Theories of Architecture & Urbanism [ARC61303][ARC2224]
Project Part 2: Essay & Cognitive Mapping Site: Petaling Street
NAME:
Yang Ge Shen
STUDENT ID:
0315960
LECTURER:
Mr. Shen Fei
SUBMISSION DATE:
23/11/2015
THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE & URBANISM [ARC61303] [ARC2224] – PROJECT 2: ESSAY & COGNITIVE MAPPING
THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE & URBANISM [ARC61303] [ARC2224] – PROJECT 2: ESSAY & COGNITIVE MAPPING
Table of Contents
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Introduction……………………………………………………………………………… 2 Cognitive Mapping - Analysis………………………………………………………. 3 - 5 Cognitive Mapping - Comparisons………………………………………………… 6 - 8 Conclusion…………………..…………………………………………………………... 9 References…………………..…………………………………………………………... 10
THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE & URBANISM [ARC61303] [ARC2224] – PROJECT 2: ESSAY & COGNITIVE MAPPING
Introduction Petaling Street is a Chinatown known in Chee Cheong Kai which is located in Kuala Lumpur. It is a minor street along Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock. It is the original commercial centre of Kuala Lumpur. It has been notorious for the trading of counterfeit goods. The Petaling Street has maze of alleyways and narrow streets. Old shop houses, temples and coffee shops line these narrow streets. Previously, it is one of the major spot for the ‘Red Shirt Rally’. Cognitive mapping is a process composed of a series of psychological transformations by which an individual acquires, code, stores, recalls and decodes information about the relative locations and attributes of phenomena in his everyday spatial environment. In more common terms, a cognitive mapping is defined as “an overall mental image or representation of the space and layout of a setting”, which defines that the act of cognitive mapping is “the mental structuring process leading to the creation of a cognitive map” Edward Tolman, a psychologist inferred the existence of cognitive maps by recording the spatial behaviours of a maze-running ray who took a “short cut” to the final destination by running across the top of a maze instead of following a route through it. Throughout the project, site visit is conducted on Petaling Street to generate a personal cognitive mapping in order to understand the locals and non-locals perception as well as spatial behaviour in cities nowadays. A total of 3 cognitive mappings of Petaling Street are required in order to conduct comparisons. During the site visit, there a few people being questioned on their impressions towards the site. Firstly, we found Mr.Tan, he has been working in this area for 12 years. He lives nearby and travels to Petaling Street by foot. Jonathan Kehl, a tourists from Sweden who is backpacking and travelling around Kuala Lumpur and Mr. Cheng, a 41 yearsold non-locals businessman who is having a break from lunch hour. Mr. Lee, a 24 years old Canon photo shooting candidates, who chose Petaling Street as his site to conduct his photo shooting competition. By selecting multiple different background mapping candidates, there would be difference of perspective of each individuals towards the site.
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Cognitive Mapping – Analysis Based on the personal generated cognitive mapping, the entrance of the Petaling Street is facing the main street decorated to be different from the surrounding façade of the buildings. The façade of the surrounding buildings are dull and less attractive as compared to the entrance of the Petaling Street as the entrance is decorated with Chinese lantern as well as a few dragon statue which in turns represent the ‘Chinatown’ status. There are two decorated entrance along the Petaling Street which marks the most frequent used path to enter the Petaling Street. This proves that most of the visitor especially tourists and non-locals used the decorated entrance as their visual sense and it has gradually becomes their instinct way-finding to the Petaling Street. However, this directional sense also being affected and dominated by the ‘Scripted Images’ which is generated through the likes of books, GPS navigation devices and internet sources, for example ‘Google Map’. This directional sense also being enhanced by one of the decorated entrances are facing the main street, Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, which is the main street to lead most of the visitors to Petaling Street. As a result, the decorated entrances have become the landmark of Petaling Street. During the site visit to the Petaling Street, besides the two well-known decorated entrances, there is also two minor entrances which allows the visitors to enter the street. The entrance on the right, with the main street entrance as the position is considered to have the least population as compared to the other entrances. This outcome is due to gradual decrease of stalls and less attractive spots as the streets proceed from the centre towards the right. For the tourists as well as non-locals, the sense of terror emerged within them as they proceed towards the entrance on the right. This is due to the sudden change of atmosphere which is from a busy and noisy street to a serene and calm street. Based on the personal impression, most of the visitors tend to take a u-turn back to the center point of Petaling Street as they realize they are on the way to the entrance on the right, besides the street leading to the right entrance has a long and endless path which is due to the less population and less attractive spot along the path. As a result, this two path is mostly being used by the locals and stall keepers or vehicles to deliver goods to the respective stalls. However, the entrance on the left has more population
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as compared to the entrance on the right. This is due to the pathway leading to the left entrance has several well-known food stalls which can attract visitors. The centre point of the Petaling Street is the most crowded area and most of the stalls decided to be placed around this area. Most of the stall keepers felt that their business can be enhanced due to the large population of visitors circulating around them. The reason behind the centre point being the most crowded area is it being the strategic focus points which is a junction, which is a point where the visitors needed to pass through in order to get to the other end of the street. Moreover, there are plenty of street performances which can attracts the visitors to keep themselves within the centre point. Moreover, there are also beggars asking for donations along the street especially along two of the decorated entrances as well as on the centre point which ensures the visitors are attracted to them in a negative way as they proceed to the centre point. As a result, the centre point has become the gathering space for the visitors due to the presence of events being occurred around this area. Hence, this situation in turns promote more street performance as well as stalls to be located around this area. Based on my personal experience, the streets look narrow and never-ending by viewing the entrances from the centre point. Thus, for the locals, they usually proceed to the exit using left entrance due to the least population among all four entrances. Based on the interview of a stall keeper, previously the Petaling Street is exposed to direct sunlight and open-air. During that period, most of the stalls start their business during night time, this is due to the intense afternoon heat which can makes the visitors feel discomfort. Back to the previous days, Petaling Street was just as similar as a night market which is a gathering place for the locals to fulfil their needs. In 2003, the Petaling Street underwent a complex renovation which, has added two large Chinese arches, which is part of the decorated entrance as well as a green roof cover, covering most part of the street, known as ‘Green Dragon’. This has transformed Petaling Street into a totally different dimension, which is from night market to a pedestrian shopping mall. THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE & URBANISM [ARC61303] [ARC2224] – PROJECT 2: ESSAY & COGNITIVE MAPPING
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Besides altering the appearance of Petaling Street, it also alters the visual image of Petaling Street. Nowadays, Petaling Street tends to be more crowded during afternoon instead of night time. This is due to the presence of the ‘Green Dragon’ which can prevent direct sunlight entering the street. This encourages the stall keepers to start their business during noon. Based on the personal analysis, this could be due to the surrounding area of Petaling Street are mostly commercial buildings instead of residential buildings which cut down the amount of locals visiting Petaling Street. The difference between the pre-renovation Petaling Street and present is that there a lot more options for the visitors nowadays other than Petaling Street to achieve their needs. As compared to the pre-renovation Petaling Street, the street has much wider space in between stalls. This is due to the reduction in the number stalls as well as population presence in the Petaling Street. This could be due to the increase in number of immigrants being allowed to sell counterfeit products which are cheap but low quality. It has gradually becomes the gathering point of immigrants which has affect the local heritage of Petaling Street and provide bad impressions towards the visitors especially tourists. As a result, the visitors opted for other options which expresses genuine local heritage.
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Cognitive Mapping – Comparisons
Figure 1 shows the cognitive map drawn by a long-serving stall keeper
Based on the first cognitive mapping, drawn by a stall keeper who has his stall placed around the centre point. His thoughts and impression on Petaling Street is that the street main gathering point for the visitors is the junction in the middle of Petaling Street. This is due to the presence of street performance and well-known food stalls being concentrated within this area. He also has thought on usually visitors take the front and back entrance to enter the Petaling Street, and using the side entrance to exit from the Petaling Street. He also insisted that the Hong Leong Bank is one of the landmark, due to the bank being the only option to withdraw cash for the visitors. There are similarities between the cognitive mapping with my cognitive mapping. There are same thoughts on the main gathering point and visitors’ preferable way to entrances as well as exits for the visitors due to the street performance and stalls. However, for the Hong Leong Bank being the landmark, my personal thoughts are it is most probably landmark for the locals due to the longlasting hours they stayed along the street. For the visitors, there are plenty of options for them to withdraw money before proceeding to the Petaling Street.
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Figure 2 shows the cognitive mapping drawn by a local
Figure 3 shows the cognitive mapping drawn by a tourists
Based on two cognitive mapping, one drawn by a tourist and one drawn by a non-locals, the identified the decorated entrance as the landmark of the street especially the front entrance due to significant difference with the surrounding buildings. There is a similarity between the cognitive mappings with my cognitive mapping. Both mappings identified the decorated entrance as the landmark of Petaling Street which is considered as one of the instinctive way-finding element.
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Figure 4 the cognitive mapping drawn by a Canon Photo shooting Candidate
Based on the cognitive mapping generated by a Canon Photo shooting Competition Candidate, he identified the centre point of the street as the highest concentration of population due to the variety of events happening in the area. He also acknowledged that the stalls arrangement are rigid and organized. As he proceeds through the other end of the street, the stalls are disorganized and located randomly. His cognitive mapping also neglect the stalls being located along the side entrances due to the insignificant effects on Petaling Street. As compared to my personal cognitive mapping, we have the same thoughts on the centre point being the main gathering area. Besides, we have the same opinion on the stalls along the side entrances are less impactful and insignificant as compared to the stalls along the main street except for the well-known food stalls on the side streets. This could be due to the aim of visiting the street different from one another. His aim is to take the best photos for the photo shooting competition, hence it is unnecessary for him to thoroughly known to Petaling Street. There is a difference in our cognitive mapping, based on my analysis, the shop houses towards the end of the street are disorganized are due to the visitor starts to feel fatigue or bored of the same type of stalls all along the street. In the beginning, he felt that he should visit all the stalls hence he attentively drafted out all the stalls in an organized way.
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Conclusion Petaling Street is a site with abundant of history as well as heritage. The cognitive mapping of Petaling Street plays a huge role in attracting the visitors to visit the Petaling Street. It basically forms an instinct of way finding especially for the nonlocals and tourists. It also plays an essential role in defining the pathway of the visitors as they are in the Petaling Street, which in other word as a visual guidance for the visitors. Lastly, the changes of appearance being made towards the Petaling Street has witnessed the changes in cognitive mapping of the locals and non-locals, which subsequently affects the outcome of the Petaling Street nowadays.
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References Attractions in Malaysia. (n.d.). Retrieved November 23, 2015, from http://kualalumpur.attractionsinmalaysia.com/Petaling-Street.php Balshaw, M. (2000). Urban space and representation. London: Pluto Press. Laverty, J. (2006, March 1). City: Urbanism and its End.(Book review). The Australian Journal of Politics and History. Petaling Street - Malaysia | The Star Online. (n.d.). Retrieved November 23, 2015, from http://www.thestar.com.my/Travel/Malaysia/2012/02/15/Petaling-Street/ Schmitt, R. (2002). Sullivanesque: Urban architecture and ornamentation. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Wojtowicz, R. (1996). Lewis Mumford and American modernism: Eutopian theories for architecture and urban planning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Review: Kevin Lynch – The Image of the City. (n.d.). Retrieved November 23, 2015, from http://themobilecity.nl/2009/05/08/review-kevin-lynch-the-image-of-the-city/
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