A New Mobility Model in the World Heritage Site of George Town, Malaysia
MA_ARCH STUDIO URBAN DESIGN IN TIMES OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES
Khai Wei Tan
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Gunnar Hartmann (Thesis advisor) Prof. Attilio Terragni (Second advisor)
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In the present age, humanity has affected the planet by altering its climate, depleting its resources, and eroding its biodiversity. This demands long-term thinking and challenges us to find systemic and sustainable approaches. In particular, Urban Designers ought to acknowledge that the familiar sphere of their profession is changing rapidly. Urban implementations are nowadays steered by a wide variety of specialized planners, each guided by their own value assumptions, resulting in a diverse matrix of (claimed) truths. In consequence, for the Urban Designer, the question arises, how to engage in the increasingly complex design process?
Urban Design in Times of Environmental Policies by Dr. Gunnar Hartmann 3
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CONTENT 01- PREFACE by author
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02- GEORGE TOWN the city of World Heritage Site
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03- URBAN DESIGN PROPOSAL
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.01 urban morphological study a new mobility model
-changes of life in the heritage city
.02 urban spatial design initiatives for the walking district
- road designation - interactive communal space - revitalised back lanes - arcade - urban courtyard - crossing - pop up market - green facade - community park - multimodal transportation - green corridor - shophouse transformation
04- APPENDIX urbanisation
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05- BIBLIOGRAPHY
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PREFACE
One has the feeling that the entire country is trying to squeeze on the Northern Line each morning to enter the city centre of London. Mumbai’s population has tripled from eight million in 1980 to over 25 million in 2015, most of the residents can be considered as slum-dwellers. Thirtynine million people live in and around Tokyo, which is massive and hyperefficient agglomeration built as Japan scrambled to rebuild its economy from the ruins of Second World War.
The larger the cities, the greater the potential damage. The recent acceleration of urban population growth in these cities have make them into the list of global mega cities with population of at least 18 million. Among 16 global mega cities determined, 12 are in Asia. When ideas spread easily in denser environment, so do diseases. The mega cities in the 21st century are affected by problems which are the same as those generated by unexpected and uncontrolled urban expansion throughout the history, such as water supply, malnutrition, “Cities, the dense agglomerations that sanitation, flooding, overcrowding, dot the globe, have been engines of slums, air quality and transportation innovation since Plato and Socrates failure. bickered in an Athenian marketplace.� Edward Glasaer, Triumph of the city, 1. Although cities in Malaysia are not considered as mega cities or overly When urbanisation takes crowded, they are growing rapidly place, problems are created at the and unexpectedly that governments same time. The mega cities in Asia and planners could only play catchof the 21st century are facing the up. These players are imitating the essential problems that plague the modernist template for a previous Western cities in the 19th century. time and place, which has now Cities like Manchester, Paris, London proven to be socially unsuitable and and Manhattan had survived the environmentally unsustainable. It is Industrial Revolution in the past with always a wise move to make changes different takes. The Asian mega cities in growing cities before they become are now experiencing a phase of what uncontrollably massive and need to might be called as urban puberty. be deconstructed and reconstructed They are dashing into a cycle of urban again like the other big cities did. development and expansion without the experience or the wherewithal to protect themselves from the consequences.
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George Town, the capital city of the Malaysian state, Penang, is the second largest city of the country with over 700,000 inhabitants. Because of the unique characteristic of shophouses, George Town was inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. Ironically, city is growing at the same time history needs to be preserved. Living space is limited in the city centre as the preserved buildings are not allowed to be amended massively to preserve the heritage value. When the needs of the owner grow to maintain the shophouses, rental is raised. Hence, tenants are forced to leave, buildings are left abandoned. In some occasions, elderly people are left behind, the beautiful culture of extended family in Malaysia is cut off. In the end, city starts to sprawl. Citizens have to commute to work, this leads to serious traffic issue in the city centre. Besides that, there’s a significant difference in requirement between the tropical world and the temperate world. Malaysia is located in the tropics, just one degree north of the equator, where the climate is very hot and humidity is often above 90%, all design and construction have to be attuned to local necessities. Contrarily, with little modification, the model of cold-climate architecture of Europe and America are being erected in the tropical city. The high consumption of energy used for cooling is the only
way to compensate the environmental incompatibility created by builders. In the age of global warming, the sealed glass-walled office buildings which are purely implemented to attract corporate tenants, are considered fundamentally inappropriate. The building typology needed to be rethought in climatic terms, so the urban blocks are connected and opened out, rather than separated and sealed in. Hereafter, the often forgotten traditional shophouses are there to provide a suitable tropical building template for designer in terms of spatial arrangement, form and materials to learn from. Energiewende, is described as the strategy of Germany in transition to a greenhouse gases (GHG) - neutral community in terms of low carbon, environmentally friendly energy production and an increase in energy efficiency. The ambitious policies rely heavily on renewable energy from now onwards. Malaysia’s total GHG emissions represent about 0.6% of global emissions in 2011. Being the world’s second-largest producer of palm oil, Malaysia pledged to cut down its GHG emissions intensity of GDP by 45% by 2030 relative to the emissions intensity of GDP in 2005. In this thesis, exploration on the ambitions of Energiewende will be done by targeting the energy and transport sectors in George Town, Malaysia.
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The thesis aims to redevelop preservation, rethink and redesign its regulations implemented in the urban condition by looking at the climatic performance of immediate surrounding and the alternative living pattern of an extended family in George Town. The objective challenges the UNESCO World Heritage community because the city is no longer sustainable at the social level despite rapid growing urban population, it is frozen on the sustainable ground. However, there is something that the preserved city can offer, which is the transformation of urban morphology actually reveals the opportunity for changes to heighten the life in the heritage city. When the growth of the city is limited by the heritage regulations, there is an opportunity to implement new ideas within that dense environment, of what we call proximity, provided live and work spaces are prepared so that the use of transport to commute is lessen. “Making cities for people” is a famous quote by the people-centred urban design guru, Jan Gehl. Gehl’s works are renowned for its mutually beneficial relationship between people’s quality life and their built environments. The scales, senses, movements, interests, behaviour, and engagement of the people in their surroundings are all related to the
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topic of mobility, which is also a part of the Energiewende effort. The project refers to Gehl‘s work as case study to an extent. This project is optimistic towards the changes as it sees the positive sides of the urban morphology and spatial quality as the twist of new takes in preservation. The thesis has the hope to create a new synthesis in the city with new mobility model, pedestrian city and redesigned urban blocks that come together.
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GEORGE TOWN the city of World Heritage Site
George Town is situated at the cape or promontory at the northeastern tip of the island, between the hills and the sea. The hills provide a stunning backdrop of the city, which is built up to the foothills. The settlement that Sir Francis Light, the British country trader, had originally created (1786) and named did not have any grand design as it was not intended to be a “settlement colony�. Light had neither resources nor staff to develop the town. The development of George Town during the first century after its founding could be attributed to the courageous and entrepreneurial spirit of early migrant communities who found in George Town a place to make a living and begin a new life. The cultural practices and preferences of the different ethnic groups appeared to have created an impact on the development of the town, particularly in relation to the sitting of important religious and institutional buildings, the European or colonial quarter is to the north, close to Fort Cornwallis, the administrative centre and clustered around St. George’s Anglican Church (Farquhar Street), Catholic Church and Armenian Church (which no longer exists) at Bishop Street. This was indeed the best location as it was cooled by the sea breeze from the north.
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.01 MALAYSIA
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Urban population: 75 % Climate: Tropical rainforest climate
Life expectancy: 74.7 years Birth rate: 1.94 children 13
.01 MALAYSIA
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.02 PENANG
Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai (formerly Province Wellesley) on the Malay Peninsula. 16
Penang‘s population stood at nearly 1.72 million as of 2016, while its population density rose to 1,640.55/km2 (4,249.0/sq mi). Thus, Penang has among the highest population densities in Malaysia and is one of the country‘s most urbanised states.
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.03 GEORGE TOWN
Structure plan of Penang Island over time 18
Transformation of urban morphology in George Town from 1798 to 2010 19
.04 THE INSCRIPTION OF WORLD HERITAGE SITE IN 2008
Straits of Malacca
The location plan of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, George Town
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Straits of Malacca
A total of 2569 buildings are listed as protected buildings under the world heritage title
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.05 PRESERVATION AND THINNING
The evolution of preserved territories over time 22
Quotes from Rem Koolhaas regarding preservation and thinning 23
.06 THREATS IN THE WORLD HERITAGE SITE
- challenge of managing large world heritage site - gentrification (changes that are alienated)
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- strong presence of dilapidated and vacant premises (safety issue)
- mass tourism (traffic issue)
- displacement and loss of residential population (30% decline in population since 2010) - aging population (different lifestyle changes the cities‘ economies and use of space) 25
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URBAN DESIGN PROPOSAL
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.01 URBAN MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY: OBSERVATION
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.01 URBAN MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY
The financial and business cluster The waterfront district is mainly is located at the northern region of the the cluster of warehouses which they city. While the residential neighborhood is used to store goods for the port. mostly situated down the southern part.
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The district with 396,311 sqm is going to be the main district for this urban design project.
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.01 URBAN MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY
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.01 URBAN MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY
The building blocks of the proposed district. The northern region is in clear grid system, however, they started to become irregular in the southern region
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The pattern of the main streets and back lanes is identified. Main streets are connected in grid on the north but the southern region is affected by the location of open spaces.
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.01 URBAN MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY
Major open spaces discovered. They are found mainly in the residential area where cultural enclaves are located.
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The elements are put together to study the density of the people in the city. The result shows that the open spaces are more likely to be urban decay rather than urban communal spaces.
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.01 URBAN MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY: DESIGN PROPOSAL
The design strategy is to create a ring route that surrounds the district which is going to be turned into car-free zone. The main axis in the middle cuts through the site to connect the jetty and the inner city.
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Open spaces are designed with proper initiatives to give back spaces to the people in the city. The priority on the street is returned to pedestrian rather than motor vehicles.
There is a shuttle bus system that runs in the ring route as a loop. Stops are carefully placed along the route to effeciently carry people around the district.
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.01 URBAN MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY: DESIGN PROPOSAL
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.02 URBAN SPATIAL DESIGN
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.02.01 INITIATIVE: ROAD DESIGNATION
The current road condition of George Town (2017)
Almost every family in the city owns a car for daily transportation. The number of car has increased over the passed 20 years and it has now becomes a major problem to the city which has been built before the car. Cars have now dominate the city. They give out harmful gases into the atmosphere, create noise and push people away into the narrow sidewalks.
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The picture on the (left) shows how irresponsible the motorcyclists park their bikes on the five-foot walkway which is intended for the pedestrian. On the (right), the tourists on the locally customised cart has to fight with the car behind them shows the unclear demarcation of different mode of transportation in the city.
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.02.01 CASE STUDY: LJUBLJANA GREEN CAPITAL
The transformation of the capital, Ljubljana
City: Ljubljana, Slovenia Population: 279,800 Climate: Mediterranean climate Life Expectancy: 81 years
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In order to improve mobility and reduce harmful emissions, Ljubljana introduced multimodal transport. Users combine different types of transport: car, bus, bike, and shuttle bus. Eventhough Ljubljana had banned motorised traffic in the city centre (2007) it had to plan an electric shuttle train for elderly visitors and anyone having difficulty walking
Former busses now equipped with photovoltaic panels and resembled into a new electric train (bottom left) to carry more than 200,000 people a day. The electric train operates daily in the car free zone, with appropriate number of intervals, making „Slovenka Street“, the main traffic artery a more attractive area for pedestrians, cyclists and users of city buses.
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.02.01 STRATEGY: ONE-WAY LOOP
Five shuttle buses run in a loop with appropriate distance between stops
After the district of the city has The shutte buses run in an interval been converted into a car-free zone, a of 1-2 mins in between stops to circulate new mode of transportation system is people around the walking district. introduced to serve the people especially the elderly in the walking city.
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The easily recognised bus stops Bus stops are designed in a way are located near major junctions to that they resemble the significance of provide better access for the people. five-foot walkway which is also a symbol to encourage walking in the city.
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.02.01 STRATEGY: ONE-WAY LOOP
Innovative transportation mode improves accessibility in the city
Five shuttle buses run simultaneously in the looping system of 3.4 km, taking approximately 12 mins to complete a loop with an average speed of 40km/h.
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Considering the amount of shuttle bus and distance in the looping system, one needs only maximum 2.4 -minute of waiting time at a particular stop.
By looking at the statistics above, one can notice that travel distance and time are placed on top of the priorities to create a better transit system of a walking city.
On the other hand, the amount of harmful gases released into the atmosphere has been reduced largely with the use of electric shuttle buses instead of car on the street.
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.02.02 INITIATIVE: INTERACTIVE COMMUNAL SPACE
The lack of public space in the city of George Town
The picture (above) shows the only green public space that looks decent and maintained by the authority over a certain period of time. Ironically, the park is left empty most of the time because of the tropical climate which has abundant of sunlight and rain all year round. The diagram (right) indicates the location of the public space which only takes up 0.5 % of ground surface of the walking district. 52
The pictures (above) show us the vibrant and happening neighborhood in the open space. This was before the park is reclaimed by the authority as a part of urban renewal. The questions had arisen. „Do we really need to push away people to make space for people?“, „Do we really need to abolish the informal economies or should we educate them by providing a proper venue?“
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.02.02 CASE STUDY: BMW GUGGENHEIM LAB
The box of idea ideas come in and spread out
City: Berlin, Germany Population: 3.5 mil Climate: Maritime temperate climate Life Expectancy: 81.7 years
The „box of idea“ intended to bring constant exchange between the lab member and the public participant in order to have a participation of two-way dialogue. The communal space allows people from different professions in the city to have cross conversations as it is an advantage for the people to discover the underlying engines that drive the city.
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In order to design a better urban future, people from different points of view should always come together in many disciplines to interact with each other, be it workshop, seminar or talks.
The Guggenheim Lab is a series of urban interventions started in New York City (NYC), began it‘s venture to Berlin and finally Mumbai. Lab in NYC (bottom left) focuses on issues of the city in a more theoretical approach while the one in Berlin is more into making. Each series has it‘s own definition in the architectonic approach. The lab in Mumbai (bottom right) used bamboo as the main material to construct the lab. 55
.02.02 CASE STUDY: BMW GUGGENHEIM LAB
Multidisciplinary is the key to invent the urban future
The image (above) shows the idea of having people from different paths of life in a lab structure.
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The image (above) shows the mobility concept of the lab to travel to different continents to work collectively with the local people.
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.02.02 STRATEGY: PUBLIC SPACE UNDER A CANOPY
An inverted skyline typology a canopy to shade life underneath
The image (above) shows the transformation of life from the inside to the outside of building. 58
The new public space encourages constant exchange of knowledge, skill, and idea between people in the city. 59
.02.02 STRATEGY: PUBLIC SPACE UNDER A CANOPY
Ground level is opened up to allow the flow of pedestrian
The „box“ structure is located on The area surrounding the an open space to become a new sheltered structure is designed only with trees and communal area for the people. most of the spaces are left empty for gathering purposes.
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The idea is adapted from the Guggenheim Lab case study where the ground level is free for communal activites, and the structure on top is used to keep equipments needed for talk, workshop, for example, the projector, tables, chairs, and etc.
The roof serves as a big canopy to shelter the structure and activities under hot sun and rain. In the evening, people started to gather around the structure when the temperature drops lower. 61
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.02.03 INITIATIVE: REVITALISED BACK LANES
The insecurity of deserted back lanes
When the earliest streets were As time passes by and urbanisaticreated, buildings were built back-to-back on has hit another level, at the same time with no back lanes. the city is inscribed as World Heritage Site, the population decreased drastically, leaving behind the back lanes an image of Back lanes were created in the insecure. early 1900s where wideing of road took place in conjunction with suburbanisation and redevelopment of the urban area. Kitchen area was cut back to give way for the back lane. Since then, life is kind of busy at the back lanes where housewives used to communicate with each other while cooking. 62
The image (above) shows the network of road system in the proposed urban site. The back lanes are heightened to show the density with the relation to the overall road system. They could be a threat at the moment for the people in the city but they also show opportunity to be revitalised to give life back into back lanes again.
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.02.03 CASE STUDY: CHONGQING PEDESTRIAN NETWORK
Reinstating the small scale neighborhood in the mega city
City: Chongqing, China Population: 8.1 mil Climate: Humid sub-tropical monsoon climate Life Expectancy: 75.7 years
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Because of its rapid development and a large number of river bridges and high rises, it is often called as the China’s “Chicago on the Yangtze”. The city offers a vast network of streets but generally lacking comfort for the pedestrian, leaving the street with moving vehicle and monofunctional street fronts.
The image (above) shows the identified routes with public space. Each has its unique feature to offer to the people in the city.
The initiative is showing an urban redesign of a particular spot in route 3. Benches, lamp posts and paving are introduced to guide both locals and the tourists.
Route 3 is relatively local compared to the other routes. It connects Most importantly, the scale of the mostly residential neighborhood, related route and the spaces along which have the infrastructure and facilities, from park, intimate human scale, is left untouched. hospital to school.
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.02.03 STRATEGY: REVIVING THE LOCAL IDENTITY
Housewives gather at the back lane again to gossip to each other
The strategy of this initiative is to Walkway is nicely paved with turn identified back lanes into livable and plants along sides and the irregular space walkable again to its initial idea. has become a gathering spot for the locals in the cosy afternoon.
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Furnitures like table, bench Wooden racks for planter are and umbrella are prepared by the local introduced as well to encourage planting authority as part of the initiative. and gardening to soften the edges and also to cool down the immediate surrounding. When there is more people, the residents can just bring their own chair not far away from the gathering space. 67
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.02.04 INITIATIVE: INFRASTRUCTURE TO INSPIRATION
The dilapidated image of the alley
The current condition of alley gives a feeling of threatening and the safety of using them is not ensured. This makes the place an easy target for criminal to happen. As a result, people are pushed away from using them that often nowadays. Other than that, the shabby area has been turned into nest for drug addicts which give a very bad image to the city as well as the tourists.
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However, there are still people willing to take the risk because of the convenience the alley has to offer as a shortcut to their destination. In order to allow people to pass through safely, there is a need to look into this issue urgently and propose an access that is guided, comfortable and safe for pedestrians to use.
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.02.04 CASE STUDY: CHONGQING PEDESTRIAN NETWORK
Creating recognisable routes with urban design elements
City: Chongqing,China Population: 8.1 mil Climate: Humid sub-tropical monsoon climate Life Expectancy: 75.7 years
The public spaces are designed with identity and legibility which respond to the lack of safety and comfort on the street. Street lightings are added to increase safety at night and also serve as guiding elements during daytime. Pavements and street furniture are added and upgraded to add to the coherency of the street, while providing spaces for people to meet and integrate.
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In order to make the route Navigation can be assisted by a recognisable and easy to both find and series of maps, but the most preferred navigate along, it is important to have solutions are those which are naturally unifying elements along its path. integrated into the physical design of the routes such as illustrative details, legible gateways, and connecting pavements Paving, lighting, urban furniture such as benches, trash bins, signs etc. help giving the route an identity of its own and makes it readable in the cityscape.
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.02.04 STRATEGY: ARCADE AS A GUIDE AND SHELTER
To direct people through a safe and comfortable alley
Empty spaces in between buildings that are connected by main street are often recongnised as an access to the other side of the building.
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In this case, the space is turned into an alley which allows people to go through a block of buildings without have to go around the whole block.
The series of frames are placed Most importantly, they resemble in a way like an arcade to direct people the idea of five-foot walkway where through the building as a shortcut. people used to walk on a sunny day. Indirectly, the initiative has There are plants along the sides become an inspiration rather than a of the alley to provide shades when people infrastructure to the overall concept of decided to just sit down and take a rest new mobility model. from work.
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.02.05 INITIATIVE: OPEN PUBLIC SPACE
The open public space is for the people rather than car
Open space in the urban area of a preserved site has its advantage on creating a social and ecological sustainable environment. However, the motor vehicles not only take over the street, they have also occupy the open spaces as parking lot. Apart from car park, open spaces in the city are also used as garage, dumpsite or just being abandoned without any maintanance.
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With conjunction to the new mobility model, open spaces are identified and mapped as an initiative to provide more public space in the city. The image (above) shows the open spaces in the walking district with the potential to be turned into urban courtyards to create a better public realm for the community.
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.02.05 STRATEGY: URBAN COURTYARD
From urban decay to urban living room
The initiative shows one of the Walkway is properly paved public spaces in the walking district has starting from both entrances to the been turned into a urban courtyard which courtyard at the centre. is surrounded by buildings in an irregular way. Planter boxes and steps are crafted carefully as a place for people to stop and chill. 76
Because it is located in the The platform in the middle is financial district which is also close to slightly raised for public events that are most of the offices, people are expected to happening in the city. spend there time here during lunch hour or after work to refresh themselves and take a rest.
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.02.05 STRATEGY: URBAN COURTYARD
Movie or dance the courtyard is there to offer
In the cosy evening, the courtyard could be turned into a open air theatre for movie screening.
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In the case where public or private organisations need to hold an event for a group of people, the urban courtyard could be designed as a function space, with the raised platform as a stage for performance.
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.02.06 INITIATIVE: CROSS JUNCTION
It is ridiculous where you cant find a crossing on the street in the city
The image (above) shows a cross junction that is without any crossing for the pedestrian. This shows how inconsiderate the local authority towards the pedestrian in the city. The roads have been taken by cars and now the priorities are completely removed from the pedestrian. 80
The image (above) shows a tourist couple struggling to cross the road as no crossing is provided at the cross junction. Once again, the safety of the pedestrian is triggered and at the same time, the waiting time at the cross junctions has increased acutely.
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.02.06 CASE STUDY: SYDNEY MAIN STREET
Making a world-class main street in Sydney
City: Sydney, Australia Population: 4.9 mil Climate: Humid subtropical climate Life Expectancy: 82.4 years
George Street was once a vibrant street built for people, unfortunately, just like the other cities that were logical in the past, they are destroyed by traffic. Gehl’s team, together with the city of Sydney, were working together to transform George Street into a lively urban area of the city, providing an inviting and accessible space that can become a global icon and source of local pride.
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Test walks were carried out and the result is showing that waiting time at crossings is a substantial problem in Sydney with a 52% total wasting time.
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.02.06 CASE STUDY: SYDNEY MAIN STREET
A sustainable environment that consists of a coherent waterfront, a series of pedestrian open spaces for example parks, car free streets and squares is created by considering the focus on traffic planning in the entire public realm.
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Introduction of crossings gives a great effect to the overall quality of the pedestrian environment.
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.02.06 STRATEGY: NEW CROSSROAD FEATURES
Safer and smoother crossing experience
A wide crossing is designed at the main crossroad to allow people from one side of street to go to the opposite of the street.
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The image (above) shows a crossing connecting the main axis of pedestrian route from the jetty to the inner city through the walking district.
The crossing is carefully designed In conclusioin, whenever a with clear demarcation for different users pedestrian route intersects with a main on the street. street with motor vehicles, crossings should be provided at street level for people to cross safely and conveniently.
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.02.07 INITIATIVE: POP UP MARKET
The safety and clealiness of the vendors are worrying
One can easily spot these mobile stalls on the sides of main road or small alley everywhere in the city. They are a group of vendors selling local fruits or street food with a cart. However, the clealiness and safety of that situation is brought up as an issue to look at to improve the condition.
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From observation, the vendors scattered around the city with no fixed spot to do their business. They are either on the street or the curb next to a building. By making the district a car-free zone, there is an opportunity to bring these vendors to a proper location with better management for the overall situation.
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.02.07 STRATEGY: A STREET OF POP-UP STALLS
An organised and comfortable trading experience
The pop-up market is happening The street if paved with different everyday from 06:00 - 11:00 on the main tiles to show the dominance of the main street in the walking district. axis with vegetations along sides.
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The mobile stalls come in the early morning and set up in front of the shophouses to give a unique experience for the people.
In short, the pop-up market has given a new layer of street life to the walking district and helps heighten the life in the heritage site.
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.02.08 INITIATIVE: GREEN FACADE
Green screen as a new architectural intervention for facade
Today, there is a lot of rundown buildings all over the heritage site. They are either left behind or lacked of maintanance by the owner of the buildings. The buildings give a dilapidated appearance which indirectly affect the vista of the cityscape. Plants are let to grow without any control and care. Despite that, this has given an inspiration to the city in rebuilding these shophouses in the future.
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On the other hand, people started to take advantage over the abandoned site, in the end, creating more chaos in the urban situation. The shopfront is discontinued making the area a monofunctional district. Slowly but surely, more and more shops are closing down due to the lack of people passing by that area.
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.02.08 CASE STUDY: PARKROYAL ON PICKERING
Screens of green enhance the environmental performance
City: Singapore Population: 5.5 mil Climate: Tropical rainforest climate Life Expectancy: 82.7 years
The use of greenery in architecture has become extremely beneficial for both environmental sustainability and human satisfaction. Screens of green enable privacy for a building‘s occupants, whilst providing a thoroughly enjoyable „naturalised“ environment.
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Rather than treating plants and vines as „add-ons“, as secondary elements, architects can use greenery as a means to define space, to clad a surface, and to support the various functions of a building.
The living walls provide shade, filter out glare and dust, reduce heat, improve air quality, muffle traffic noise, and stimulate urban bio-diversity.
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.02.08 STRATEGY: SCREENS OF GREEN AS THRESHOLDS
What is the future of the shophouses facade?
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.02.08 STRATEGY: SCREENS OF GREEN AS THRESHOLDS
Green features on facade to mediate the in between spaces
The initiative shows a new take on the building facade which at the same time resemble the features of the traditional shophouses.
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Screens of green are applied to the fenestrations of the building facade as part of the ecological considerations.
The planter box on the windows A screen of green also means not only serve as a buffer to the indoor another layer to filter glare and heat environment from the outside, but cool which is common in the tropical country. down the immediate surroundings of the shophouses too.
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.02.09 INITIATIVE: COMMUNITY PARK
The ambiguity of the green spaces in term of user experience
The urban green spaces in the city constantly giving people a feeling that the park is a creation of beautiful landscape. No doubt it is designed with a variety of plants to „naturalise“ the one corner of the city centre.
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Ironically, the park is done too delicately without considering the social spaces for the people. The city is struggling with limited green pockets but it does not mean to plant trees and leave them alone. There is a need to involve people but providing more facilities or infrastructure that is useful for the people in the city.
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.02.09 CASE STUDY: ROSENGARD HOUSING ESTATE
One size doesn’t fit all, the redevelopment of a housing estate
City: Malmö, Sweden Population: 342, 457 Climate: Oceanic climate Life Expectancy: 82.4 years
The Rosengård housing estate is part of the Swedish “Million Homes” programme during 1960s and 1970s. Over some period of time, the once considered traffic-ideal estate was deprived over the lack of interaction with the other part of the city.
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Through various studies on Gehl and team saw the needs to site, they found out that only 1% of the reconnect the neighbourhood by breaking RosengĂĽrd housing estate is considered down the monotony visual offered by the as semi-private and semi-public zone. housing scheme. Study also shows that only 19% Through densification, the spatial percent of the public space in the estate is hierarchy is made clear by defining the programmed space. streets and squares as public areas, while the courtyards to be more private. The streets are now designed with lighting, street furniture and paving.
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.02.09 STRATEGY: ONE PARK FITS ALL
To create a community park for all ages in the city centre
The image (above) shows the The community park is designed proposed community park the one of the in a way that it can serve the three limited green spaces in the city centre. generation family which makes up the majority in George Town. The park is comprised of a piazza, a playground and a pavilion. 104
The piazza is the open space The elderly locals are able to edging two main streets in the residential carry out morning „tai-chi“ in the park neighborhood. without have to travel to another park which is located out of the neighborhood. Plants, street furniture and properly paved surface are suitable for social gathering for families and friends. 105
.02.09 STRATEGY: ONE PARK FITS ALL
A place where one can see different pace of life in the city
The initiative brings the first ever playground to the city for the children.
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Before this, they have to either play on the five-footway or on the street which have now become dangerous because of the amount of motor vehicles on the street.
On the other hand, a pavilion is The park is carefully designed to designed at one corner of the park for the include all age groups to bring back the parents to sit and look after their children once vibrant urban life of a heritage city. from a distance.
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.02.10 INITIATIVE: MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION
The lack of facilites for various kinds of transportation
The city is now experiencing a crisis in providing sufficient facilities for different mode of transportation in the city. Drivers stopped their motor vechicles wherever they want because the waiting time to get a proper car park is usually long.
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Since the inscription of world heritage site in 2008, the city has attracted a big number of tourist to the site. Bicycle has been a favorite for the tourists to travel around the city but again there is no proper facility like bicycle shed or designated area for cyclist making the street more chaotic than before.
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.02.10 CASE STUDY: OBIKE SINGAPORE
Singapore first stationless bike-sharing platform
City: Singapore Population: 5.5mil Climate: Tropical rainforest climate Life Expectancy: 82.7 years
oBike is Singapore‘s first homegrown station-less smart bikesharing company which uses technology to change how transportation is viewed locally. It allows commuters to travel during one-way first and last mile commuting via bicycles located all over the island. This provides a convenient and environmentally-friendly commute option for all, especially given Singapore’s compact size and interconnected urban areas.
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The bike sharing is an innovative A QR code is available on every idea of renting a bike with the oBike app in bike for users to scan them to unlock the your phone. bike. The nearest bike could be easily After each trip, the bike could located with the use of location service in be place anywhere properly without the phone. interfering the circulation of other users by manually lock them up.
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.02.10 STRATEGY: E-BIKE
New mobility option for the locals and tourists
This initiatives aims to provide The stations for e-bike are located people a new mode of transportation in not more than 250m from each other to the walking district. give a better access to the users. This give an option for the people to travel a longer distance without have to walk all the way to their destination. 112
The stations come with a renting The electricity of the station is system where people have to pay before fully supplied by the solar energy collected they are able to unlock the bike. from the photovoltaic panels on top of the roof. The use of bicycle to travel not only reduces the carbon footprint but also induce a healthy lifestyle in the city.
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.02.10 CASE STUDY: LJUBLJANA MULTIMODALITY
To remove the need to drive in city traffic jams
City: Ljubljana, Slovenia Population: 279,800 Climate: Mediterranean climate Life Expectancy: 81 years
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„Park and Ride“ (P+R)system car parks are set up on city arterial roads to remove the need to drive in city traffic jams, serach for a parking space outside the office, shop, health centre or other location, and above all with the desire to reduce less pollution in the city centre from motor vehicles.
Multimodal transport is the combination of more means of transport; in the case of P+R users combine private car, bus, own bike or Bicike(LJ) system.
One advantage of multimodal forms of travel is greater environmental sustainability and a reduced carbon footprint due to emission from transport.
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.02.10 STRATEGY: INTERCHANGE
To strengthen public transport and encourage sustainable mobility
This strategy is adapted from the case study from Ljubljana green capital by promoting the different kinds of transportation in the heritage city centre.
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In this case, certain numbers of the e-bike station are directly linked with the shuttle bus stop to allow people to change the desired mode of travel in the city.
Urban dormant space is converted into a transport interchange by setting up proper shelter and sheds for different users of the city.
As a result, the idea of a new mobility model is once again strengthened with the introduction of multimodality to create various travel experiences.
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.02.11 INITIATIVE: URBAN GREEN SPACES
The lack of green in the city to cool down the immediate surrounding
„They took all the trees Put ‘em in a tree museum And they charged the people A dollar and a half just to see ‘em Dont it always seem to go That you don‘t know what you‘ve got Till it‘s gone They paved paradise And put up a parking lot JONI MITCHELL Big Yellow Taxi, 1970 118
With the ascendancy of modernism, landscape design disappeared from view in the 1920s it was rejected as a discipline by the Bauhaus - and green space in the 20th century city was usually perceived as little more than a demarcation zone between buildings, as seen in Le Corbusier‘s highly influential Ville Contemporaine proposal.
The same thing happens in the city of George Town, which is essentially composed of concrete and glass, as the emplacement of large parks was somehing of an afterthought.
Our urban landscape now requires urgent vegetal remediation... to the extent that a re-greening process should now be one of conspicuous overcompensation for decades of loss.
The cities have suffered, the environment has suffered, and our lives have suffered.
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.02.11 CASE STUDY: THE HIGH LINE NEW YORK
Disused elevated rail tracks to world‘s most respected public parks
City: New York Population: 8.49 mil Climate: Humid subtropical climate Life Expectancy: 80.5 years
The High Line, was the former West Side industrial railway. It is a 1.45 mile-long elevated, steel structure built in the 1930s for freight trains; the last train ran on it in 1980. Stretching across the west side of the city, it runs from Gansevoort Street, in the Meatpacking District, through the West Chelsea gallery neighborhood, and ends at 34th Street, next to the Jacob Javits Convention Center.
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The park includes over a dozen access points to the elevated park. Whichever entrance is activated, a key component will attract users to spend time and explore the complete park.
Inspired by the wild seeded landscape left after the line had been abandoned, the team created a paving system that encourages natural growth which creates a ‘pathless’ landscape.
For instance, enter a little past 14th St. and enjoy the sundeck and water feature; enter close to 23rd St. to lounge on the open lawn and seating steps; or enter past 26th St. to enjoy the viewing area.
„Through a strategy of agritecture - part agriculture, part architecture – the High Line surface is digitized into discrete units of paving and planting which are assembled along the 1.5 miles into a variety of gradients from 100% paving to 100% soft, richly vegetated biotopes,“
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.02.11 STRATEGY: GREEN CORRIDOR
Street as the room, strip of green be the corridor
After the conversion to fully pedestrian street, more public space is given back to the people rather then motor vehicles.
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Strips of green corridor are designed in the middle of the street as a communal park for people to rest and chill in the outdoor environment.
Trees are planted along the path Some major „corridors“ are in the green corridor with a great number equipped with water feature and decking of access point from the street. for people to enjoy after a long day of work. The landscape is lifted at some point to create a slope for better experience in the public park. 123
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.02.12 INITIATIVE: TRANSFORMATION OF SHOPHOUSE
The dilapidated appearance of the under maintenance shophouses
There are a lot of abandoned shophouses in the city since the inscription of World Heritage Site in 2008. Owners find it hard to express their ideas on the building because of the regulations by the heritage community. As a result, the shophouses are left behind or not maintained. Over time, The quality of the building appearance decreased dramatically.
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Leaving the heritage premises vacant and in dilapidated conditions undermines the integrity and safety of the area. Empty and vacant buildings are oftern vulnerable to thefts of parts and squatting by undesirable parties such as drug addicts and vagrants. They are hazardous not only to themselves but also the surrounding neighborhood.
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.02.12 CASE STUDY: SEKEPING KONG HENG
Beautifully crafted family retreat in the charming old town
City: Ipoh, Malaysia Population: 657,892 Climate: Tropical rainforest climate Life Expectancy: 74.7 years
Efforts has been made to preserve as much of the character of the existing building as possible in contrast to the surrounding new architectural interventions. In addition, an extension has been added at the back, tucked away to reveal an inner courtyard with a dramatic stairway to take guests up to their rooms.
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Testimony to Ipoh’s decadent past, Kong Heng was used as a hostel to house theatre performers who performed in the adjacent theatre building that was burnt down in the 50s.
Wake up to the heady aroma of white coffee that perfumes the air in the mornings, listen to the cacophony of banter between hawkers, go on a culinary adventure and experience living in the heart and soul of Ipoh.
Now rejuvenated, it is hoped that Sekeping Kong Heng will be able to offer guests a slice of history within a real old town setting which is alive, working and real.
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.02.12 STRATEGY: LIFE IN BETWEEN SHOPHOUSES
Transformation in between shophouses to improve integrity
The image shows the life of the After more than a century, people city in 1800s, 1900s and 2000s. started to seek for a better environment to live in and slowly discovered the issues created by motor vehicles. The street priority had been taken by motor vehicles in the 1900s because of industrial revolution and modernism. 128
This initiative aims to bring back life before car where people are able to use the streets and back lanes safely without having to worry about fast moving cars.
A minor changes on the features for example the backyard of the shophouse is designed with connection to the back lane can greatly improve the interaction between neighbours in the city.
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APPENDIX
The order of civilisation by Steward Brand
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New synthesis in the urban context
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The dynamic historic living city
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The sustainability lens
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POPULATION DENSITY We are currently witnessing the most spectacular growth rate of human mobilisation in our collective history on Earth. Continents, countries and regions all over the world have seen a massive surge of population shifts that have altered the geographical and ecological landscape of our planet. In the last five decades, more people have turned to urban life than in the entire history since cities have existed. Many factors have contributed to this phenomenon.
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PUSH AND PULL Why do people leave the rural and come to the urban? Among various causes, we can credit this “push & pull� effect to the adaptable and robust nature of cities. They offer a seamless merger between components that are fast and slow; big and small; infinite and limited; broad and narrow. This quality is what makes the city systems resilient and everlasting. Coupled with lack of critical infrastructure in rural areas and the better standard of living in cities, people are inevitably drawn towards the cities, which welcomes them with open arms.
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CREATIVE CLASS Creativity is the resource of the 21st century. Cities are competing for creative people with varying expertise that create an interdisciplinary network. Complex problem solving and a share of common ethos that values innovation and ingenuity are the binding threads of this community.
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TRIUMPHS OF THE CITY A city’s strength lies in its ability to attract human capital. More people flock to the city in search for more access: more education, more healthcare, more safety, more income. Furthermore, technology has made the world a more information intensive place, pushing cities to make it more accessible.
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GROWING POPULATION
AND
SHRINKING
Cities have a dual nature. They allow contrasts and polarities to co-exist within itself in harmony. A case-in-point are population patterns in the Urban context. With the age of technology reaching its crescendo, urban population have begun to wildly fluctuate leading to mass growth in some regions (e.g. India & China) and mass decline in others (e.g. Europe, Mongolia). How we design our future cities will dictate the effects on these patterns and therefore the way we occupy our cities.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Book 1. Stewart Brand, „City Planet, Urban Promise,“ in Whole Earth Discipline (New York: Viking Penguin, 2009), 25-53. 2. Stewart Brand, The Clock of the Long Now: Time and Responsibility (New York, Basic Books, 1999) 3. Alvin Toffler, „The Rise of the Prosumer,“ in The Third Wave (New York, Bantam Books, 1980), 265-288. 4. Richard Florida, „The Transformation of Everyday Life, The Machine Shop and the Hair Salon,“ in The Rise of the Creative Class (New York, Basic Books, 2012), 1-14, 6583. 5. Patrick Bingham-Hall and WOHA Architects, Mega City Garden City (Singapore, Pesaro Publishing, 2016) 6. Edward Glaeser, Triumph of the City (New York, Penguin Group, 2011) 7. Kevin Lynch, Image of the City (USA, MIT Press, 1960) 8. Neil Leach, “The Architect as Fascist, The Aesthetics of Intoxication,” in Anaesthetics of Architecture (USA, MIT Press, 1999) 9. Neil Leach, “The year 2000 will not happen, The Countdown, The Jurassic Park Syndrome, The real thing,” in Millennium Culture (London, Ellipsis London, 2000) 10. Jesko Fezer, Christian Hiller, Nikolaus Hirsch, Wilfried Kuehn, Hila Peleg, “The Production of Behavior and Conditions for People to live in a town,” in Kooperatives Labor Studierender + Atelier Bow-Wow: Urban Forest (Berlin, Spector Books & HKW, 2015)
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Article 1. F. Kaid Benfield. “Remembering the Human Scale in Walkable City Neighborhoods.” (2014): accessed October 25, 2016. doi: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/f-kaidbenfied/remembering-the-human-sca_b_5938516.html 2. F. Kain Benfield. “How Legacy Architecture Shapes Our Experience of Place.” (2014): accessed October 25, 2016. doi: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/f-kaid-benfield/howlegacy-architecture-s_b_5342962.html 3. F. Kain Benfield. “What City Dwellers Want, and Why It Matters.” (2014): accessed October 25, 2016. doi: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/f-kaid-benfield/what-citydwellers-want-a_b_5628128.html 4. F. Kain Benfield. “Fighting Climate Change with Sensible City Planning.” (2014): accessed October 25, 2016. doi: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/f-kaid-benfield/ fighting-climate-change-w_b_5441393.html 5. Charles R. Wolfe. “Why the ‘Sit-able City’ is the Next Big Idea.” (2013): accessed November 11, 2016. doi: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-r-wolfe/why-thesitable-city-is-t_b_4073589.html 6. Charles R. Wolfe. “Using Urban Observation to ‘Ghost-Bust’ Cities.” (2013): accessed November 11, 2016. doi: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-r-wolfe/usingurban-observation-t_b_6932584.html 7. Jay Walljasper. “Fall and Rise of Great Public Space.” (2012): accessed Novermber 18, 2016. doi: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-walljasper/post_3734_b_1765370. html 8. Charles R. Wolfe. “As Cities Evolve, ‘Access’ Is About More Than Cars.” (2015) accessed November 22, 2016. doi: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-r-wolfe/as-citiesevolve-access-i_b_7845672.html 9. Charles R. Wolfe. “Reading Cities, Cover to Cover, And Why.” (2015) accessed November 23, 2016. doi: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-r-wolfe/why-citiesare-made-for-_b_6648976.html
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I Dessau International Architecture Graduate School Š 2017