01
Foreword.
Why the old street does seems welcoming? Because the public space scale is appropriate, it is not grand and monotonous; the space is not separated by the wide motorway, the connection is close; the spatial function is diversified, and the various activities of various people are more harmonious.
'The street is the river of life of the city, the place where we come together, the pathway to the center.' (William H. Whyte) This shows us how streets and public spaces are generally the support system of the city and of its civic dimension. Both in the formal and informal city, the streets and the public spaces are the main collective places for community interaction, where people talk, discuss, share, buy, sell and exchange.
This comparative analysis paper refers to aspects of urban form, morphology and spatial patterns of 2 existing streets, Jalan Stesen 1 in Klang of Malaysia and Escolta Street in Manila of Philippines; exploring the similarities and dissimilarities in terms of contact points, contact intensity and activities are being studied and analysed accordingly in reference to Jan Gehl's Life between Buildings.
Content.
1.0
Foreword
01
2.0
Introduction of Streets
03
3.0
Literature Reviews
05
4.0
Contact Points of Jalan Stesen
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5.0
Contact Points of Escolta Street
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6.0 -
Contact Points Comparative Analysis Contact Point 1 Contact Point 2 Contact Point 3 Contact Point 4 Contact Point 5
12 12 14 15 17 19
7.0
Conclusion
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8.0
References
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03
2.0 Introduction of Streets Introduction to Jalan Stesen , Klang, Malaysia
Figure 2.1: Tin mining in Klang (Wong, 2018) Figure 2.5: Jalan Stesen (Wong, 2018)
Figure 2.2: Urbanization took place in Klang (Wong, 2018)
Figure 2.3: Demolition of rows of shophouses to build new bridge (Wong, 2018)
Klang Railway Station was built in 1890. The road that intersects the station, “Jalan Stesen” was named after it. The construction of the railway station has promoted the economic growth in that area. As a response to that, businessmen choose to build the shophouses near the railway station, facing the main street which is “Jalan Stesen” in order to attract more customers. Jalan Stesen was once a tourist-potential street during 1950 but the glory of Jalan Stesen did not last for over 30 years. This was due to two factors: the development of Klang City Centre in the northern Klang and inflation. In 1980, the Klang Bridge was built to connect the southern part of Klang to the northern part where the new city centre is located. The new town attracted people to move and settled there, causing the streets to lose attention from the community. Not only that, bridge also altered the circulation around and to the streets, limiting the accessibility to the once multi-accessible area. As a result, dispersion occurred and the business there started to plummet. As the population of the street decreased, many shops were closed down and gradually, Jalan Stesen was no longer a promenade that was once crowded by the public. It was left to age on its own.
Figure 2.4: Most of the shophouses turned into abandoned lots (Wong, 2018)
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Introduction to Escolta Street, Manila, Philippines.
Figure 2.6: Escolta was concentrated with immigrant merchants (Manila Bulletin Newsbit, 2017)
Figure 2.10: Escolta Street (Wong, 2018)
Escolta Street is a historic east-west street located in the old downtown district of Binondo in Manila, Philippines. It runs parallel to the Pasig River, from Plaza Santa Cruz to Plaza Moraga and Quintin Paredes Street. The street is home to several fine examples of early skyscraper design in the Figure 2.7: Escolta flourished into fashionable street (Manila Nostalgic, 2012)
Philippines. In Spanish, it is known as calle de la Escolta. Its definition as a historic financial district includes Escolta and other surrounding streets of Binondo and Santa Cruz. Escolta was known for its concentration of immigrant merchants, mainly from Fujian, China, who came to make their fortune during the Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade. The street was lined with shops and boutiques selling imported goods from China,
Figure 2.8: Escolta ravaged by Japanese troops (Manila Nostalgic, 2012)
Europe and elsewhere in Latin America that arrived in the nearby port of San Nicolas. By the late 19th century, Escolta flourished into a fashionable business district hosting the city's tallest buildings as well as the Manila Stock Exchange. The shops were replaced by modern department stores and an electric tram line known as tranvia plied the street. Escolta served as the city's primary commercial district until its decline in the 1960s when
Figure 2.9: Remained static after reconstruction (Manila Nostalgic, 2012)
the center of business gradually shifted to Makati.
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3.0 Literature Reviews
Figure 3.1: Representation of the relationship between the quality of outdoor spaces and the rate of occurrence of outdoor activities. (Gahl, 2011)
Figure 3.2: Different qualities of physical environment lead to varying degrees of contact intensity. (Gahl, 2011)
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4.0 Contact Points in Jalan Stesen, Klang
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Contact Points in Jalan Stesen, Klang
CONTACT POINT
Outdoor Quality 1. Frontage of Biz Hotel
CONTACT INTENSITY
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
LOW - MODERATE
NECESSARY ACTIVITY - People crossing road - People passing by
Passive Contact:
Able to see people dining in at the neighboring shops Chance Contact: Bump into friends
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY - People stop and looking for their next journey - Waiting for friends - Walk into Biz Hotel SOCIAL ACTIVITY - Ask for directions.
LOW - HIGH Street Typology 2. Scorpio Stationery Shop
Closed Contact: Visiting the shops with friends. Passive Contact: Passing by despite of no interest but still can see and hear the content of the shop
LOW - MODERATE Public Realm 3. Car Park
Passive Contact: Searching for parking
NECESSARY ACTIVITY - People walking through it to reach their destination OPTIONAL ACTIVITY - People stop by at by the shop and go in - Window shopping SOCIAL ACTIVITY - Conversation between seller and buyer NECESSARY ACTIVITY - Car parking - People passing by OPTIONAL ACTIVITY - Taking photos - Waiting in the car SOCIAL ACTIVITY - Conversation with car park operators and other drivers
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CONTACT POINT
CONTACT INTENSITY
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
MODERATE - HIGH
Zone for Staying 4. Cendol Stall at Alley
Passive Contact: Passing by despite of no interest but still can see, smell and hear the content of the stalls Closed Contact: Visiting the stall with friends to have local desserts Chance Contact: Bump into friends
NECESSARY ACTIVITY - People passing by to reach destination - People from or through the alley walking between the stall’s furnitures OPTIONAL ACTIVITY - Sitting down to rest and eat SOCIAL ACTIVITY - Chat with friends while waiting or during meals.
LOW-MODERATE
Urban Wall 4. Restaurant Ban Lee
Passive Contact: Passing by despite of no interest but still can slightly see and hear the content of the restaurant Closed Contact: Visiting the restaurant with friends to have meal Chance Contact: Bump into friends
NECESSARY ACTIVITY - People passing by to reach destination - Ordering food and drinks OPTIONAL ACTIVITY - Sitting down to rest and eat SOCIAL ACTIVITY - Chat with friends while waiting or during meals.
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4.0 Contact Points in Jalan Stesen, Klang
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Contact Points in Escolta Street, Manila
CONTACT POINT
CONTACT INTENSITY
MODERATE - HIGH
Outdoor Quality 1. Bank of the Philippine Islands
Passive Contact: - Modes of transport that pass by, including taxis, cars and buses - Vehicular noise Closed Contact: Groups of tourist visiting the place Chance Contact: Asking for directions
LOW - HIGH Street Typology 2. First United Building
Closed Contact: Visiting the market with friends. Passive Contact: People simultaneously shopping at the market.
MODERATE - HIGH Public Realm 3. Bridge
Passive Contact: Passing by despite of no interest but still can see, smell and hear the content of the stalls Chance Contact: Asking for directions
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES NECESSARY ACTIVITY Running errand, crossing road OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: - Stop and buy food from street vendors, - Waiting for taxi, - Taking Photos - Sitting down on stairs SOCIAL ACTIVITY - Observe surrounding while waiting for transport or friends - Ask for directions. NECESSARY ACTIVITY - People walking through it to reach their destination OPTIONAL ACTIVITY - People stop by at by the stall and browsing goods - Taking photos SOCIAL ACTIVITY - Conservation between seller and buyer NECESSARY ACTIVITY - People passing by to reach destination. OPTIONAL ACTIVITY - Sitting down or leaning to rest. - Buying food from street vendors SOCIAL ACTIVITY - Observe surrounding while resting. - Conservation between seller and buyer
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CONTACT POINT
Zone for Staying 4. Street Vendor Stalls
CONTACT INTENSITY
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
LOW - HIGH
NECESSARY ACTIVITY - Street vendors preparing and selling food.
Passive Contact: Passing by despite of no interest but still can see the content of the vendor stalls. Closed Contact: Visiting the stall with friends to have local desserts. Chance Contact: Bump into friends.
OPTIONAL ACTIVITY - People stop by to buy food. SOCIAL ACTIVITY - Watching vendors preparing food. - Talk to vendors while waiting for food - Chat with friends while waiting or during meals.
MODERATE- HIGH
Urban Wall 5. Delta Showroom (Boutique Shop)
Passive Contact: Passing by despite of no interest but still can see the clothes display at the glass facade. Closed Contact: Visiting the shop with friends. Chance Contact: Bump into friends.
NECESSARY ACTIVITY - People ad vehicles passing through to reach their destination OPTIONAL ACTIVITY - People patronizes the shop SOCIAL ACTIVITY - Ask the seller for more product details
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1/ Contact Point Street Typology
According to Jan Gehl, activities grow from inward, from the edge toward the middle of public spaces, which is described as ‘edge effect’. (Gehl, 2011, p.149)
Jalan Stesen 1 In Jalan Stesen 1, the street consists of 3 elements which is the main road for vehicular circulation, side parking and the 5 foot walkway. Diagram 6.1: Human activities are carry out in the five foot walkway in Jalan Stesen.
Figure 6.1: The sellers displays his products at the 5-foot walkway to increase the passive contact of passer-by despite of no interest but still can see the content of the shop. (Google Earth, 2017)
The 5 foot walkway acts as recessed entrances which provide protection for harsh sun and also vehicular traffic. Merchants, incidentally, have always known that it is all-important to be located precisely where people pass by and to have display windows facing the street. (Gehl, 2011, p.115) The vendors would also extend their goods or dining tables at the 5 foot walkway to attract the people walking along the street. A high intensity of contact can be observed along the narrow walkway as the intimacy level is high in reference to proxemics, the human spatial bubble by Edward T Hall. When walking routes are placed at the edge of an open space, pedestrians may enjoy the best of both worlds: closeness, intensity, and detail on one side. (Gehl, 2011, p.140) With intimate distance to the shops while walking along 5 foot walkway, it increases the potential
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for optional activities as pedestrian will be more visually engaged to the activities in the shops.
Diagram 6.2: Human activities are carry out in the five foot walkway and also in the Escolta Street itself.
Escolta Street In terms of street typology, the slightly difference between Escolta Street and Jalan Stesen 1 is the street is wider than Jalan Stesen 1, it provides opportunity for the vendors to carry out business here. Besides, vendors in Escolta Street not only spilling their business at 5 foot walkway, but beyond it. For instance, the Saturday art market in First United Building, the street in between was abuzz with people, hovering around tents, bazaars and walking around. The pedestrians will have to choose to walk at the 5 foot walkway or on the street road itself.
Figure 6.2: Stalls extend out from five foot walkway to better attract the visitors. (Escolta Nostalgic, 2017)
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2/ Contact Point Outdoor Quality
When outdoor areas are of poor quality, only strictly necessary activities occur. (Gehl, 2011, p.11) Jalan Stesen Wide pavements (Figure 4) in front of the shops that are supposed to facilitate human traffic are ironically avoided due to its direct exposure to harsh weather. Without seating and basic shades, pedestrians are not likely to stay at this space for long. Moreover, growth of trees and shrubs in this open space are too small and inconsistent to play a big part in shading pedestrian. Thus, the optional activities of people lingering around this area decreases in efficiency. Figure 6.3: The building setbacks is too exposed to sunlight and the lack of facilities make the people won’t likely to stop at this space. (Tok, 2018)
Escolta Street In contrary, the open space in front of Bank of the Philippine Islands sits at the corner where the big roads, Escolta Street and Santa Cruz Street intersect. The stairway in front of the bank provides a secondary seating for the pedestrians to pause at that space. Although the space is fully exposed without roof and sun shade, the presence of zebra crossing in this heavy traffic at least bring people from opposite place to here to stop and this creates a chance of contact. Figure 6.4: The recessed entrance of the bank is smaller than the Biz Hotel but with the presence of secondary seating and bigger scale of the building that creating shadow, it allowing more possibilities for people to pause at this place instead of just directly passing through. (Google Earth, 2017)
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3/ Contact Point Public Realm
If there is something to do, there may also be something to talk about afterward. Necessary, optional, and social activities are interwoven in countless subtle ways. (Gehl, 2011, p.119)
Jalan Stesen The quality of the outdoor open space is unfavourable. Although there are lack of open spaces and activities along the street, there are no seatings and shade provided and the area is quite exposed to sun during the day while too dark at night. Adverse surface conditions can also have a negative influence on pedestrian travel. (Gehl, 2011, p.135) Pedestrians will choose to walk on the cement pavement of the alley rather than the soil pavement which will have uneven surface with cavity holes.
Figure 6.5: The soil and stone pavement make the walking experience become unfavourable especially during raining. This makes the space being utilized as an open car park. (Liew, 2018)
Diagram 6.5: Site section at car park in Jalan Stesen.
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Escolta Street Similarly, there is also a presence of open space along Escolta Street but the street vendors took the advantage of the wide outdoor pavement of the bridge to open up their business route. The good space quality of the bridge creates high opportunity for optional and social contact. Secondary seatings allow pedestrians to lean on or sit on concrete railing of bridge to rest and enjoy observing the surrounding.
Figure 6.6: A proper pavement is provided and railings acts as a secondary seating allowing more people to utilize this space. (Google Earth, 2017)
People attracts people. (Gehl, 2011, p.23) Unlike the cendol stall in Jalan Stesen 1, the bridge has higher chance for social engagement as it is located near to the tourist hotspot which has a high visibility from the street. Thus, the presence of people’s activity can acts as a form of attraction which brings about interest and curiosity to attract more and more people.
Diagram 6.6: Site section at bridge in Escolta Street.
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4/ Contact Point Zone for Staying
It can be very difficult to find places to stop if the spaces are not equipped with benches, columns, plants, trees, and so forth . (Gehl, 2011, p.153) However, contrast can be seen in both spaces regarding the optional and social activities due to the quality of the spaces.
Figure 6.7: The cendol stall located at a inconspicuous site but due to the provided seating, people will likely to stay longer. (Liew, 2018)
Jalan Stesen 1 Seatings provides an opportunity to stay. (Gehl, 2011, p.159) The presence of primary seatings and roof in this cendol stall improve the quality of the space even though the location of the stall is quite hidden and less visible compared to the street vendor stalls in Escolta Street. This makes the customers feel invited and are more likely to sit and eat their food on small plastic stools. The longer the outdoor stays in an area last, the greater are the chances that friends and neighbors meet and talk. (Gehl, 2011, p.168)
Diagram 6.7: Layout of alley cendol stall showing some pause point (furnitures) for people to stop and rest.
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Escolta Street In contrary, the vendors stalls are located beside the main street where it can be clearly noticed by the passer-by. The vendors in Escolta Street is mostly mobile vendors stall where there is less space to stop. But the lack of seatings and sun protection make the customers are more likely to be ‘on the go’ and therefore decreasing the chance for social contact.
Figure 6.8: The street vendors will find a prominent place to sell their food, e.g: street junction. But people will prefer ‘grab and go’ as there are no seating provided and hot outdoor temperature. (Google Earth, 2017)
Diagram 6.8: Layout of roadside stall showing there is no pause point (furnitures) for people to stop and rest.
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5/ Contact Point Urban Wall Being able to see what is going on in public spaces also can be an element of invitation. (Gehl, 2011, p.113)
Jalan Stesen A restaurant need to able to attract people to dine in in order to sustain. But the restaurant in Jalan Stesen is not visually inviting to the passer-by and pedestrians as the shop's frontage is mostly covered by vegetation. The building is somehow recessed, making it to have a wider parameters of human sensory experiences, thus the pedestrians only possible to see a building with windows, climbing vines and a few furnitures which they can't really see what's going on under the 'green facade'. Figure 6.9: Restaurant Ban Lee is mostly covered by climbing vines, create a low visual permeability. (Wong, 2018)
Diagram 6.9: Urban wall of Restaurant Ban Lee. The car parking and pavement zone has increased the visual experience for the pedestrian. Also, the visual permeability into the restaurant is obstructed by the plantings.
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Escolta Street In contrary, Delta Showroom, the boutique shop in Escolta Street has a better visual permeability. The products are displaying at the glass facade which are able to catch the attention of the passer-by. Unlike the restaurant in Jalan Stesen, the boutique shop have a smaller setback for sidewalk which allows the people to see what's inside the buildings and some may patronize the shop.
Figure 6.10: The facade of Delta Showroom has higher transparency (Google Earth, 2017)
Diagram 6.10: The urban wall of Delta Showroom With the transparency of the glass facade, the driver and pedestrian can see clearly what’s inside this building.
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7.0 Conclusion
To be conclude, this paper has clearly proven that there are some external factors are responsible for life in between buildings. Due to far geographic location of both streets, this resulted in how the theory of street life works in reality. Architects seem to always be obsessed with form, but often overlook the main character of the building, human. For Jan Gehl, the public space between buildings and the human behavior and activities in space are the most important. How to design a comfortable public space, how to attract people to use, and to promote communication between people should be listed as the top priority for architects to think about the design. Nowadays, society and people are always separated and indifferent. I believe that the urban design also accounts for a large part. The planning and design of our city cuts off the opportunities for people to communicate with each other. Our settlements do not provide such a place that people can able to communicate. Over time, our society has lost its kindness and lost its color. Or maybe someone will say that our community has a lot of greenery and there are a lot of street furniture, but do the existence of these designs help people's needs? The unfortunate answer is no. These are the reflections that our design needs to reflect. The work of urban design has its social responsibility and has a long way to go.
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8.0 References
Book 1.
Gehl, J. (2011). Life between buildings. Washington, DC: Island Press.
Website 1.
Hannah.L. (2018). The Glory Days of Escolta, Manila's 'Queen of the Streets'. Retrieved from 17th November 2018 at
https://www.townandcountry.ph/people/heritage/what-escolta-str eet-was-like-in-its-prime-a00184-20180113-lfrm
2.
Clara.B (2014). 8 Reasons Why You Should Visit Escolta, Manila. Retrieved from 18th November 2018 at
https://outoftownblog.com/8-reasons-why-you-should-visit-escolt a-manila/
3.
Wani.M (2016). Melting pot of culture and colour
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/12/11/melting-po t-of-culture-and-colour/