sole of traditional Chinese people who still live there in urban KL. This allowing Chinatown remains one of the most charming places in the city. The heritage beauty of shop houses that were built in the 1900s are able to transcend the generation as a living culture. Wet market, Petaling Street, pasar karat, Sri mahamariaman temple and guan di temple those are all familiar ingredients of a warm neighborhood.

The China Town originated from centered of a market square at Jalan Tun H.S. Lee or known as High Street. A lot of wealthy shop owner decided to build their shop houses along the High Street due to its higher level compared to other places. In the early 20th century, Chinese immigrants mainly from Fujian and Guangdong province were attracted by the prospect of work in the tin mines and rubber plantations.

They moved here to look for a better life due to the economy in China was bad during that time. They work as coolies in the mines. In 1870, a civil war was declared between two secret societies, the Hokkien Ghee Hin and the Hakka Hai San. The civil war has affected the economy and supply chain which force the British to lead to stop the war. Many buildings and street were destroyed and damaged during the long period of civil war. Mines abandoned and cause it to become flooded. After the war, miners returned to the mines and discovered that the mines are no longer able to function again. The famous Chinese Kapitan, Kapitan Yap Ah Loy then persuaded miners and coolies to stay in Kuala Lumpur and encouraged Malays to grow crops. He then opened a Tapioca Mill in Petaling Street where the farm products of his will bring to the ground into flour. Petaling Street was known as ‘Chee Ceong Kai’ which means Starch Factory Street in Cantonese.

China-Town is strongly influenced by Chinese culture. Chinese traditional goods like snacks, decorative items and clothes can be easily found here. Traders here was mainly Chinese however due to the maintenance and ageing of the owner, they slowly replaced by Bangladeshi traders. Most of the shophouses are well maintained and being use for businesses like restaurants, souvenir shop, photo shops, book store and cyber café. Some of the shops are still maintain its traditional business such as barber, antique shops and florist. Some alleys are used for illegal food stalls.

One interesting things about China-Town is, it became a popular gather place to protest about the developments and political related. Dated back to 2012, more than 800 people protested along Jalan Sultan due to the demolition of historical shophouses for the construction of My Rapid Transit (MRT) project. There are many culture and religion attraction in Petaling Street. A stone's throw away is the Central Market of Kuala Lumpur. Here you will be able to experience the rich culture of all the races in Malaysia. In the market, there are the Lorong Melayu, Lorong India and Straits Chinese which allows visitors to understand more of the difference in the culture of our people. At the Central Market is also the place to get souvenirs which are all locally made such as kebaya, batik, songket and handicrafts. The Sri Mahamariamman Temple which is located at the edge of Petaling Street is the richest and oldest Hindu temple you can find in Kuala Lumpur. Its history dates back to the year of 1873 and has since been an important place of worship for the Indians here. Due to its history and influence, this temple is a vital part of the culture and heritage of Malaysia. At the end of Petaling Street, you can further explore the Chan See Shu Yuen Temple which dates to 1906. The interior of this building features open courtyard pavilions, intricate carvings and paintings. On the exterior, the temple depicts elaborate glazed ceramic sculptures which grace the facade and roof ridges. In 2003, Petaling Street underwent a major RM11 million facelift. Two large Chinese style arches to welcome visitors were placed at either end of the street.

A green translucent roof cover was constructed, covering the whole street, dubbed the"Green Dragon".

The street is now totally pedestrianized and transformed into a pedestrian shopping mall. The Street is regarded as a heritage site Today, waves of gentrification flood the city, and China Town itself, sitting on the prime land is directly in its path. Although no original residents or retailers have been forcibly evicted, many have fallen lure due to high rental cost. KL118 Tower, monorail, River of Life project probably will cause a heritage enclave of China Town instead of uplifting it as brand new identity. The influx of foreign workers setting up shop here over the years and hipsters cafĂŠ had begun replacing the old businesses. The continuing tussle between its fading past and urban revival is affecting the social behavior. It remains bustling with activity and has a sense of purpose as its inhabitants are either trader selling their wares or travelers and visitors curious about what this place has to offer. But what is noticeably different is the growing absence of its past, the old faces who breathe life and character into this historical spot in the heart of the capital city.

Contact Points on Jalan Petaling: 1. Petaling Street 2. Pasar Karat 3. Lorong Petaling 4. Jalan Petaling 5. Lorong Panggung 6. Wet Market

th

9 Avenue, Meet Packing District, Manhattan, New York A neighborhood located in the New York City borough of Manhattan that runs roughly from West 14th Street south to Gansevoort Street, and from the Hudson River east to Hudson Street.

Slaughterhouses and packing plants have filled most of the district, which makes it the nation’s third – largest volume of dressed meats. Originally is an indian trail in 1811,then the city created landfill at the foot of Old Kill and erected a fort there .it was named Fort Gansevoort after general Peter Gansevoort who during American Revolution.

Now as time passes by the district have changed into a more commercial district that consists of boutique and bars while still preserving the old Meatpacking District that was known years ago.

Furthermore, the focus of this assignment is on the 9th Avenue which are part of the district where we will be comparing and analysis if either the theory of Jan Gehl relates back to the current state of urban city on the 9th Avenue of Meatpacking District.

Contact points on Meatpacking District

th

Jalan Petaling and 9 Avenue, Meat Packing District The studies and observations of this essay written were carried out base on comparison between Jalan Petaling in China Town, Kuala Lumpur and Meat packing district in Manhattan, New York. It is an expression for a fascinating range of human activities between the cities as society develops and changes, and new knowledge and insight are gained, new viewpoints arise.

The social heart of the Jalan Petaling is centered between clusters of commercial areas and designated place for city interchange such as bus terminal, taxi hub and train station. Patterns of movements can be analyzed using Gehl’s categories of activities.

Based on my observation, people going to China Town are coming from carparks, bus station, taxi hub and trains station.

It becomes necessary activities as some of them who working there. There are also schools and college located there. Students are mostly will pass by the commercial areas to buy food before and after school.

The social pattern also can become an optional activity. As I observed, Jalan Petaling act as transit route between places. For example, foreign construction worker from KL 118 tower site returning home using Jalan Petaling, most of them live somewhere at Jalan Pudu. Other than that, mostly people who work around there will go to China Town during lunch as it providing many kind of food there. Not only within the shop houses but food stalls also are located on the back alleys. Social activities happening in China Town such as wet market, Lorong panggung, Petaling Street and Pasar Karat are main attraction for the local and tourist to visit. Those spaces are highly optional for people meet and greet as it providing good quality of environment.

Petaling Street (left), Wet market (right) Petaling Street and Wet Market are chock-full of shops and stalls selling goods and food. The area has dozens of restaurants, markets and food stalls, serving local favorites which make it one of the tourist attractions. Petaling Street is pedestrianized and transformed into a Pedestrian shopping mall covered by green translucent roof. Wet market also is covered by galvanized roof. People are well shaded from sunlight and rain. This shading device structure creating a high level of contact point where there are a lot of people going to Petaling Street and the high level of social interaction between the vendors and customers that are always communicate during the trading process. Based on Jan Gehl Theory, “it is generally true that people and human activities attract other people..” In addition, this activity is shown that presence of human activity is stimulating others to interact not only with the people but also the surrounding context such as weather.

Meanwhile in Meat packing district, most shop’s walkaways are covered by temporary shading devices.

People are still socializing within it as they are more likely to be exposing under the sunlight. During winter, activities occur inside the building due to cold weather

Other than that, there are different width of walkway between China Town shop houses and building’s in Meat Packing District. In China Town, walkaways are narrow shaded corridors. It is a regulation in our country by providing it in every shop houses. While in cold climate country, such as in Meat Packing District, the walkaway width is twice as ours and opened air. Both of physical characteristic has different kind of individualistic sense of space. In Chinatown, although the corridors are shaded, it providing poor contact point for people to optionally stop due to its narrow path. Comparing to the buildings in Meat Packing, the width of walkaway are huge which some shop owners utilized that space as seating areas that can create high intensity of social interaction. But during winter that area becomes useless.

A source of inspiration in China Town mostly can occur on any hipster cafÊ that available which enlighten the social activities of that place. The young generations that took over the shop houses and growing number of entrepreneurs are seeing the value in ensuring that the history and allure of Petaling Street is kept alive. For an example, Chocha foodstore located at the end of Jalan Petaling , just off one corner of Jalan Sultan, an old double-storey shophouse in Chinatown which used to be a dilapidated, abandoned building frequented by drug addicts now serves as a restaurant. The unique decoration of the restaurant shows that this shop has a high intensity of contact point where many people come to the shop and it becomes one of the famous tourist spot in the area. This relates to Jan Gehl’s theory on a possible access to contact at other levels where from a simple level, contacts can grow to other levels as the participant wish. Today, Chocha foodstore become a landmarks of China Town squeezed into yet another former brothel on the same street as smash hits Merchant's Lane.

Likewise in Meat Packing district, high end retailer began to moving in and establishing themselves in the old factories which became the catalyst for the district's transformation. Today, Meatpacking district is a vibrant neighborhood of remaining meatpacker , high end retailer, office , club , galleries , restaurant & apartment , all helping retain a strong market place.

Dissimilarity that I found between these streets is activity on back alley. In China Town back alleys are activated with social and economic life. Local vendors utilized the wide sidewalks to set up well prepare outdoor sittings for people to sit and enjoy the street food.

(Pasar Karat, Lorong Petaling, Loorng Panggung.)

This relates to Jan Gehl’s theory on outdoor activities and quality of outdoor space. He mentioned when outdoor areas are of high quality, necessary activities take place with a wide range of optional activities because the place and situation invites people to stop, sit, eat, play and so on.

While in Meat packing district, open spaced and back alleys are belongs to residential private area which pedestrian cannot enter or cross. This activity according to Jan Gehl, when outdoor areas are of poor quality, only strictly necessary activities occur.

The diagrams above shows that there are no or probably limited permeability and transparency between block of buildings. While in Petaling Street such as Lorong Petaling, back lanes allows users to turn and follow alternate path or shortcuts to cross through in accordance to their ease.

Life between buildings comprises the entire spectrum of activities, which combine to make communal spaces in cities meaningful and attractive. China Town and Meat packing district have their own identity to define the social behavior in relation with the space quality, environment and surrounding. In my th opinion, 9 Avenue, Meat Packing District providing higher intensity of social interaction compered to China Town. This is because, it provided very interesting city planning layout that are well organized between public and private spaces. The color scheme and proportion of the façade also are well maintained and respecting the surrounding context which preserved the heritage identity of Meat Packing District. I believe, these are the keys to make the cities meaningful and attractive to the locals. As a conclusion, modernization and economic rejuvenation don’t always mean erecting more commercial edifices and malls. A country, a city, or a neighborhood will never exist in the present without its heritage and stories.

2314 words