Ibid./ in the same place by Oscar Carracedo

Ibid./ Nine Lessons and Six Possibilities about On-site Resilient Revitalisation Strategies for Informal Neighbourhoods Edited by OSCAR CARRACEDO

Ibid./ in the same place

biography

Advisors Author and Editor

Oscar Carracedo

Contributors

Almudena Cano Piñeiro

Alyssa Ee Xinmei

Anthony Lewow Cheng Ting

David Oktavianus Hendry Octavanus Joe Fu Zhuo Josiah Leon Seah Kangwei Students advisors

Erik L’Heureux

Luis Basabe Oscar Carracedo Image editing

Tulika Agrawal

Design advisor

Olivegrin - Keris Wee

Published and distributed by

ORO

© 2016 National University of Singapore © 2016 Individual Contributors ISBN: 978-981-09-9316-0 © OpenStreetMap contributors Maps in pages 32,52,76,100,128 and 150 are based on OpenStreetMap Data is available under the Open Database Licence

https://www.openstreetmap.org/ Printed and bounded in Singapore

The author gratefully acknowledge the permission granted to reproduce the copyright material in this book. Every effort has been made to trace and identify copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright materials. The author has acted in good faith at all times, and apologizes for any errors or omissions and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book. All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publishers in writing The publisher does not warrant or assume any legal responsability for the publication’s contents.

Erik L’Heureux (1973) AIA, LEED AP BD+C is an American architect and educator. He is an Associate Professor and B.A. Arch Programme Director in the Department of Architecture at the National University of Singapore. His research focuses on the impact of hot and wet envelopes on the equator as well as the urban development of the Singapore Metropolitan Region. Erik studied at Princeton University from 1997–2000 (M. Arch) and at Washington University in St Louis (B.A. Arch) and previously taught at the Cooper Union in New York City. He has won a series of awards for his design work including a WAF Category win in 2013, the FuturArc Green Leadership Architecture Merit Award in 2013, the AIA New York City Design Merit Award in 2012, the President’s Design Award from Singapore in 2011, and two AIA New York State Design Awards in 2009 and 2007, respectively. In 2015 Erik received the Wheelwright Prize from Harvard University. In 2015, he co-curated the updated exhibition “1000 Singapores: Eight Points of the Compact City” at the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine in Paris, an expansion of the exhibition “1000 Singapores: A Model of the Compact City” held at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2010. He is a contributing editor to Architectural Review Asia Pacific and has published Deep Veils, a book on his design research. Erik publishes, lectures and exhibits regularly. Luis Basabe (1975) is an architect and urban designer and co-founder of ARENAS BASABE PALACIOS ARCHITECTS. His work has been granted multiple international distinctions such as the Holcim Award Bronce Europe in 2014, and six awards in the Europan international competition. His work has been published and exhibited in nine European countries, as well as in Russia, Korea and India. Since 2010 he has been an associate professor at the Technical Superior School of Architecture of Madrid (ETSAM) and visiting professor of urban design at the Politecnico di Milano. Luis has also been guest lecturer and researcher at various international universities: RWTH Aachen (Germany), Universität Stuttgart, TU München, TU Wien, University of Cambridge (UK), CEPT Ahmedabad (India), and now Politecnico di Milano, as well as in a dozen Spanish academic institutions. Luis’s work focuses on strategic, process-oriented approaches to urban design, as well as on the definition of urban supports and configurative syntaxes for open-ended urban developments. In recent years, he has been active in cooperative planning processes and the study of urban production in vulnerable and socially complex contexts.

Oscar Carracedo (1971) is an architect, urbanist and assistant professor in the Department of Architecture at the National University of Singapore. He is the chairperson of the DRIADesigning Resilience in Asia International Design Competition and Symposium and founder of the InnerHoods Lab, where his research focuses on informal urbanism, integrated planning and liveability in inner-city neighbourhoods. Oscar studied at the Superior Technical School of Architecture of Barcelona and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has received several awards, including the International Architecture Zone/ Aguirre Newman Award for the best academic profile and final project in 1999, the Award from the Regional Planning Catalan Society (SCOT) in 2002, or the Barcelona Award for the World’s Best Store for his design work in 2014. Oscar has also been guest lecturer and teacher of urban design and planning at various universities, such as Columbia University (New York), Pratt Institute (New York), MIT (Boston), Faculty of Architecture of the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) or the Istituto Universitario di Architectura di Venezia-IUAV among others. Oscar is the co-founder of CSArchitects s.l.p. In his more than 17 years of professional experience he has won more than forty national and international master plan, urban design and architecture competitions. His work has been awarded, exhibited and published nationally and internationally. Oscar is the author of numerous books and articles including the recently published Urban Revitalisation Strategies for Low-income Communities in Manila, about alternative urban strategies for the renewal of informal settlements, and Naturban about the relationship and integration between the urban and natural milieus in cities. His design, research and active work focuses on urban revitalisation strategies and resilient planning processes with a special focus on developing and vulnerable countries.

table of contents

Ibid./ in the same place

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Nine

Lessons

Nine Lessons and Six Possibilities about On-site Resilient Revitalisation Strategies for Informal Neighbourhoods.

Six

Possibilities

Connect Street-led Urban Village Revitalisation

Activate Urban Revitalisation Through Sustenance Security

Shelter The New Country Garden

Collectivise Urban Strategies to Revitalise Indian Public Space

Decentralise Space for the Water, Space for the Community

126

Intensify Revitalising Low-income Neighbourhoods Through Land Intensification and Densification

148

Bibliography

170

Notes

174

Biographies

176

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 1

Ibid./ in the same place

acknowledgements

The inspiration for this book came during one of my first conversations with Professor Wong Yunn Chii, Head of the Department of Architecture, soon after joining the National University of Singapore in 2013. I was explaining to him how linking teaching, research, design, and practice has always been a constant in my pedagogical approach and professional work. At the time, he suggested gathering the outcomes of my research and the results of some of the MArch design thesis and design studios into a book. I’d like to express my appreciation to him and to the Department of Architecture for the support received in putting together this project. My most sincere and deepest gratitude to Alyssa Ee Xinmei, Anthony Leow Cheng Ting, David Oktavianus, Hendry Octavanus, Joe Fu Zhuo, Josiah Leong and Seah Kangwei, without whose contributions and enthusiastic support there would literally be no book. Thanks are extended to Almudena Cano Piñeiro who, despite not belonging to the National University of Singapore, always showed enormous eagerness and willingness to participate in this project. Also, my most sincere gratitude to all the people from the neighbourhoods and communities visited during the research work, who collaborated by sharing their knowledge and living experiences, and opened their homes to us. Without their warm hospitality, this book would not have been possible. In particular, I wish to thank Erik L’Heureux, not only for his specific contribution to the book as Joe’s research proposal advisor, but also for all the discussions we shared. My extended thanks to Luis Basabe from the Superior Technical School of Architecture of Madrid for his contribution to the book through Almudena’s proposal and as her advisor. I am also thankful to my colleagues Hwang Yun Hye, Florian Schaetz, Chang Jiat Hwee, Tomohisa Miyauchi and Raffaella Sini for the inspiration during many thesis and studio presentations. Thank you very much to my colleagues and, above all, friends Abel Tablada, Junko Tamura and Roland Sharpe Flores for all the time we have spent together and for sharing concerns, ideas, laughs and confidences. My heartfelt thanks go to my friends, my family, my brothers and specially to my mother and father for always supporting in all my initiatives. Without them I would not be here. To Unwin, my beloved black lab, who unconditionally and tirelessly has accompanied me around the world.And last but certainly not least, to Maite, for her love, encouragement and patience, and for always having a smile at the right time.

— 3

Ibid./ in the same place

introduction

Informal settlements are the social and physical products of the strong power of attraction of cities, rapid urbanisation processes, poor housing policies, and the political changes and inequalities occurring globally. These unplanned areas which, despite being called informal, take on very strong forms of self-organised and self-built urban environments, are constantly growing and transforming, and it is expected that by 2030 they will host almost two billion people and become one of the main forms of urbanisation. Despite the physical and social issues raised by the population living in these marginal areas, they still suffer from serious stigmatisation and exclusion, which leads them to be ignored, emptied or demolished, and hampers them from revitalisation. This book draws on the fact that urbanisation is an unavoidable process. To prevent growth from continuing to happen in an informal and unplanned way, cities must shift towards the recognition and revitalisation of informal and low-income neighbourhoods as a part of a resilient and sustainable development process involving an inclusive and participatory policy. Ibid./ In the same place, condenses a small part of the outcomes obtained over five years of teaching, research and professional practice focused on informal and low-income neighbourhoods. The results of the work conducted during these years in the Innerhoods Lab directed by Oscar Carracedo are based on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of more than thirty cases of on-site revitalisation experiences in informal and low-income neighbourhoods in Asia and Latin America. The contents of the book are structured into two parts. The first part of the publication synthesises, in the form of strategies and principles, nine fundamental actions and lessons learned through the revision of case studies. The second part incorporates the critical and innovative thinking of specific urban proposals and suggests six possible projects developed in different studios by students from the National University of Singapore and the Technical University of Madrid. Working in the context of Asian cities, the projects illustrate a rich interpretation of how to implement some of the lessons, actions, and strategies in specific informal neighbourhoods. Ibid./ In the same place aims to contribute to the discussion and the global discourse on the physical, social, and economic revitalisation of informal neighbourhoods as one of the key topics in our contemporary cities. More specifically, the book intends to offer new perspectives about the thinking and practices of revitalisation plans and projects developed on site (in the same place), understanding that they can contribute to reducing inequality, providing diversity and integrating the informal settlements within the formal city. Although specific in its context, the principles and strategies discussed in the book are intended to serve as planning and design contributions that can be replicated and applied to different contexts worldwide. In this sense, additional research is needed to further develop the principles and strategies to transform them into methods and tools that can be incorporated as part of the programmes and policies that will help to revitalise the physical, social, and economic conditions of informal settlements.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 5

Ibid./ in the same place

Nine Lessons

9 Lessons

NINE LESSONS AND SIX POSSIBILITIES ABOUT ON-SITE RESILIENT REVITALISATION STRATEGIES FOR INFORMAL NEIGHBOURHOODS

— 7

“Nine Lessons and Six Possibilities” reflects on different experiences, actions and ideas concerning on-site (“Ibid./”) urban revitalisation strategies for low-income and informal neighbourhoods in inner cities, which can be understood as a shift in the paradigm of their urban regeneration toward a more resilient and adaptable urban planning process. Without aiming to be exhaustive, these nine fundamental lessons and six possibilities constitute a shift in the thinking and practices associated with housing policies and contribute to the global discourse on on-site revitalisation strategies for informal neighbourhoods. This step forward, in comparison to the upgrading processes, implies that better physical urban environments and spatial conditions will create a positive revitalisation process and will encourage the residents of informal and low-income areas to improve their socio-economic status.

Ibid./ in the same place According to UN-Habitat, a quarter of the world’s urban population, and 33% of the urban population in the developing world, live in slums. In addition, rapid spontaneous urbanisation has increased the absolute number of urban slum dwellers worldwide from 650 million in 1990, 777 million in 2000, and 828 million in 2010 (UN-Habitat, 2013). These figures put the accent on the importance of informal and low-income neighbourhoods as one of the main current unresolved questions for our cities and a key challenge worldwide. A review of the housing programmes and policies for informal settlements and low-income areas shows, in general terms, that the thinking and practices regarding the urban regeneration of informal settlements have shifted over time. In the 1960s and ’70s informal areas were generally considered urban, social, environmental and health trouble spots. In many cases, the predominant policies to face this “urban disorder” entailed eviction and eradication, resettling people in public housing usually located far away from their original living environments.<1 As mentioned in the book Planet of Slums, when referring to these two forms of “population removal”, “Urban segregation is not a frozen status quo, but rather a ceaseless social war in which the state intervenes regularly in the name of ‘progress’, ‘beautification’, and even

‘social justice for the poor’ to redraw spatial boundaries to the advantage of landowners, foreign investors, elite homeowners, and middle class commuters. As in 1860s Paris under the fanatical reign of Baron Haussmann, urban redevelopment still strives to simultaneously maximise private profit and social control” (Davis, 2006). After years of implementing these practices, evidence shows the failure of these eradication policies due to the large amount of public resources needed and the social and economic impact on households. However, at present, we still see these forms of intervention being used in more cases than is desirable. In the 80s, a shift toward a positive outlook on informal settlements started to take place due to contributions from John F.C. Turner for Habitat I, the first United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, held in Canada in 1976. The shift consisted in assuming that informal settlements constitute a solution and not a problem, recognizing their upgrading<2 as a powerful solution to housing problems in urban areas, while reducing social harm (Turner, 1969). The implementation of upgrading projects and programmes, together with site and services or self-help schemes started to focus essentially on the provision of infrastructure and the regularisation of land tenure. However, although these programmes

<1: Sociovivienda relocation project. Guayaquil. (Ecuador) Source: Ministerio de Desarrollo Urbano y Vivienda. MIDUVI

9 Lessons

<2 Kampung Kebalen, Surabaya (Indonesia) Source: The Aga Khan Award for Architecture. 1986

<3 Citywide Slum Upgrading Plan (CSUP). City of Agra (India) Source: Cities Alliance. 2009

and schemes were effective on the small scale, they were difficult to replicate on the large scale due to the high costs of land regularisation and difficult cost recovery. In the 90s and in the early years of the new millennium, attention shifted toward the concept of integration of the informal city into the formal city. During this period, within the framework of city-wide programmes, new generations of upgrading projects were implemented, which focused on the improvement of infrastructure, the provision of basic public services and the regularisation of tenure and property rights.<3 Although not many innovations were incorporated, we can observe an interesting shift in the approach, incorporating an integrated city-scale vision. In the words of Claudio Acioly, “The new aphorism is ‘integration’ instead of upgrading. Physical integration and the transformation of these settlements into neighbourhoods through direct public investments, opening of roads, connection to city’s infrastructure networks and public services, merging to the city’s cadastre and official maps. Social integration, meaning that specific programmes addressing community needs, vocational training and social development are implemented vis-àvis the public works. Juridical integration means the regularisation of land parcelling and individual plot titling and final resolution

— 9

Ibid./ in the same place of land ownership issues which complements city-wide cadastre needed to collect property taxes and user’s taxes and tariffs.” (Acioly, 2002) A Planet of Cities After sixty years of eradication and relocation policies and housing and upgrading programmes, the goals of achieving social improvement, eliminating poverty and eradicating the spatial disorder of informal settlements has not been effectively achieved due to the complex social and economic problems in those areas (Zhu Hai-bo, 2009). What, then, are the global trends that will likely influence future approaches to the urban revitalisation of informal and low-income neighbourhoods? According to UN-Habitat data, the urban population at present represents 54% of the world’s population. Large cities and megacities, with more than 5 million inhabitants, have increased over the last two decades from 36 large cities and megacities in 1995 to 73 in 2015. In addition, it is expected that in 2050 70% of the population will be urban (UN-Habitat, 2013; 2016). Given these estimates, everything indicates that urban development will tend mainly to happen in cities, and that during this century the world

will become a planet of cities. This move toward the city is due mainly to the benefits that people obtain from living in urban areas, and it indicates that cities provide people with better access to education, health, services, transportation, and higher incomes. However, these positive aspects of urbanisation and urban development in cities are not always accompanied by income growth and, in fact, they sometimes entail some critical consequences. A New Paradigm in the Revitalisation of Informal and Low-Income Neighbourhoods It is well known that rapid population growth will increase the density of our cities. Although densification is not necessarily a negative aspect, we know that, without adequate policies and proper planning to support it, the urbanisation process can lead to the proliferation of substandard and informal settlements and, as a consequence, the emergence of social disparities and inequalities. Moreover, the announced changes in global economic development patterns, coupled with the housing crises and a greater social engagement will likely influence the future of housing production, moving away from large-scale mass-housing projects. <4 Kampung Kali Cho-De. Yogyakarta. Indonesia Source: Leo Huang

<5 Invasive process of occupation. Quebrada Juan Bobo. Medellín Source: Authors’ drawing based on EDU, EAFIT, AFC, Alcaldía de Medellín

9 Lessons

What should be the paradigm for the revitalisation of informal and low-income neighbourhoods? Urbanisation is an unavoidable transformative process and, to prevent development from continuing to happen in an informal and unplanned way, cities need to shift toward the on-site revitalisation of existing informal and low-income tissues as part of a sustainable development process, accompanied by an inclusive and participatory policy.

As a part of this process, it is crucial to recognise the existing housing stock as a physical, infrastructural and social asset, understanding not only the existing social structures and ties among residents, but also the strong physical and social forms of selforganisation they establish. Ultimately, what that tells us is that informal areas are actually not so informal.<4 Thus, the new paradigm consists of moving toward a more systemic approach to the “on-site” (“Ibid./”) strategies, a step forward compared to upgrading or housingprovision programmes, a move toward a central focus on urban structure and support systems. Nine Ibid./ Lessons The study of experiences in Asia and Latin America has allowed us to deduce nine fundamental lessons, principles and actions concerning how to revitalise and improve living environments in these informal settlements.

Connect. Spatial connections seek to integrate the informal city within the formal city as well as to facilitate residents’ access to potential work places and services, which helps to reduce inequality and increases social resilience. The role of these connections, which are incorporated at both the local and the larger (city-wide) scales, is not only to provide the physical structure that links to the formal city,

— 11

Ibid./ in the same place

<6 Housing in prone areas to be on-site resettled Source: Empresa de Desarrollo Urbano, 2005

9 Lessons

but also to create the support system for social and economic integration. The case of the Juan Bobo neighbourhood in Medellín, in the Northeast Comuna 1 and 2, is an example of this strategy. The process of “informalisation”<5 and densification of Juan Bobo began in the ’60s and ’70s mainly as a result of the processes of migration from rural areas. The scarcity of land, and the lack of housing programmes and policies in Medellin, made these slopes the ideal place for informal development. In 2004, the area was an overcrowded informal settlement with 1,260 residents, 94% of whom lacked tenure, 80% of the houses had structural or functional shortages, 50% of the water supply and 35% of the power supply was illegal, and 100% of the sewage system was informal, most of the residents lacked access to infrastructure, 35% were located in prone and high risk areas, and there was an average of half a square meter of public space per person. (Escala, 2009) <6 This first development by the Northeastern Urban Integrated Project (Proyecto Urbano Integral Nororiental, PUI), developed by the municipality and the Empresa de Desarrollo Urbano (EDU) under the Integral

Neighbourhood Improvement Programme (Programas de Mejoramiento Integral de Barrios, MIB) and the Development Plan, started with the basic principle of no evictions and no expropriations, keeping the residents on site and integrating the neighbourhood within the formal city as a way of consolidating the neighbourhood. After many consultations and with the participation of the affected residents, the proposed plan restructured the neighbourhood, improving the existing street layout and connecting it to the surrounding areas through pedestrian bridges, pathways, plazas and parks.<7 This resulted in an increase of outdoor space by 32% and living space by 31%; it helped to regularise 100% of the households and increased trade by 300%, which reflects the success of the strategy. Moreover, the project helped to increase the Human Development Index (IDH) from 73.66 (2004) to 75.58 (2006) in the Comuna 1, and from 73.35 (2004) to 73.99 (2006) in the Comuna 2. (BID, 2011).

Collectivise. Public and collective space encourages the development of social cohesion and capital, improves quality of life, and promotes the sense of belonging, which results in

<7 Paths Source: Authors’ drawing based on Empresa de Desarrollo Urbano. Alcaldía de Medellín

— 13

Ibid./ in the same place

<8 First works in Navagampura Source: Patrick Wakely Civis. Cities Alliance.

<9 Navagampura Plan Source: UN-Habitat

community engagement and care for the neighbourhood. The creation of collective spaces for the community constitutes a key element toward the revitalisation of informal and low-income neighbourhoods. This is the case for the neighbourhood of Navagampura in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The area sits on a former marshland, which the National Housing Department Authority (NHDA) took over to building a low-income housing project to resettle people from nearby informal areas as part of the Sri Lanka Million Houses Programme.<8 The National Housing Department Authority (NHDA) and MIT developed this first site and services project in Sri Lanka as a cluster plan scheme in order to preserve the original community ties. A total

of thirteen clusters, consisting of a system of collective spaces formed by two alleys and an open area for drying clothes, were laid out. Each cluster is bounded by row houses that the residents built by themselves.<9 In this case, one of the most significant contributions to the revitalisation of the neighbourhood was the provision of the collective spaces.<10 Although the original purpose was strictly functional, and despite the low standards of quality in the urbanisation, the improvement of the physical environment had a strong impact on the residentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; values and motivations (Fernando et al., 1986). The use of these collective spaces as places for recreation and leisure â&#x20AC;&#x201C; with playgrounds for kids, spaces for celebrations,

9 Lessons

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 15

<10 Collective spaces in Navagampura

Ibid./ in the same place

<11 Source: Community Organizations Development Institute. CODI

weddings or for funeral ceremonies â&#x20AC;&#x201C; not only makes them successful in quantitative terms, with an increase of more than 13% in relation to the original settlements, but especially in qualitative terms, since the sense of belonging, the perception of security, and the level of satisfaction increased in the whole community.

Decentralise. Decentralisation is necessary to include people in decisionmaking in order to ensure that the provision of public services matches the local needs. Decentralisation is based on an even and democratic systematic distribution of management at different levels, which increases the redundancy and flexibility of systems by promoting autonomy and creativity to find alternative and innovative solutions. Through decentralised decisionmaking communities can influence the provision of decentralised infrastructure or decentralised land management. In Thailand,

the Baan Mankong Programme<11 supports community-based organisations and enables communities to negotiate with landowners for the lease or purchase of land. In this case, this decentralisation of decision-making aims to improve tenure security and housing conditions, and to develop basic infrastructure. In the case of the informal neighbourhood of Charoenchai Nimitmai in Bangkok, the families were renting the land from a private landowner for over 50 years.<12 In 1998, threatened with eviction when the landowner put the land up for sale, the community started negotiations to buy the land. After setting up as a cooperative, the community was selected as one of the pilot projects in the Baan Mankong programme and secured a loan from the public organisation Community Organizations Development Institute (CODI). The loan allowed the neighbours to gain collective ownership and start a decentralised decision-making process within

<12 Charoenchai Nimitmai before Source: Community Organizations Development Institute. CODI

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<13 Models and maps done by the neighbors. Existing housing and proposed plan Source: Community Organizations Development Institute. CODI

the community to determine their own on-site reblocking project. The proposal selected by the community was to increase the housing density, to demolish and relocate some of the houses within the same site to fit the new street layout, and to include new plots to accommodate other vulnerable families squatting nearby, which would help to bring down the urbanisation and land costs per family.<13 In addition, the community also negotiated the agreements and contractors to bring infrastructure into the neighbourhood,

while they handled the small infrastructure work by themselves using paid community labour, which allowed for reducing the costs by 30% (Boonyabancha, 2005). Thus, the neighbourhood of Charoenchai Nimitmay constitutes a very good example of how, through decentralised decision-making, communities take on responsibilities and are able to go through multiple iterations of planning in order to meet their own needs.<14 Train. Education, culture, and

training improves access to employment opportunities that will revert into the local Library parks New library parks Quality schools

<15 System of Library Parks and location of Quality Schools Source: Based on AlcaldĂa de Medellin, 2011

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 17

Ibid./ in the same place

<14 Charoenchai Nimitmai after. Revitalized neighbourhood Source: Desmond Sim

9 Lessons

economy, creating jobs, entrepreneurship, greater appreciation for the living environment, and consequently urban revitalisation. The case of Medellín constitutes an extremely interesting example that recognises education and culture as fundamental factors in creating opportunities, overcoming inequalities, in social transformation and in the urban revitalisation of informal and lowincome areas on a very large scale. Two main programmes – “Social Urbanism” (Urbanismo Social) and “Medellín, the most educated” (Medellín, la más educada) – guided this social transformation and revitalisation. On the one hand, the “Social Urbanism” programme understands architecture and urbanism as a tool for social inclusion and as a territorial strategy for physical revitalisation. On the other hand, the “Medellín, the most educated” programme sees education as a key factor in revitalising the neighbourhoods, although education is understood in a wider sense than just schools, referring to collective culture learning. Within the framework of the “Medellín, the most educated” policy, two programmes – “Library Parks” (Parques Biblioteca) and “Quality Schools” (Escuelas de Calidad)<15 were created to transform strategic zones of the city into urban spaces intended to articulate and strengthen social tissues, education, and culture, and to encourage

<16 Spain Library Park Source: Alcaldía de Medellín

the sense of belonging to the community. These facilities contributed to transforming the physical spaces and the urban realities (Medellín, 2011). The physical translation of the programmes resulted in the construction of ten new quality schools and five library parks in the period 2007-2011. This network of neighbourhood and city-scale public facilities, built in the form of iconic buildings, was deployed in the most underprivileged areas to promote their revitalisation by providing centralities and services where they were missing, in addition to reinforcing the identity of the communities.<16 The strategy not only achieved an improvement in education and culture with the provision of new infrastructures, it also connected the facilities with the neighbourhood, creating reference urban spaces and meeting places, and enhancing liveability. In quantitative terms, one year after the library parks were inaugurated in 2007, 1.6 million people had used their services. And between 2007 and 2009 the library network increased the number of users by 29.56% (Medellín, 2011). Regarding the quality schools, the index of access to primary education increased from 24.2 in 2004 to 67.39 in 2010, while the index of access to secondary education increased from 61.42 to 79.94 for the same period (Medellín, 2012). These figures clearly show the impact and success of this strategy and how these projects became the new urban references for the residents. This experience exemplifies how two different types of transformations – social and urban transformations, the policies and the plans or the projects – can be linked as a revitalisation strategy.

Shelter. The fifth strategy is to shelter. International human rights law recognises everyone’s right to adequate housing and shelter. However, it has been

— 19

Ibid./ in the same place

<17 New housing provision transformed into vertical slums Source: Junko Tamura

proven that the sole provision of housing does not necessarily resolve the issue of informality and poverty. Rather than the understanding of housing as an objective or a formalised final product to provide, this topic understands it as a system in a process of continuous adaption to local aspirations. In many cases, relocation, reblocking or land-sharing projects have been based on the provision of mass-housing estates, either on the same site or next to it, to solve the problems of the affected neighbours. However, it is well known that the provision of these housing units has very seldom fulfilled its purpose, and too many times it

Quebradas Ladera Alta Ladera Media Cuenca

has failed, with the resulting abandonment of the new units or their transformation into new types of “vertical informal urbanism”.<17 The relocation to sites far away from work places, the provision of very small housing units with very different typologies, the very different living environments compared to the original sites, the lack of space for opening shops and creating local economies, or the detachment from the street level, are some of the reasons of their failure. Understanding the values of the existing urban tissues as a social asset and working with flexible and adaptable systems to revitalise them is the new paradigm that, in times of housing crisis, should be followed

<18 Socio-spatial diagnosis. The three sections and areas of intervention. Source: Empresa de Desarrollo Urbano. Alcaldía de Medellín. 2013

9 Lessons

by the revitalisation projects for informal neighbourhoods. Rather than being concerned with building new housing, the new adaptable systems should focus on the recognition of the existing social organisation patterns and the provision of homes, thus incorporating the sense of belonging and identity. Due to the inherently slow process of housing production, recognising the existing housing stock as a social value and promoting its revitalisation will help to speed up the upgrading processes. The neighbourhood of Juan Bobo constitutes a good example of this approach and it was the first pilot project developed in Medellín to test an infill strategy and on-site revitalisation to legalise land tenure in order to avoid uprooting residents and creating a social breach. The project, developed under the Integral Neighbourhood Improvement Programme, started with the analysis of the spatial and organisation patterns of the informal settlement. Three sections<18 with different topographic and housing characteristics,were identified to define the intervention strategies. In collaboration with the community, and as a part of the on-site consolidation strategy, it was decided that the spaces located on the highest part of slope would be used for densification and to redefine the blocks, the middle part of the slope would be used for the redistribution of housing, and the lower slope to recover the environmental space of the creek as a public space (EDU, 2013). The housing improvement generated a series of plans following several strategies, such as the construction of new housing, onsite rehousing, upgrading, replacement, and short-term rentals (Medellín, 2011). The development of the plan resulted in 31 on-site rehousing projects, 95 improvement projects, 24 housing purchases for shortterm rentals and 233 legalisations. A total of 4,000 m2 were created through on-site rehabilitations and improvements.<19

Intensify. In relation to sheltering, the intensification and densification of informal and low-income neighbourhoods can be considered to be a part of the regular stages of development. Working with these two concepts in specific locations as a revitalisation strategy allows for reducing the impact on consolidated areas while introducing transformative synergies within the existing fabric. As mentioned, part of the on-site revitalisation and consolidation strategy in Juan Bobo consisted of designating the high and middle part of the slope for densification, redistribution, and relocation of those housing units located in risk-prone or high-risk areas close to the creek. This densification strategy<20 aimed not only to find safer locations for the residents but also to free up the space of the creek to generate public space and for building the necessary infrastructure networks (water, sewage) for the housing.

— 21

<19 Revitalised housing. Before and after Source: Empresa de Desarrollo Urbano. Alcaldía de Medellín. 2014

Ibid./ in the same place

<20 On-site densification Source: EDU, Diana Moreno, 2008

A total of 5,000 m2 of new living space – the equivalent of 107 new housing units– were built in several multi-storey blocks and awarded to the affected neighbours. The criteria for the location of the new blocks was to use the plots with lower levels of consolidation located outside the 10m hydrological area bordering the stream.<21 As a result of the sheltering and intensifying strategies, and through the construction of the multi-storey housing, the on-site rehousing and the upgrading, 100% of the residents were benefited with tenure. According to the Medellín Municipality, two years after the consolidation process, some indicators evidenced an improvement in the quality of life and the success of the strategy was evident from the fact that payment of public utility bills and land taxes had generally occurred on time. (Medellín, 2011) However, physical housing provision should not be a stand-alone strategy. There is a clear need to develop innovative approaches

conservation onsite-upgrading onsite-relocation Quebrada Juan Bobo

that improve people’s quality of life and future prospects. One way is to promote and activate the advantages of the local economic development toward creating jobs, reducing dependency on support from outside the neighbourhood.

Activate. Activation constitutes an empowering and strengthening process that has the potential to catalyse the autonomous upgrading of neighbourhoods. Securing and enhancing economic sustenance is considered a revitalisation strategy that will strengthen the local economy and help to improve the quality of life for the low-income residents. It is widely recognised that informal neighbourhoods are usually nurtured by informal economies. Usually located close to places that provide employment – nearby informal markets or local manufacturing workplaces within the same neighbourhood – informal neighbourhoods become an opportunity for their inhabitants to be

New locations

<21 Affected housing and new locations of multistorey housing Source: Based on EDU. Edición: equipo EDU - urbam EAFIT.

9 Lessons

integrated within the “formal city” and the “formal economy”. Doug Saunders points out that demolishing these self-built neighbourhoods and rehousing their residents in high-rise buildings might sound like a better life, but what is lost is the world of commerce and industry that lies hidden inside the informal neighbourhood. By disrupting it, neighbours could lose their hopes of a better life. Saunders argues that informal neighbourhoods should be seen as an “urban establishment platform that provides informal resources that allow a village migrant, after saving and becoming part of the network, to purchase a house (through credit and informal or legal deeds), to start a small business (through loans, buildings, relationships), to reach out to the larger city for higher education, or assume a position of political leadership” (Sanders, 2012). In this sense, activating collaborative local economic development which recognises the local comparative advantages will stimulate economic growth and induce the creation of jobs (HDA, 2014). This will improve the people’s economy, which will influence the improvement of their livelihoods and ultimately will offer opportunities to elevate the living standard of all residents.

life in urban environments show that the members of one family are 50% more likely to be satisfied with their homes if they have security of tenure and a property title (IBID, 2008). However, security can be achieved in different ways and not just through property titles. Community Land Trusts, Temporary Occupation Licenses, Certificates of Rights or Temporary Land Rentals are alternative provisional and flexible forms of tenure. (Alain Durand-Lasserve, 2006) The neighbourhood of Ruam Samakkee in Bangkok is an interstitial space that was rapidly occupied by rural migrants in the early ’90s due to its strategic location as an access point to many job opportunities. In 1998, the Crown Property Bureau (CPB) planned to develop the area and decided to lease the land to a private developer who was meant to deal with the eviction of existing slums. The community rapidly started to organise in order to regularise their tenure status, and after registering as a cooperative, the community negotiated a

Secure. Security of tenure constitutes a central component toward successful urban renewal proposals, since it provides protection against forced evictions, promotes inclusion and attachment to the site, and likely people’s investment in their own houses. Moreover, security of tenure positively impacts the provision of urban services and infrastructure, which improves the economic situation of the urban poor. According to the Iberoamerican Bank of Development, some recent studies conducted in Latin America on the most influencing factors in people’s quality of

<22 Original and proposed street layout and buildings

— 23

Ibid./ in the same place

<23 Revitalized Ruam Samakkee. Source: Desmond Sim

9 Lessons

30-year temporary lease, giving them the security of tenure required in order to further invest in the demolition and reconstruction of their houses.<22 The neighbourhood was the first initial pilot project of the Bann Mankong Programme. In 2003, the residents began working with the Community Organizations Development Institute (CODI) to develop an on-site reconstruction project with a new layout for the neighbourhood. In just one year they demolished all the old houses, raised the level of the land to prevent flooding, laid the new streets and infrastructure, and completed 82 housing units. By the end of 2008, they had completed the construction of all 124 units.<23 This is a good example of how, by enhancing tenure security, several urban problems associated with informal settlements can be overcome. Ruam Samakkee constitutes a good lesson on how the decision about the form of tenure to be implemented should engage the people living in the informal settlements and take into consideration what they have to say about titling.

Map. Mapping is the last lesson explained, but the very first crucial action to conduct during the process of revitalizing informal neighbourhoods. Mapping is essential to understanding the physical context and the social reality and overall to put these neighborhoods on the map and to give the neighbors a voice. Mapping, if done with the community,

encourgaes self-organization and contributes to ground-up initiatives. None of the previous actions explained could be possible without preliminary mapping. Informal neighbourhoods are very often misrepresented in maps and plans, and are usually shown as non-existent, empty spaces or green areas.<24 This “invisibility” condems the people living in these areas to be neglected, excluded, discriminated, and spatially segregated. In addition, being off the map implies not having an official postal address, which is an obstacle to fulfilling other needs and rights such as formal jobs, access to education or health systems (Zárate, 2016). However, in the words of David Satterthwaite, “To live in an informal settlement, a slum or a shanty town, is to be ignored and invisible, but the one billion people who call such places home are a vital part of the solutions to today’s challenges in urban environments” (IIED, 2012). Sharing this idea of the potential of informal neighbourhoods, the process of mapping them becomes a vital tool to discussing and planning their revitalisation. Mapping, (or the enumeration) of informal neighbourhoods requires the active implication of local communities.<25 These are described by Sheela Patel as “a simple but powerful tool designed and executed by the residents of informal settlements, who own and use the information that they gather themselves. Through enumerations they survey

<24 Invisibility and miss-representation of Baseco, Source: Google maps and City Planning and Development Office. City of Manila. Palafox Associates

— 25

Ibid./ in the same place

<25 Mapping informal neighborhoods. Baseco, Manila

9 Lessons

<26 Mapping Ros Reay, Phnom Phen. Source: ACHR 2003

and map themselves, and build the skills and knowledge to represent themselves and their needs to government. At the same time, they develop a critical collective identity that helps form the political basis for their engagement with government” (Patel, 2012). There are many experiences where community mapping has been developed as a starting point for recognition and revitalisation. The neighbourhood of Ros Reay was the first on-site experiment that was 100% people-planned and people-constructed in the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Phen. In 2002, a small area of 72 housing units was selected by the Solidarity for the Urban Poor Foundation (SUPF) to be the first comprehensive “training-by-doing” on-site revitalisation experience in the city. The first step was to survey and map the settlement,<26 which community people did themselves with some technical help from the Urban Poor Development Fund (UPDF). The community mapped the plots, houses, trees, water points and problem areas, and used this to discuss their needs. Once the improvements to make had been decided, the community estimated the costs and drew up a budget for their comprehensive on-site upgrading plan, which was presented and agreed upon in a city-wide meeting in January 2003 (SUPF-UPDF, 2003). The words of Somsook Boonyabancha, the General Secretary of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR), are an excellent description of the positive impact that this

strategy has had: “This community-driven upgrading project at Ros Reay represents a very important turnaround in poor people’s housing development. It represents a strategy for enhancing rather than destroying the city’s existing stock of affordable informal housing. Ros Reay shows clearly that it is possible for the poor to stay in the city, in settlements that are beautiful, healthy and well-serviced, and it shows that communities can do the work of improving themselves, cheaply, simply and efficiently.” In conclusion, these nine lessons and practises constitute a very powerful set of tools and actions that can help to convert the idea of on-site (Ibid./) revitalisation into reality. Although very specific in their resolution, the fact that they all belong to larger programmes and plans allows for thinking that these strategic approaches can be integrated into more comprehensive policies dealing with land, housing, infrastructure, education or planning that will help to better meet today’s challenges of creating more resilient, sustainable, integrated, inclusive, and revitalised informal neighbourhoods. Six Ibid./ Possibilities These notions come to reality through the following six possibilities, six stories, six projects, each an example of a tentative approach to the on-site revitalisation of informal neighbourhoods in Asia. - Oscar Carracedo

— 27

AHMEDABAD GUJRAT INDIA

KUMBHARWADA DHARAVI INDIA

PANCHIKAWATTA COLOMBO SRI LANKA

Six Possibilities

BASECO MANILA PHILIPPINES

KAMPUNG SKUDAI KIRI JOHOR BAHRU MALAYSIA

KARET TENGSIN JAKARTA INDONESIA

AHMEDABAD GUJRAT INDIA

KUMBHARWADA DHARAVI INDIA

PANCHIKAWATTA COLOMBO SRI LANKA

Spatial connections seek to integrate the informal city within the formal city as well as to facilitate residentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; access to potential work places and services, which helps to reduce inequality and increases social resilience.

connect

BASECO MANILA PHILIPPINES

KAMPUNG SKUDAI KIRI JOHOR BAHRU MALAYSIA

KARET TENGSIN JAKARTA INDONESIA

Ibid./ in the same place

STREET-LED URBAN VILLAGE REVITALISATION. CONNECTIVE LINES & NODES

3 Km

500 m

Karet Tengsin. Jakarta

This proposal is an alternative view of revitalising the existing neighbourhood of Karet Tengsin in central Jakarta as an alternative to conforming to the conventional relocation and eviction strategies adopted by the city to create a globalized image of the capital. The project aims to promote the urban village as an asset to the district through economic symbiosis, as well as within itself, imbuing it with the image of a good neighbourhood aesthetically (clean) and formally (order) that is in agreement with the political establishment. Designed on three different scales, the main strategy of the proposal is the improvement of connectivity through the enhancement of streets and open spaces in order to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;reintegrateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; the neighbourhood within the city, recovering the former social, economic and physical relationships. Karet Tengsin: An Urban Island in Central Jakarta Located in the heart of the city centre of Jakarta, and with a population density of 152 people per hectare, the inner-city kampung* of Karet Tengsin is one of the first few targets of the Kampung Improvement Programme (KIP), which started in 1969. With the goal of regenerating the existing kampungs in the city, the KIP focused on

*Note-1

connect

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 33

Ibid./ in the same place the improvement of infrastructure such as drainage, sewage, footpaths and public toilets. With the completion of the KIP programme in Karet Tengsin in 1974, a substantial improvement of the neighbourhood was achieved. The kampung is considered to be a low-rise high-density neighbourhood with a variety of types of legal land tenures.<1 Some of the residents in the area own rights to their houses but not all of them hold a legal title for their land, which gives the neighbourhood the current sense of informality. However, the neighbourhood enjoys the benefits of urban services such as sewage, water and electricity. The neighbourhood also enjoys good employment opportunities as a result of the convenience and proximity to nearby hotel, office and residential developments. In view of these improvements and benefits, and due to its central position, the transformation of the area into a business district swelled during the economic boom of Jakarta in the 1990s. This development increased the pressure on the neighbourhood to be redeveloped, and by the year 2000 kampung Karet Tengsin had shrunk to about half of its original size. Currently, we find a fragmented and isolated neighbourhood surrounded by contemporary highdensity residential districts and commercial areas. The segregation

= 10 Persons

Singapore 75Persons/ha.

Jakarta 186Persons/ha.

of the neighbourhood into two parts, Karet Tengsin West and Karet Tengsin East, has weakened the urban structure and configuration of the neighbourhood, which encourages the notion of relocation and eviction as a valid response with regard to urbanization to create an idealized vision of what the city centre of the

Karet Tengsin 152/ha.

national capital should look like.

Home Ownership 4%

21%

68%

Own homes (although

Accomodation rental

Boarders/non-relatives

Squatters with no formal

not everyone can

with landlord living

rental accomodation

land use agreement

produce formal legal

adjacent

Income

title)

27% 22%

51%

More or less steady source

Irregular employment or not

of income of US$1 per day

permanent

(Formal Sector)

(Informal Sector)

<1: Comparing urban population densities

connect

On Networks and Opportunity Spaces The detailed observation of the neighbourhood shows a very complex network of narrow and winding streets with very few continuities with the adjacent tissues. In addition, the hard edges, limits and walls that characterize the high-density residential developments around the neighbourhood increase this discontinuity and the isolation of the kampung, breaking the traditional relationships and reinforcing its disconnection and fragmentation from the adjacent urban tissues.<2 On the other hand, it is possible to observe how this complex network of streets is full of commercial activities in the form of street-facing home-based enterprises (HBEs) that create an economic support infrastructure for the nearby formal developments. Hostels for office workers, communal laundry areas or small food joints constitute, to a greater or lesser degree, the main “informal” economy of the neighbourhood as cheaper alternatives to the expensive urban lifestyle of the surrounding areas, as well as attractions and nodal points for the potential revitalisation of the kampung. In addition, the existing urban tissue shows a very dense neighbourhood with a mixture of facilities and public infrastructure, together with different housing typologies – ranging from old kampung houses occupied by long-time residents, newer permanent buildings inhabited by business owners and new middle income families, and informal houses occupied by low-income family groups.<2 The on-site

<2: page 36

— 35

relocation of the latter becomes a key strategy for improving the quality of life of these low-income families, while creating nodal opportunity spaces to activate the network and revitalise the area. On Connectivity Spaces as a Revitalisation Strategy Isolation and fragmentation are the main issues that the proposal will address through connectivity. Connectivity is considered a

particularly effective system in the revitalisation of inner-city kampungs where, due to the high density of built areas, the streets, alleyways, public spaces and communal spaces become the areas where revitalisation can take place, while minimizing the impact on the community. Furthermore, inner-city kampungs

are usually set within the context of modern high-rise developments, creating a natural proximity between the two both in a beneficial way (easy access for employment) and a restrictive way (physical boundaries separating the formal and the informal). By proposing an east-west city-scale public connection in the form of a functional streetscape, the proposal recovers the old relationship that Karet Tengsin East and Karet Tengsin West once had.<3 The connection through both areas helps to introduce public accessibility, creating openness and porosity for the entire district. Likewise, the proposal of formal and informal functions throughout

<3: page 38

Ibid./ in the same place New permanent housing

Low - cost permanent housing

Old Kampung housing & facilities

Hard edges

Entrances

Housing elevation

connect

Informal housing

Open spaces

Nodal design opportunity spaces

Activation of internal streets

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 37

<2: Towards the understanding of the network and the location of opportunity spaces.

Ibid./ in the same place

New housing & gathering area

Local provision shop Foos cart/shop/coffee stall Communal edible garden Motorcycle parking

Guard post/house

Proposed retail street for adjacent apartments

Public toilet Retail

Proposed link bridge to west karet tengsin

connect

Central junction node

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 39

<3: Connective lines and nodes as a means of revitalisation

Ibid./ in the same place the street – such as retail uses, public spaces and street food areas – together with its continuous and pedestrianised character and its connection with the existing Dukuh Atas bus station, creates an intense and vibrant environment while improving accessibility for the residents. By connecting the kampung to the rest of the city functions, the proposal blends the informal qualities of the urban village with the formal nature of modern urban developments. Through its connection to the city, the neighbourhood will become a part of a larger network system of crucial support infrastructure to the city, which will make relocations and evictions more difficult to implement. In the north-south direction,<3 the role of Jalan H. A. Jalil street, with a strong local character, is reinforced by the detection of a continuous network system of local alleys. This capillary network helps to extend the effect of the main connections inside the housing areas as a trigger factor for their revitalisation, reducing the impact on the existing physical environment. As a result, the proposed public connections provide for the synthesis of local-scale and city-wide developments, both public and private, highlighting the importance of the local urban fabric in the midst of creating an image of a global city. On Street-Led Public Nodes In combination with the proposed connections, a series of “nodes” are situated within the neighbourhood.<3 These public nodes, in the form of urban and architectural acupuncture, are designed at the neighbourhood scale, taking advantage of the spaces created by the on-site relocation of informal houses to new social housing blocks. The spaces generated by this strategy constitute an opportunity for proposing micro-interventions that can act as nodal catalysts to drive the neighbourhood’s revitalisation process. A total of three primary nodes and twelve secondary nodes for revitalisation are located in strategic places along the connective lines to activate the existing streets and alleys. Primary Nodes In the north, the first primary node incorporates a new communal gathering area for the neighbourhood, providing ample open space for local activities to take place – such as playgrounds or seasonal community events.<4 By locating this communal park on the edge of the site, the project hopes to integrate adjacent communities and nonresidents as a way of connecting and integrating the neighbourhood with its surroundings. Moreover, the proposal for a new access to the Masjid Al Istisham mosque from the communal space will result in a spillover effect of its activities, which benefits the communal space and increases the use of the local street network. Furthermore, with a direct

connect

corrugated zinc roofing sheet corrugated zinc roofing sheet

timber framework stainless steel roof truss

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 41

<4: A new communal park and gathering area

Ibid./ in the same place pedestrian link connecting the communal park to the area across Jalan H. A. Jalil street, this primary node is complemented and reinforced by a second part of the node equipped with a new social housing cluster for relocation. The population density and activities accommodated in this new cluster, along with the connection to the communal area through open spaces, contributes to the vibrancy of the communal area. The second primary node is strategically located in the overlapping area between the main east-west connection described above, Jalan H. A. Jalil street and the north-south activated alley. This junction node incorporates a series of flexible public spaces to accommodate food carts, stalls, street activities, siting areas or the extension of housing functions into the open space.<5 Moreover, a new multi-purpose communal hall as a semi-open space is proposed in order to host night activities, markets, community meetings or even to act as an evacuation area in case of flooding.<6 The hall acts as a tool for social cohesion between the local residents and public coming from the nearby bus station. The node contributes to changing residentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experience of public space, reaffirming the perception of the healthy economic value and aesthetic assets of the physical environment.

<6: page 44

Existing Jalan H.A. Jalil street

connect

corrugated zinc roofing sheet

timbre roof framework

corrugated zinc roofing sheet

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 43

balcony extension community guard house

seats

food carts

<5: Central junction node

Ibid./ in the same place

corrugated zinc roofing sheet

stainless steel roof truss

community hall

connect

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 45

<6: Multi-purpose communal hall

Ibid./ in the same place Secondary Nodes<7 12 secondary nodes are integrated within the housing area connected to the local network system. By activating the street as a central spine running across the middle of the neighbourhood, these nodes act as a system to attract the existing commercial activities on Jalan H. A. Jalil toward the inner part of the neighbourhood, effectively revitalising not just some of the parts of the site but its entirety. Functionally, these nodes also act as a vehicle for the insertion of new activities such as shops, informal food spaces, guard posts or motorcycle parking lots, which strengthen the communal qualities of the place as well as contributing to the local economy. In addition, the activated street is linked to two existing daily markets located at both ends of the spine, reinforcing pedestrian movements, connectivity and accessibility along the street. A Catalogue of Tools In order to integrate all the different nodes into the surrounding built environment and within the urban context, a catalogue of tools and solutions based on local construction techniques, low maintenance and local materials is proposed. The proposed catalogue is based on three categories involved in the construction of the different nodes: tectonics, space and function.<8 Tectonic tools propose different solutions for rainwater collection and the construction of new roofs, based on scenarios where the adjacent walls of the existing buildings vary from one to two storeys. Space tools propose solutions for the street and the groundscape. The proposals include an improvement to the current street network and drainage system, allowing street sections to be on grade level with the adjacent houses. Moreover, these tools propose communal functions for the spaces adjacent to the walls of the existing housing such as strategically located public seating areas acting as gathering points, or planting areas acting as buffers between houses and streets, as well as porous grounds for flood alleviation and to reduce the heat island effect. Finally, function tools offer a set of guidelines and a variety of configurations for housing typologies and ground-floor activities for on-site housing proposals.

Node 01

Node 05

<8: page 48 Author: Hendry Octavanus Advisor : Oscar Carracedo Department of Architecture. National University of Singapore Text : Hendry Octavanus / Oscar Carracedo

Node 09

connect

Node 02

Node 03

Node 04

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 47

Node 06

Node 07

Node 08

Node 10

Node 11

Node 12

<7: Secondary nodes for revitalisation

Ibid./ in the same place Roof type B

Social housing type A

Social housing type B

Roof type C

TECTONICS

Roof type A

FUNCTION

Social housing type C

section A

SPACE

Public seating area

section A Green space

section A Street type A

connect

Social housing type D

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 49

section A Street type B

Street type C

<8: Catalogue of solutions for tectonics, functions and space

AHMEDABAD GUJRAT INDIA

KUMBHARWADA DHARAVI INDIA

PANCHIKAWATTA COLOMBO SRI LANKA

Activation constitutes an empowering and strengthening process that has the potential to catalyse the autonomous upgrading of neighbourhoods. Securing and enhancing economic sustenance is considered a revitalisation strategy that will strengthen the local economy and help to improve the quality of life for the low-income residents.

activate

BASECO MANILA PHILIPPINES

KAMPUNG SKUDAI KIRI JOHOR BAHRU MALAYSIA

KARET TENGSIN JAKARTA INDONESIA

Ibid./ in the same place

URBAN REVITALISATION THROUGH SUSTENANCE SECURITY. THE POTTERY NEIGHBOURHOOD OF KUMBHARWADA

3 Km

500 m

Kumbharwada, Dharavi. Mumbai

The proposal for Kumbharwada is an inquiry regarding existing rehabilitative strategies adopted in Dharavi, India. Because the conventional approach, either relying on public funding or private initiatives, has proven itself to be a hardly replicable model, a change in concept is needed; strategies need to rethink not only the physical intervention but also the attitudes and methods for deriving an effective solution. The project for Kumbharwada proposes a shift in the design decision-making process by embracing local residentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; priorities. It reflects an urge for a change of concept by signifying the importance of securing and enhancing the existing economic sustenance. The empowering and strengthening process could catalyse the autonomous upgrading which has taken root deeply in their practice. Finally, the physical solution manifests this concept change by only intervening in strategic locations to minimize impact and by devising micro structures to specifically suit the site conditions. By introducing new technology and strategic urban and architectural designs, not only can the community achieve higher productivity, but also the productive landscape can be consolidated to free up the internal streets as social space for the whole community.

activate

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 53

Ibid./ in the same place Slums are the by-products of rapid urbanization in developing countries. Mumbai, transformed from a fishing village to the current economic capital of India, best represents the territorial conflict between centralized developments and autonomous settlements. The struggle is acute, as more than half the population faces unsatisfactory living conditions, allegedly only occupying less than 10% of the city’s land (Greater Mumbai). The authorities’ attitude towards slums have shifted from proeviction to a more inclusive mind-set. Major rehabilitation schemes led by the government, such as Slums Upgrading, Slums Improvement and Resettlement Schemes, and the Low-Income Shelter Program, had been implemented but failed to make positive progress in mitigating and preventing the formation of slums and squatting practices. The failure was mainly due to the managerial pitfalls and bureaucratic insensitivity to the social and economic sustainability of the slum-dwellers. The dependence on public funding and the inconsistency in maintaining a financially self-sustaining model eventually led to the elimination of most schemes. The Dharavi Redevelopment Plan (DRP) and the Increasing Awareness of Sustenance Security Dharavi, the largest slum in Mumbai, is facing the pressure of redevelopment as it is currently a prime location for the real estate market. In 2004, the Dharavi Redevelopment Plan (DRP) was proposed to kick-start the redevelopment. However, the redevelopment plan was also known as a “land-grab mechanism”<1 since, in general, the existing residents would be further consolidated onto smaller plots of land and most of the “reclaimed” land would become a sales component to satisfy real estate speculation. In addition, the fundamental flaw of the DRP was its negligence of Dharavi’s thriving social and economic profile. The failure to include sufficient space to secure the community’s economic sustenance eventually led to suspension of the scheme. On the other hand, the absence of residents’ participation in the planning and design decisionmaking process caused hesitation among the local communities in adopting the redevelopment plan. Some grass-root organizations, and even politicians, also showed their concern for the underlying impact on community livelihood if the DRP were implemented. A Shift in the Concept, Towards Economic Sustenance and Community Involvement. After facing many setbacks in all the attempts at housing provision for the urban poor, a shift in focus for redeveloping urban slums needs to be formulated. The change in concept not only needs to have implications on the

activate

Land grab mechanism

commercial for sale residential for rehabilitation local business

<1: DRP and its land-grab mechanism

physical built form; it should also extend its inquiry to challenge the intent of conventional rehabilitative strategies and their implementation process. In this sense, our proposal is based on three assumptions: Intent - In the context of Dharavi, where robust industries

and businesses prevail, a rehabilitative strategy that focuses on the security of economic sustenance and on strengthening the established economic activities for the local residents is far more important than direct housing provision. Through the improvement

of productivity and hence the income, the residents could upgrade their existing living conditions in full autonomy. Implementation - On the other hand, a bottom-up design

and implementation process is equally important as part of the formulation of a sustainable and replicable model for slum revitalisation. The implementation process starts with a rigorous

investigation and study regarding existing economic activities, plus a survey and priority identification intended to achieve an effective solution that will respond to the needs of the affected groups Intervention - Finally, instead of imposing huge housing

blocks, disregarding the established social and economic fabric, the strategy focuses on devising micro-urban prototypes to stitch into and merge with the existing settlement structure, improving and renovating the living conditions. The Kumbharwada Pottery Neighbourhood in Dharavi. Priorities for Redevelopment Similar to the other compounds in Dharavi, Kumbharwada characterizes itself by a specific trade and a pattern of space utilization. Kumbharwada is well known for its pottery products, which satisfy Mumbaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s demand during the Govinda and Diwali festivals. The traditional trade not only provides job opportunities for hundreds of

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 55

Ibid./ in the same place families; it also has a great social significance in Mumbai’s culture and daily life. While the Slum Redevelopment Authority (SRA) schemes may provide the Kumbharwada dwellers with the opportunity of improving their living conditions, the residents are hesitant because their economic lifeline is not included as part of the improvement program Having learned from the experiences of their neighbours, the potters stressed the essence of safeguarding their economic lifeline in any redevelopment proposal. However, SRA refused to take into consideration providing working spaces for the potters. Surveys and interviews revealed the local residents’ need for preserving their business and social structure as a priority in any form of redevelopment or upgrading. At the same time, other basic needs such as private sanitation systems and adequate social space for children were also highlighted as part of the redevelopment aspirations. Existing Organization Patterns and Urban Structure The study on how shared internal streets are used for economic as well as social activities shows that the economic activities occupy most of the open spaces and that the pottery activities overspill occupies an average of two times the area used for kilns.<2 The residents will generally occupy part of the public

space either for economic activities or usual housekeeping and social use.On the other hand, when we study the physical space

and the internal streets used as productive landscapes, we realize that Kumbharwada is organized into four main sections. Despite this physical organization, the community still functions as a whole externally and the business relationships within the community are not limited by this division.<3 In addition, while potters are scattered throughout the area, we notice a lack of public facilities, which are currently concentrated only on part of the settlement. In this sense, there is only one community centre, which serves as a location for social events as well as a place to trade goods and a transportation centre for the entire community. Public toilets are only available at the end of sections 3 and 4. Prototyping a “Regenerator” Device. Functional Permutation The project proposes an incremental intervention on different scales, ranging from the urban scale to architectural interventions. On the architectural scale, one of the most important ideas is to embrace some local practices of upgrading, either for production or living conditions. The architecture is intended to assist in the improvement process and thus, by enhancing certain practices and accessibility to resources, facilitate a smoother transformation. As opposed to creating a homogeneous housing block with no

activate

figure ground

settlement structure

potters : 250

no. of kilns : 250 area occupied : 960sq.m Activities overspill: 2300sq.m

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 57

open network : 12,500sq.m

community center,toilet

toilet

usable open space: 7,88 sq.m

<2: Activities and occupation of open space

<3: Sections in Kumbharwada. Existing settlement structure and distribution of public facilities

Ibid./ in the same place roof

4th : gas kiln + storage

3rd : storage

2nd : working +storage kitchen

1st : material storage + toilet

<4: Existing upgraded workshop with the use of gas kiln

concerns for maintaining the economic sustenance of the residents, the proposed intervention is based on using a work station as regenerator. This device derives essentially from the study of existing productive activities and how on-site upgrading can be practiced. The prototype device is designed based on an existing upgraded model of the kiln.<4 The proposed work station,<5 built with local materials widely used by the community for upgrading housing units, can be consolidated into a compact and multi-storey structure since the use of a gas kiln no longer depends on the occupation of open space. The compact model also provides a fully operable interior drying area with fans to be used temporarily during the monsoon season. Following the indigenous model, the proposed prototype organizes the essential functions: 1 kiln + 1 preparation + 1 working + 1 storage + 1 drying yard on the roof top that fully harnesses the solar heat gain. A strategy based on the variation of volumes is proposed so that prototypes with different functions can be plugged in and work accordingly, depending on the site conditions for implementation.<6 As a result, diverse variation models such as single-function housing, a combination of housing units, a work station combined with housing units, units with working functions alone, etc., are all possible based on the combination of a number of modules and functions.<7 Incremental Implementation and the Revitalisation Process Aside from the prototype on the scale of an architectural intervention, an incremental approach to the revitalisation of existing houses constitutes an essential part of the design strategy, since it

<6: Page 60

<7: Page 61

activate

corrugated carbonate sheet

gas kiln

preparation

working

drying

mechanical hoist for goods transportation structural steel frame

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 59

gas kiln stairs

material storage and preparation

<5: Anatomy of the regenerator prototype: single work station

Ibid./ in the same place MODULE VOLUME

HOUSING

HOUSING + WORKING

WORKING

PUBLIC TOILET

family 1:

Living +

1st floor: gents

bedroom

2nd floor: ladies

kitchen &

toilet attic

family 1:

living +

2 bedrooms,

kitchen & toilet,

attic

production station:

1st floor: gents

1 gas kiln

2nd floor: ladies

production station:

1 gas kiln

Family 1:

living + 2

bedrooms,

kitchen & t

oilet, attic

family 2:

living,

kitchen &

toilet, attic

family 1:

living+ 2 bed

family 1:

living+ 2

production station:

rooms,

bedrooms,

2 gas kiln

kitchen & toilet,

kitchen & toilet

production

family 2:

living, kitchen , 2

station : 2 gas

bedroom toilet,

kiln

attic

family 1 :

living +

2 bedrooms,

kitchen & toilet,

attic

family 2 :

Living, kitchen &

toilet, attic

<6: Variation matrix of function combination

activate

Housing type 2

Housing + Working type 2

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 61

Housing type 4

Public toilet

<7 : Variation of the prototype according to functions

Ibid./ in the same place avoids the further occupation of open space.<8 Both the prototype and the revitalisation of the existing housing units work together to constitute the formation of consolidation points as an urban revitalisation strategy. Similar to the work station model, the upgrading process can also currently be observed in the potters’ town. The prototype serves as temporary replacement housing or working units, to ensure that living areas and businesses remain fully functional throughout the transformation process. The proposed revitalisation process includes a series of phases that provide for the incremental implementation of the new units. In this sense, potters or affected families will need to move to a new prototype unit, built on a strategic site, while their existing house is demolished and reconstructed. After the new house is built, the family will “move back” to the new house. The next family can then move into the aforementioned prototype and start the reconstruction process, in the same way as the first family. The same process can be repeated until the desired capacity is achieved. While the upgrading process provides the opportunity for renovating the living conditions, the upper levels can be used as a shared working area, similar to the spirit and practice of sharing the internal streets as a productive landscape. The shared space on the upper levels could also be used more efficiently for production. On the other hand, the cluster’s complete reconstruction and upgrade could work as a base or a reinforcement for the adjacent blocks to kick-start their own transformation processes. Connection or sharing larger space among consolidation points or stations could then be possible. Urban Regenerative Strategy Unlike the conventional method, where total eradication and relocation is implemented, the key urban upgrading strategy is to identify the precise points to begin applying the incremental revitalisation process and where to locate the prototypes in order to minimize the impact on current living and business operations. These acupuncture points are strategically located at the intersections of the productive network<9 as they are the points where the maximum impact can be achieved. 15 points have been identified for the initial intervention to take place, which work as points of consolidation for activities. This consolidation involves the introduction of new technology gas kilns and the insertion of prototypes on the architectural level. The strategy not only proposes a working device with higher productivity – the shift of working premises onto upper levels within a reasonable distance; it also frees up the internal streets for possible social use. In addition, with the opening up of the internal streets, public sanitary mains could be built. Public toilets hence become an initiative to encourage the

<9: Page 66

activate

1. Identify site for intervention

5. Repeat the cycle by relocating the next family to the regenerator and remove the existing one

2. Insert regenerator

6. Insert new structure for upgrading for the next family

3. Relocate the affected

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

residents to the regenerator

and remove existing

7. While the upgrading of each individual unit has completed, the upper layers for production can be shared

4. Construct new structure for upgrading according original layout. Move back after the upgrading

8. The completed site can

<8 : Incremental revitalisation process

serve as a upgrading base for the adjacent units

Ibid./ in the same place

Tentative spatial organisation of community centre and housing cluster

activate

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 65

Ibid./ in the same place

<9: Intersection. Site plan

activate

autonomous upgrade of private sanitation within households. By devising the prototypes with specific functions and following the principle of an incremental reconstruction process, all the 15 sites for consolidation have been designed accordingly. As a result, the proposal can accommodate 150 gas kilns, increasing the existing number by 25%. It also frees up 10,000 square meters of usable open space, 50% more than in the existing situation. As the proposal only suggests part of the potter community to be involved, the business capacity could be higher if all the potters participated in the incremental redevelopment. As a possible implementation of the prototype in the strategic points, three stations across three internal streets can be combined to form a station with a larger working space.<10 Aside from the functions of working and living, public toilets can also be attached to the stations in order to improve the neighbourhood services. But more importantly, by consolidating the activities into the proposed work stations, the open spaces formerly occupied by the kilns can now be utilized for social uses. <10: Page 70

Author : Anthony Leow Cheng Ting Advisor : Oscar Carracedo Department of Architecture. National University of Singapore Text : Anthony Leow / Oscar Carracedo

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 67

Ibid./ in the same place

activate

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 69

Schemes for consolidating productive activities

Ibid./ in the same place

activate

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 71

<10 : Implementation of combined housing and work stations

Ibid./ in the same place

activate

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 73

AHMEDABAD GUJRAT INDIA

KUMBHARWADA DHARAVI INDIA

PANCHIKAWATTA COLOMBO SRI LANKA

International human rights law recognises everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s right to adequate housing and shelter. However, it has been proven that the sole provision of housing does not necessarily resolve the issue of informality and poverty. Rather than the understanding of housing as an objective or a formalised final product to provide, this topic understands it as a system in a process of continuous adaption to local aspirations.

shelter

BASECO MANILA PHILIPPINES

KAMPUNG SKUDAI KIRI JOHOR BAHRU MALAYSIA

KARET TENGSIN JAKARTA INDONESIA

Ibid./ in the same place

THE NEW COUNTRY GARDEN. LAND THIEVES, TERRITORIAL DISPUTES AND VIGOROUS DEVELOPMENT

3 Km

500 m

Danga Bay. Johor Bahru. Malaysia

This project emerges from the research that delves into territorial disputes between formal developments and existing informal habitations. The proposal for Kampung Skudai Kiri addresses a bigger issue caused by relentless development and forced eviction. The lack of compensation is always the reason that puts people against the government or the developers. While some developers do compensate evicted residents with new homes on site, most chose to relocate them somewhere else, either for the higher GFA returns or because the informal inhabitants will be unable to fit into the high-rise estates. Hence, the aim of this project is to use the territorial disputes as a vehicle to interrogate the economic developments, as well as the urban and architectural models in a growing city, and to design a new “on-site” shelter model that appropriately integrates the original nature of the city into what the city aspires to be. “Iskandar Malaysia”, in the State of Johore, was officially launched by the Malaysian Government in 2006 as a development plan to feature in the country’s Economic Transformation Programme. According to the Master Plan, the 2,217 sq. km area is expected to reach a population of 3,000,000 by 2025, with 50% workforce and a population density of

shelter

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 77

Ibid./ in the same place

Catalyst employment area Catalyst neighbourhood area Immediate portential dev. area

<1: Iskandar master plan projected land use 2025 Note-2

Managed SME industrial parks Village Neighbourhoods

Source: Based on integrated land use- blueprint for Iskandar Malaysia: Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA)

1,353 people/sq. km. The major resource-based economic activities in Iskandar are palm oil, biotechnology and herbal products, wood and rubber-based products. Non-resource-based economic activities include electrical & electronic products, marine & port-related industries and services, petrochemical products, and engineering. Iskandar accounts for 60% of the State of Johoreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s GDP with the services sector being the largest source of growth. The Iskandar Master Plan<1 features the Southern Iskandar Economic Region (the coastal region close to Singapore), which aims to attract foreign and high-level corporate investments. In fact, the region has attracted billionaire investments in recent years, and rapid developments of high-end condominiums along the coast of Johor Bahru have increased property prices and land values, inevitably affecting the Johoriansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; way of life and changing the sprawling nature of the city. Due to its advantageous accessibility, the presence of three major ports and one airport, its close proximity to Singapore and the abundance of land, Iskandar Malaysia is set to become the most developed region in Southern Peninsular Malaysia. The Master Plan diverts investments into five major flagships. Flagship A is the City Centre, featuring a new Central Business

shelter

District and Danga Bay Development. Flagship B is Nusajaya. Major developments include the new Johor State Administration Centre Kota Iskandar, EduCity and Medini. Flagship C is Western Gate, the Port of Tanjung Pelepas, a free trade zone, and RAMSAR World Heritage Park. Flagship D is Eastern Gate that includes Pasir Gudang Port, Tanjung Langsat Port and Tanjong Langsat Industrial Park. And, lastly, Flagship E is Senai-Skudai, the new Airport City.<2 As a result of the Master Plan, a “Duo-City” situation is taking shape. One side of the city is developing into a high-end metropolitan region with high-rise towers, while the reality of Johor Bahru is in fact a low-rise sprawling city.<3 The two ways of living result in a contrasting image that questions the necessity and suitability of the development direction. Territorial Parasites Iskandar Waterfront Holdings (IWH) is the biggest land bank in Iskandar coastal region.<4 The corporation owns 16.19 sq. km of land in Iskandar, 50% of which lies in the area of Danga Bay. From the time the development began up to the present, IWH has sold 2.43 sq. km of land: 40% to foreign private developers such as Chinese, Singaporeans and Australians.<5 Temasek Holdings and Capitaland, two Singapore investors, purchased the A2 Island, 0.288 Sq Km of reclaimed land

<2: page 80

<4: page 82

<5: page 83 78

— 79

High Density Residential Medium-High Density Residential Medium Density Residential Low Density Residential Existing Housing

<3: Johar Bahru urban sprawl Note-3 Source: Based on Ho Chin Soon Research Sdn Bhd Comprehensive Development Plan Iskandar

Ibid./ in the same place 5.26 Million people

Johar Bahru GDP

Singapore GDP $297.9 Billion USD

Singapore GDP per capita $55,182 USD

1.46 Million Immigrants

Johar other

Ishkandar GDP

1.72 Million people

GDP

$40.8 Billion USD

$2.72 Billion USD

Ishkandar GDP

Johar other

per capita

GDP per capita

$14,790 USD

0.1 Million Immigrants

$10,757 USD

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Malaysian_states_by_GDP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore http://population.sg/resources/population-composition/#.VDw0oPmSx8E http://www.iskandarmalaysia.com.my/pdf/cdp/7._Chapter4_-_ Economic_Development_Strategies.pdf

Investments

31%

24%

19.78 Billion RM

15.30 Billion RM

Manufacturing

Utilities Tourism Others 7% 4.47 Billion RM Malaysian Government

Local investment 27.3 Billion RM Foreign

38%

investment

24.24 Billion RM

36.5 Billion RM

properties

Total

investment Singapore investment 6 Billion RM = 0.5 Marina Bay Sanda

63.8 Billion RM

shelter

Land-Use Breakdown Developement area

Existing Built-up area in 2014: 314.6 sq.km

Proposed Built-up area in 2025: 1056.3 sq.km

Non developement area

Source: Physical Development Strategies Part 2 Development Strategies Chapter 3 Section A Framework for Comprehensive Development

Population

Population : 850,824 ppl

Flagship E: Senai - Skudai

Population Density : 507 ppl/kmsq

Population : 283176 ppl

Land Size : 1678.6 kmsq

Population Density : 2023 ppl/kmsq

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 81

Land Size : 140 kmsq

Flagship D: Eastern Gate Developement Population : 100,000 ppl

Flagship C: Western Gate Developement

Population Density : 794 ppl/kmsq

Population : 45,000 ppl

Land Size : 126 kmsq O

Population Density : 371 ppl/kmsq Land Size : 121.4 kmsq

A I Flagship A: Johar Bahru city center R

Population : 221,000 ppl Population Density : 1093 ppl/kmsq

R I C I C

SU FT

Land Size : 54 kmsq CI RE

CI N

Flagship B: Nausajaya Population : 300,000 ppl Population Density : 3093 ppl/kmsq Land Size : 97 kmsq O A I

Others Airport Industrial

R Residential C Commercial CI Civic

SU Special Use P Port N Nature Reserve

RE FT

Research Enterprise Future Trade

<2: GDP, Landuse breakdown, Investments and Flagships, Iskandar Note-4 Source: www.iskandar.com.my

Ibid./ in the same place Temasek Holdings and Capitaland, two Singapore investors, purchased the A2 Island, 0.288 sq. km of reclaimed land off the coast of Danga Bay. The deal was sealed at RM 811 million, RM 261 per square foot, and the planned mixed-use development is estimated to be worth RM 3.2 billion. In contrast to all these big figures, just opposite A2 Island we find the longest surviving coastal village in Johor Bahru city, the Kampung Skudai Kiri.<6 Located at the heart of the Danga Bay development area, the 65-year-old kampung occupies 0.285 sq. km of prime land and is regarded as a parasite for the development. The kampung is now facing the crisis of being erased due to developments. For years, the government has been negotiating with the villagers for relocation, as the value of the land is skyrocketing and the presence of the kampung depreciates the land values around it. However, despite the government promises of relocation in public housing on another site and the relocation fees offered (RM 2,000 per family), no agreement has been reached due to the low compensation amount and the residentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; unwillingness to live in tiny high-rise apartments far away from their original site.<7 As stated by the chief of the Kampung Malaysia, unlike Singapore, does not have the ability to provide efficient sewage, As stated by the chief of the kampung, Malaysia â&#x20AC;&#x201C; unlike Singapore â&#x20AC;&#x201C; does

<6: page 84

<7: page 85

State owned plantation Developed owned land

<4: Land Ownership Note-5 Source: Based on Integrated Land Use- Blueprint for Iskandar Malaysia: Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA)

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Desaru 1.21 Sq.Km

Danga Heights City Center & Tebarau Coast 7.7 sq.km

Danga Bay 8.09 Sq.Km

Source: based on http://investalks.com/forum/forum.php https://iskandarprojectsinfo.wordpress.com http://www.iskandarwaterfront.com

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

Total Land ban Owned by IWSB : 16.19 sq.km

Total Land sold by IWSB : 2.43 sq.km Percentage Land sold by IWSB : 15%

Danga Bay A2

Country Gardens

Temasek Holding + Capitaland RM 800 Mil 0.288 Sq.Km RM 261 psf

RM 900 Mil 0.2225 sq.km RM 376 psf (44% higher than A2 island)

Senibong Cove Walter Corp 0.8175 Sq.km

not have the ability to provide efficient sewage collection, sanitation, rubbish disposal and maintenance. In addition, relocation to high-rise public housing in a remote area would be disastrous, not only because of the change in their way of life but because most of the villagers work near the city. Relocation to remote areas would imply increased transportation expenditures, especially when the average family in Kampung Skudai Kiri earns below RM 2,000 per month, and any additional expenditure would compromise their survival.

Dijaya Group

Brunsfield Group

0.9915 Sq.km

0.1012 Sq.km

<5: Land Banks Note-6 & 7

Ibid./ in the same place

<6: Life in Kampung territorise parasite? Note-8

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Village Request Grant families compensation request : RM 350 PSF Total no. of Grant Houses : 165 Total area of privately owned land : 266406.78 sq.ft Total compensation for Grant familities : RM 93.24 Million Compensation for remaining familities : RM 1.17 Million Total compensation sum requested : RM 94.41 Million Unit Price to attain the land : RM 35.1 PSF Government intended Unit Price : RM 0.56 PSF Price Differencial : 6267.8%

Total Lot

Faclity

10 lots

2 lots

0.006 Sq.km

0.0012 Sq.km

4.86 %

0.95 %

Kampung Skudai Kiri Land Area : 0.25 Sq.Km Land Type : Malay Reserved Land Establishment : 1950 Total No. of families : 750 Housing Breakdown : 150 houses with Grant 15 TOL houses 585 Sqatter houses Estimated population : 5000 Average Monthly income/family : <RM 2000 Original Land area : 0.128 sq.km Expanded Land Area : 0.122 Sq.km Total Land lots : 140

Private Lot

Govt. Lot

90 lots

34 lots

0.058 Sq.km

0.023 Sq.km

0.039 Sq.km

45.45 %

18.18 %

30.56 %

Road Reserve

Source: http://investalks.com/forum/forum.php https://iskandarprojectsinfo.wordpress.com http://www.iskandarwaterfront.com

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 85

Compensation : RM 2000 per family Compensated Housing : Rental Public Housing Rental per month : RM 100 per month Total compensation : (2000x750) RM = RM 1.5 Million Total land Area : 0.25 Sq.Km Unit price for attaining the Land : RM 0.56 PSF Nasai Taman Perling PPR SG. Melana Project Area : 0.076 Sq.Km Program : PTB Developer : UDA Holding Berhad

City Center

Building Type : 3 X 12 Storey Capacity : 5000

<7: Kampung Skudai Kiri Features and Proposed Relocation Site Note-9

Ibid./ in the same place The Unique Features of Land Tenure in Kampung Skudai Kiri Kampung Skudai Kiri accommodates 5,000 inhabitants in 750 housing units, 150 of which fall in the category of houses with grant. These families own the land and pay taxes every year. 15 houses are on TOL land, which gives them temporary occupancy rights. The rest of the houses in Kampung Skudai Kiri are Setinggan Houses, which translates directly as “squatter houses”. These villagers have been living on the government’s land for free for decades. Therefore, when the land acquisition takes place, these people have no basis to fight against it, other than the fact that the kampung is located on Malay Reserve Land. The Malay Reserve Land, initiated by the British to safeguard the political power of Malays, refers to a special category of land which can only be owned and dealt over by Malays or persons deemed native residents of the state. If any part of the land ceases to be a Malay Reservation, other land in that state with similar characteristics and of a comparable size must be immediately declared as a replacement. However, the government does not seem to abide by the law. When the scheme was initiated in 1957, Malaysia had 30,000 sq. km of Malay Reserve Land. Due to development and economic factors, the size of this Malay Reserve Land has dropped significantly: to 17,000 sq. km. Unlike the Setinggan families, the families living in houses with an associated land grant have the right to protest against the acquisition, since the land belongs to them. Historically, the first batch of Kampung Skudai Kiri settlers obtained the land from the Sultan as a gift in the 1950s. The government accepted the applications for grant but decided to cease the application process in the 1980s, when they realized the potential of the land. Therefore, most people were allowed to live in the kampung for free. The chief of the kampung has claimed that it is extremely difficult for the government to take back the land as long as there is no agreement with the families with grant. Neither can the government force them out because of the historic ties between the people, the land and the sultan. The families with grant are well aware of their rights and advantages, and they have made sure that their compensation is of market value or more. Meanwhile, the majority of squatter families who have no rights, but are obviously reluctant to move as well, depend solely on the minority houses with grant to preserve the village’s existence. “We are not moving anywhere unless there is an agreement between the government and the families with grant.” - Chief of Kampung Skudai Kiri If the land acquisition is successful, the government is essentially buying the kampung at RM 0.56 per square foot, calculating on the basis of RM 2,000 compensation per family. Taking into account that

shelter

A2 Island was sold at RM 261 per square foot, this shows that the government would benefit greatly from the land transaction, whereas the villagers would not. Territorial Disputes: Who Is the Land Thief Now? As the land transaction business is extremely lucrative, territorial disputes take place when the government forces land acquisition in potential development areas. However, the territorial dispute is not simply caused by the government’s attempt to force people out of their homes. Both parties try to exploit the other for their own benefits. The

potential of a project in this situation lies in not romanticizing either the urban village or the development; it should centre on how the two extreme parties can coexist on a piece of disputed territory. Developed in the Master of Architecture design thesis under

direction of Associate Professor Erik L’Heureux, the territorial research of Johor Bahru is done in collaboration with student researchers Epiphanie Barli Lie, Estelle Sim Jia Wei, Chua Kian Tiong, and Loh Kin Kit. Collectively titled “Dirty Little Secrets” the group research

work seek to uncover and make visible the multiple contrasts and contradictions in the massive urban development surrounding Singapore. As territorial disputes caused by developments are terribly common in developing Southeast Asian countries, this project aims to be a prototype for the survival of such disputed territories and explores they ways they can adapt to the multiple forces affecting them.

It is extremely difficult to find a “one solution fits all” applicable to all such territorial disputes. The ferocious erection of towers along the coast contrasts with the sprawling nature of Johor Bahru, and the existing Iskandar Master Plan zoning and programming methodology denies the city’s informal growth, which means that informal urban elements like Kampung Skudai Kiri are likely to be eliminated. Therefore, this project takes the position of supporting the open system originally present in the sprawling nature of Johor Bahru, and proposing a piece of city that challenges the traditional way of planning (zones and programs) that sees any form of informal growth as a threat to the city’s formal structure.<8 Within the same framework, the project also challenges the conventional mentality of relying on high-rise buildings to maximize GFA. The visible collision in Kampung Skudai Kiri arises from the formalized developments and from the culture of “copy and paste” designs that typically result in an entirely unfamiliar high-rise city, which usually does not combine well with the informal systems and does not relate to the way people live. Thus, the aim of the proposal

is to create a new on-site housing prototype that retains the

— 87

<8: page 88

Ibid./ in the same place

shelter

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 89

<8: New deal proposed Iskandar

Ibid./ in the same place existing informal nature of Johor Bahru, while incorporating the aspired formalism in a sensitive manner. In this sense, calculations demonstrate that in order to achieve the desired GFA there are alternative and integrative options to the high-rise tower model that can actually accommodate all the anticipated 35,000 people in a mix of 75% one-storey buildings and 25% four-storey buildings. A Set of Flexible Prototypes The proposal introduces a set of three different prototypes that use a system of flexible combinations to create diversity in the typological aggregation to generate complex urban types. The first prototype is the open-system house. Based on existing housing, it aims to introduce the values of the traditional kampung typology.<9 The proposal, in this case, consists of the stilted house as the main typology to be used in the flood-prone areas. The proposed typology increases the height of the lower level to achieve usability during dry season. By simply rotating the house above the stilts, a complex matrix of possible combinations is achieved. The second prototype, the T-shaped mid-rise building plays the role of urban nodal points within the neighbourhood, incorporating the on-site relocated families and the necessary commercial activities for the neighbourhood. Flexible layouts for the housing units aim to allow the users to adapt them to their living needs. Finally, the terrace house prototype, with garages on the ground floor and connected elevated walkways through the second floor, act as a mediator between the formalized mid-rise buildings and the opensystem houses.<10

<10: page 92

“City in the Kampung”. Three On-Site Resettlement Strategies for a New Neighbourhood The site is naturally divided into three distinct districts, which are further broken down to smaller plots clearly delineated by the road networks designed as a natural extension from the original roads in the kampung.

“City in the Kampung” challenges the traditional highrise setting for multi-functional and mixed-use development as featured by the A2 Masterplan. It aims to achieve a more synthesized, vibrant and coherent mixed-use development through the spatial relationship abstracted from the traditional Malay kampung. There are three different strategies applied to the three districts.<11 The original kampung site is planned to have more interaction between the open and closed system elements. The A2 island is designed to be the most organic, and the Danga island takes on the original aspiration of the Master Plan and deploys the most formalized organization.

<11: page 94

shelter

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 91

<9: Agregation The open system house

Ibid./ in the same place The T-shaped mid-rise prototype

The open system house prototype

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The terrace house prototype

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 93

<10: Housing prototypes

Ibid./ in the same place

Open-system communities

Control points distribution

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Open system circulation Leight weight raised timbre walkway

Open system House

Closed system circulation comcrete platforms

Partial closed-system Terrace Houses

Communal responsibilities

— 95

Road system extended from original Kampung

Closed - system “T” Buildings as Urban nodes and reference points

Open/close system circulation

<11: Informal layers and urban rules

Ibid./ in the same place Despite the three distinct strategies applied, the design is bound together by one control element deployed evenly throughout the site. In the original kampung area, the open-system prototype constitutes the main typology in relation to flood-prone areas. In addition, the distribution of reference points around the area creates places where most of the interactions between formal and informal happen. For the other two districts, the control points are deployed either along the main road, parallel to the main road, or perpendicular to it, depending on the geometry of the plots. In the case of districts designed for open-system elements, they are divided into different land parcels. Each parcel will form one community that shares physical spaces as well as responsibilities, such as vegetation, public spaces and parking spaces. The residents will not be buying houses or the land; instead they will buy the rights to build one unit in a specific district. The process is possible if prerequisites are set before the residents pick a plot, such as the maximum number of units in one district, the form and floor area for each unit, the connectivity or the thresholds between units, etc.<12 In conclusion, it is critical to pursue suitable development models specific to the contexts in developing countries, instead of simply imposing generic architecture or condominiums all over the coast. This project proposes a new deal for Iskandar and Danga Bay, a new deal that respects the nature of Johor Bahru, that cares about the way people live, and that is best for the Johorians. Author : Joe Fu Zhuo Advisor : Erik Lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Heureux. Department of Architecture. National University of Singapore Text : Joe Fu Zhuo / Oscar Carracedo

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â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 97

<12: The integration of three prototypes

AHMEDABAD GUJRAT INDIA

KUMBHARWADA DHARAVI INDIA

PANCHIKAWATTA COLOMBO SRI LANKA

Public and collective space encourages the development of social cohesion and capital, improves quality of life, and promotes the sense of belonging, which results in community engagement and care for the neighbourhood. The creation of collective spaces for the community constitutes a key element toward the revitalisation of informal and low-income neighbourhoods.

collectivise

BASECO MANILA PHILIPPINES

KAMPUNG SKUDAI KIRI JOHOR BAHRU MALAYSIA

KARET TENGSIN JAKARTA INDONESIA

Ibid./ in the same place

URBAN STRATEGIES TO REVITALISE INDIAN PUBLIC SPACE. POLS IN AHMEDABAD

3 Km

500 m

Ahmedabad. India

“Urban Strategies to Revitalise Indian Public Space” calls for an integral approach in the revitalisation of traditional informal urban areas focused on: natural, social and cultural resources; sustainable local technologies; and both individual and collective values. In contrast to urban regeneration programs that ignore the existing built environment or the architectural and cultural heritage, this project explores and proposes a potential methodology and a number of innovative strategies to re-programme, re-imagine and re-generate neighbourhoods through public space. Through a catalogue of urban tools for tactical interventions, the proposal solves the lack of infrastructure and restores the common spaces where local life unfolds with its distinct qualities. The city of Ahmedabad is at the heart of the debate over the revitalisation of the urban fabric. Traditional neighbourhoods and housing clusters in the historic city centre, the Pols of Ahmedabad, are currently facing the effects of external forces as a result of rapid development and intense socio-economic pressure. The local authorities have to deal with the interests of different agents involved in the city’s changes (investors, entrepreneurs, inhabitants, etc.) in long

collectivize

100

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

101

Ibid./ in the same place complex processes that are not always successful. As a result, living conditions are actively deteriorated and obsolete infrastructures need to be replaced through an innovative revitalisation strategy that restores the identity of the public space as a place for daily activities and social interaction. The Pols of Ahmedabad are regarded by historians, architects and urban designers as one of the finest surviving examples of urbanism and domestic architecture in the Indian tradition, and currently UNESCO is considering including the Pols as a World Heritage site. Despite the precarious living conditions and obsolete infrastructures, they represent a beautiful manifestation of a compact and climatically responsive urban settlement where the past and the future are still able to coexist.<1 In the Pols, community life is closely linked to public space and urban morphology and, for this reason, the proposal started visualizing daily patterns of use of the space and identifying the precise socio-spatial conditions needed for rebuilding a collective identity within the neighbourhood. Blurring the boundaries between conventional dichotomies of formal and informal, the Indian urban fabric is continuously updated by everyday users, who correct its planning failures. Dense and lively, the neighbourhood comes across as a close-knit living ecosystem underpinned by an intense connection between the built environment and the user group.<2 Participation in this context takes the form of unmediated negotiation between the users, who spontaneously adapt the rules and programmes of the space to their everyday needs, thus becoming active agents of change. In light of these observations, the

<2: page 104

collectivize

Cooking

Gathering

Washing clothes

Washing

Playing

Commerce

Clothes Drying

Resting

Urban Farming

102

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

103

Parking

Praying

Storage

Animal feeding

Celebration

Lighting

<1: The context

Ibid./ in the same place

collectivize

104

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

105

<2: The built environment

Ibid./ in the same place project sought to explore designâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s potential to support different forms of user engagement with the urban landscape and reinforce ongoing social, economic and environmental dynamics. The Pols are understood as a space for interaction and mediation that sustains collective living and thus democratises public space in a renewed domestic dimension.

The project ultimately reflects on an expanded meaning of public space, while challenging the way it is conceived and produced. Urban Strategy It is time to develop new methods of intervention in consolidated informal urban fabrics, focusing on natural, economic, technological, individual and collective resources within the area. Placing the citizen as the main catalyst of change, we could imagine revitalisation processes where the past and future are still able to coexist. While most of the policies of intervention use relocation or replacement by imported city models, the proposal calls for a strategy where

new social practices and the use of public space emerge as revitalisation strategies, while traditional ways of life are still taking place. In this sense, the project develops an understanding of public space and architecture as tools for positive change and social empowerment towards a better and more sustainable future.

An itemised analysis of the area revealed the need to reduce the scale of intervention and reorganise neighbourhood spaces around the day-to-day collective experiences of the inhabitants.<3 The proposal conceives an adaptive system of micro-intervention prototypes that function on the small-scale; it replaces obsolete infrastructures and allows the community to manage their own resources, including water, electricity and waste. Five test cases, or urban situations, were identified as representative sites (urban voids, in-between spaces, courtyards, etc.) for describing how the system operates and to implant a network of interconnected devices that positively transform and revitalise those scenarios.<4 The intervention devices are designed

to reorganise the existing urban scene by restoring the identity of the public space as a place for daily activities and intensification of social life. These artefacts are conceived to harness local resources,

materials and technologies, with a strong commitment to social and environmental sustainability. As a result of the implementation of these devices, we should expect some positive effects: social impact (participation and democratization of public spaceâ&#x20AC;Ś), environmental impact (prevent the area from being environmental degraded, resolve the lack of infrastructures, improve the quality of common spaces, etc.), economic impact (effective management of resources: water and energy saving, benefits for local industries and manpower, etc.).

<3: page 108

<4: page 110

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106

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

107

Ibid./ in the same place

<3: Collective experiences

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108

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

109

Ibid./ in the same place

The common kitchen

# 03

Rain water collector device # 02

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Super imposed facade for Climate control

# 01

Reversible Device for Temporary occupation

# 04

Vertical community crops 110

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

111

# 05

<4: Interconnected devices

Ibid./ in the same place Urban Catalogue of Tools Rather than determine a fixed and single design solution, the project creates a flexible and adaptive system conceived for managing a variety of urban contexts with similar degrees of complexity<5 and in constant development with shifting paradigms. To do so, the proposal offers a catalogue of tools referring to appropriate and appropriable technologies. A number of structural systems, climatecontrol mechanisms and recycling technologies were categorised in order to preserve and update traditional know-how. Accordingly, the catalogue takes into account the specificities of the place and local structures of production, along with the environmental impact and social relationships associated with production. Here, technologies define the context of knowledge that fosters common intelligence and self-organisation. Innovation and technology transfer both play an important role in social development through their contributions to city growth. The wide range of urban tools is provided to allow for flexible adjustments to a constantly changing urban fabric. Each transformation device is conceived to respond to the site-specific conditions of the five case study scenarios: the new housing blocks, the rooftops, the incidental common courtyards, the vacant spaces and the main entrance of the Pol.<6 These urban situations determine unsolved spatial problems of the neighbourhood and present opportunities to restore the quality of the local landscape. They are taken as a working instrument to test particular interventions which, despite different scales, functions and construction processes, all have a shared architectural language. Examples of this exploration are: the faรงade superimposed on the new housing blocks, which offers an extra semi-exterior space for socializing; the common urban kitchen that reorganises the small courtyards where women used to cook together; the rainwater collector point inserted in between the rooftops; the reversible module for temporary occupation of underused spaces; or the vertical structure with community facilities that restores the entrance entity.<7 These interventions not only guarantee the continuity of traditional ways of life by providing adequate spaces for daily activities such as cooking, washing, gathering or playing; they also apply energy saving methods, water reuse and recycling technologies in order to move forward towards a more sustainable future.

<6: page 114

<7: page 116

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Urban situation 0.1 New Housing Blocks

Urban situation 0.4 Urban Voids

Urban situation 0.2 Rooftops

Urban situation 0.5 The Entrance

112

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

113

Urban situation 0.3 Common courtyards

Relevant URBAN SITUATIONS in the Pol 01

<5: Urban context

Ibid./ in the same place

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114

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

115

<6: Urban catalog of tools

Ibid./ in the same place The collective laundry

The temporary eco-parking

The seasonal Green house

The laundry eco-tub

The kitchen vegetable garden

Reversible module for temporary occupation

Laundry tubs for hydroponics

Superimposed facade for climate control

The collective washing sink

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The after school playground

The communal kitchen

116

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

117

The Rainwater collector device

Cows stables and latrines

Vertical community crops

Communal solar showers

The solar kitchen

<7: Implementation of the urban catalog

Ibid./ in the same place Intervention Devices: The Introduction of New Dynamics The Superimposed Façade <8 New modernist buildings have been colonizing the urban tissue for the last 15 years, replacing the traditional houses of the Pol. These multi-storey building blocks are usually unconnected to the traditional ways of life of the inhabitants, and they lack the flexible and adaptable elements to confront the transition between the private and the public sphere found in these neighbourhoods which, by nature, has a diffuse character. As such, a superimposed façade to cover the existing buildings is proposed with the aim of enabling transitional and traditional social practices associated with the typical housing unit. The façade works as a revitalisation device that serves as a support system for hosting the daily activities of neighbours. Recovering the “otla”, a raised platform traditionally located at the entrance of Indian houses, the proposal recovers the interface between the house and the street. The “otla” provides the houses with a semioutside space climatically controlled as in the traditional “verandahs”. In the new modernist typologies with plain façades and without sun screens, these meeting places for the residents and for the community were being lost. The superimposed façade is equipped with systems to reuse grey water and to harvest rainwater during the monsoon season. The harvested water can be reused in the same building, allowing families to save water and providing a renewed ecological dimension to the project. The flat roof, unused during the day, can be recovered as a space for the community thanks to the mechanisms to generate shade incorporated in the device. The Shared Kitchen for the Community Courtyards <9 The shared kitchen device explores the scale of street furniture and is intended to refurbish the common courtyards. The device consists of spaces for cooking linked to a simple system of recycling organic waste. This system produces methane gas and fertiliser, saving up to 50% of energy when preparing food. The device also introduces a cistern and a public point of continuous access to drinking water. Its lightweight structure and small size is inspired by the traditional “Chabutras”. These structures served to feed the birds, a Jaimist manifestation of belief in the sacredness of animals, and used to organise the community courtyards spatially. There used to be more than 300 such structures in the walled city and they usually played the role of neighbourhood meeting places and landmarks within the urban fabric. The new device takes and recovers these roles of identity element and meeting place. The challenge of these microinterventions is to seek a common language that references the collective imagination and, in

<8: page 120

<9: page 122

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turn, generates future expectations for a new time. Vertical community garden at the entrance of the Pol <10 In Indian cities, we usually find a hierarchical sequence of transitional spaces on all scales. From the entrance to the city, to the neighbourhoods and to the houses, the architectural expression of the transition from the most public to the most private is characterised by gaps and intermediate spaces, spaces “in between”. The entrance of the Pol is one more reference to this spatial concept of an “in-between” space, a key element in traditional Indian architecture. In addition to its symbolic connotations, the entry to the Pols had a defensive function with regard to the community’s privacy, where a guard kept the gates of the city safe, allowing only neighbours and local people to pass through. The rehabilitation of the entrance through a vertical community garden implies restoring a tremendously significant space for the community. In this case, the proposed device introduces places where meetings and life experiences can be shared, such as the “Vadi-hall”. In addition, it provides a vertical area that can be devoted to subsistence crops, another traditional practice that has been lost in the clogged and narrow streets of the Pols, but which continues to work in other settlements as a collective experience of nature in the city. This project calls for rethinking the revitalisation programs for informal urban areas in consolidated tissues. Strategies cannot be limited to valuing physical assets alone; they have to cater to urban management beyond concerns about the preservation of traditional urban types and housing typologies. The revitalisation of public

space is essential to provide continuity to the traditional ways of life, as well as to the cultural and symbolic values that characterise these urban areas. For the implementation of this integrated revitalisation process through public space, it is essential to ensure strong involvement from all the actors involved in the process. In particular, the community to which the revitalisation is addressed should be involved, since it constitutes the key to social, economic and environmentally sustainable development. Only this involvement will ensure an integrated and comprehensive revitalisation process in building resilient neighbourhood with the ability to assume new conditions in order to manage an environment that is constantly evolving. Author : Almudena Cano Piñeiro (Archiprix 2013 Winner) Advisor : Luis Basabe Montalvo Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid. ETSAM. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid Text : Almudena Cano / Oscar Carracedo

<10: page 124

118

—

119

Ibid./ in the same place

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STUDY CASE #01

DOMESTIC SPHERE IMPROVEMENTS

The neighbourhood

A new facade superimposed to

is currently facing the

the existing building that offers

effects of external

an extra semi-exterior space to

forces of urbanization

the dwellings. This climatically

and commercialization.

responsive double skin is in-

Traditional dwelling

spired in the traditional façades

units are being sold and

and aesthetically integrated

demolished to pave

in the Pol.

way for the reinforced

It provides an area protected

concrete housing blocks

from the direct sun where

which stand isolated

daily activities can occur so it

from the harmonious

becomes a setting for socializing

traditional built form all

and neighbourly interaction.

around.

LEARNING FROM LOCAL TECHNOLOGIES TRADITIONAL KNOW-HOW

a. Foundations

b. Adjustable trusses

c. Light platforms

d. Hanging bamboo facade

e. Climate control elements

120 REINFORCING THE IDENTITY OF THE COMMUNITY

OUTDOOR EXTENSION FOR DAILY ACTIVITIES

RECOVERING TRADITIONAL “OTLA”

REVITALIZING THE ROOFTOP

HARNESSING LOCAL RESOURCES COLLECTING

ALTERNATIVE WATER

WATER TREATMENT AND

RECYCLED WATER

RAINWATER

PIPING SYSTEM

STORAGE FACILITIES

RE-USE

Rainwater collection

In areas where there is inadequate groundwater supply or surface resources are either lacking or insufficient, rainwater harvesting offers an ideal solution.

Separate greywater system

Greywater from the bath, laundry trough and hand basin is the most readily available sources of greywater that can be reused

Direct non-potable reuse

Treatment tanks

(0.1) Collection tank (0.2) Clarifying tank (0.3) Floating filter (0.4) Gravel filter (0.5) Charcoal filter (0.6) Storage for reuse

the process allows 30% water savings

<8: The superimposed façade

—

121

Ibid./ in the same place

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DOMESTIC SPHERE IMPROVEMENTS Inspired from traditional Chabutara

STUDY CASE # 03

A NEW CHABUTTRA for the

The “chabuttra” or “para-

organization of the common

badi” is a manifestation of

courtyards.

the jaina belief in kindness

These urban objects organ-

to animals. It is an important

ize the public space reinforc-

element of urban design ,

ing the domestic scale. It

organizing a representative

offers small infrastructures for

space for the community.

the daily activities such as

It is located in the centre

cooking or washing.

of the public courtyards

Its symbolic entity restore the

in the clusters where most

sense of belonging and the

community interactions and

appropriability of the urban

the celebration of festivals

landscape

take place A. Foundation and Infrastructure

Storage

Public spaces Water treatment Water tank

LEARNING FROM LOCAL TECHNOLOGIES TRADITIONAL KNOW-HOW B. Deployable bamboo poles

C. Tensile structure

D. Climate control elements

E. Combination of units

REINFORCING THE IDENTITY OF THE COMMUNITY The collective washing sinks

Laundry tubs for hydroponics

ORGANIC WASTE COLLECTION

Each person generates 1,2 kg of organic waste a day. These vegetable spoilage can be treated to produce methane and fertilizer with an organic waste simple processing and disposal

The kitchen with vegetable garden

The solar kitchen

The laundry eco-tubs

The collective eco-lavery

Los talleres con patio de juegos

Communal solar showers

BIODIGESTER

METHANE AND FERTILIZER PRODUCTION

BIO-GAS COOKING

0.5 m3 of Bio-Gas Cooking during 2h 0,62w/h electricity

The anaerobic digester is a technology recovered from rural India that turns solid waste into energy

(0.1) Bio-Gas storage (0.2) Gas pipe (0.3) Methane Chamber (0.4) Digestion Chamber (0.5) Fertilizer storage

<9: The shared kitchen

122

—

123

Ibid./ in the same place

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DOMESTIC SPHERE IMPROVEMENTS STUDY CASE # 02

This device tries to restore the ENTRANCE entity by reinforcing the urban

The in-between refers to the

presence of a vertical structure in this in-between.

realm of actual physical change that finds expression

It offers community spaces for

It enables a vertical crop for com-

linking two areas with distinct

gathering and social interaction

munity with simple hydroponic

environmental qualities

“Vadi-hall”

methods.

Whether it is the entrance of the city through the fort wall or the ancient doors of the pol, the connection between outside and inside revolves around the idea of the transition, incorporating symbolic as well as functional values. LEARNING FROM LOCAL TECHNOLOGIES TRADITIONAL KNOW-HOW A. Communal Water-Tank

B. Lattice Bamboo Trusses

C. Scaffolding structure

D. Bamboo hanging facade

E. Elements of climate control and greenery

REINFORCING THE IDENTITY OF THE COMMUNITY A. Restoring the entry of the entrance

B. Providing spaces for the community

C. Vertical orchards on bamboo channel

HARNESSING LOCAL RESOURCES A. Communal watertank

B. Manual pumping

C. Water storage and reuse

D. Vertical hydroponics crop

The separate new network for rainwater

Collected water is

The hanging facade

collection prevents

stored in elevated

enables a vertical

New network

the overloading of the

The manual pumping

water tanks and

crop for community

for rainwater

sewage network when

system keeps the

reused by a gravity

with simple hydro-

collection

sudden rainfall occurs

energy cost minimal

distribution system

ponic methods.

Watertank > Volume 100.00 l

Sewage local network

Pumping speed :

Daily storage volume :

Hydroponic channels :

15 l/minute

1200 l

O 40 mm

<10: Vertical community garden

124

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125

AHMEDABAD GUJRAT INDIA

KUMBHARWADA DHARAVI INDIA

PANCHIKAWATTA COLOMBO SRI LANKA

Decentralisation is necessary to include people in decision-making in order to ensure that the provision of public services matches the local needs. Decentralisation is based on an even and democratic systematic distribution of management at different levels, which increases the redundancy and flexibility of systems by promoting autonomy and creativity to find alternative and innovative solutions.

decentralise

BASECO MANILA PHILIPPINES

KAMPUNG SKUDAI KIRI JOHOR BAHRU MALAYSIA

KARET TENGSIN JAKARTA INDONESIA

Ibid./ in the same place

SPACE FOR WATER, SPACE FOR THE COMMUNITY. TRANSFORMING STREETS INTO DECENTRALISED INFRASTRUCTURES

3 Km

500 m

Baseco Compound. Manila. Philippines

The premise of this proposal begins with an enquiry on the possibility of alternative strategies to add to the current catalogue of methods and strategies of revitalising informal settlements. In Manila, the current regeneration methods are mainly comprised of two approaches: offsite relocation and reblocking, even though studies have shown that results from both methods are seldom sustainable in the long run, as essential community foundations and networks within the settlements are disrupted in the process. Based on the understanding that in the Baseco Compound in Manila the constant waterlogged condition of the ground and the flooding during rain is one of the most pressing daily problems faced by inhabitants, the proposal seeks to develop a decentralised infrastructure that, managed by the community, helps to relieve the pressures of flooding without needing to relocate the existing neighbourhood. The Philippines has undergone rapidly increasing urbanization; approximately 60% of the population lives in urban areas, a similar rate of urbanization to East Asia, although it has not experienced the same level of economic development. (World Bank, 2002) Manila, with a population of nearly 12 million residents, is one of the

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128

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129

Ibid./ in the same place fastest-growing megacities in the world, and according to UN Habitat (2011) almost 4 million of its residents live in slums and suffer from poverty. Barangay 649. The Baseco Compound Urban Island In Metro Manila, households in informal settlements increased by more than 81% between 2000 and 2006, and according to the Metro Manila Development Authority’s records, in 2010 Metro Manila had 2.8 million informal settlers: 556,526 families.<1 Metro Manila, an example of an Asian megacity, consists of 12 cities, 5 municipalities and 1,694 Barangays, which translates into villages or districts – the smallest administrative subdivision in the Philippines, governed by their respective local government units. Barangay 649 is the formal name of the district located at the mouth of the Pasig River in Manila. Between 1990 and 1993, the ship loading and unloading site – informally called Baseco after the Batann Shipping and Engineering Corporation (BASECO), the company that owned the land,<2 became the government’s official relocation site for evicted slum-dwellers from different parts of the city. The area, which used to be full of mangroves, grew rapidly and, in order to create more room to relocate more families, the space between the two breakwaters was reclaimed with garbage, mud, and other waste materials swept in from Pasig River, as well as debris and demolished

1 2

X 67,212 1 2

Kalookan X169,490 Quezon City X99,549

Manila X57,436

Paranaque

Location of informal settlements highlighting some of the biggest clusters

<1: Typology of slums according to functions Note-10 Source: MLA LA4702 studio 2013/14. in “Baseco 2014”

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concrete dumped there by the Bureau of Public Works and Highways.<3 Today Baseco is the largest informal urban-poor community in Manila, with more than 6,060 families, 70,000 inhabitants and 13,000 housing units stacked on 52 hectares. In 2000, the Asian Development Bank and the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission identified Baseco as a high-priority area for urban renewal. Land tenure security was a necessary condition for the bank’s urban renewal work, thus the government had to grant it via proclamation. In 2001, Kabalikat – the local people’s organization – drew up a people’s plan for the urban renewal of Baseco, proposing horizontal development that would minimize relocations and reblockings. The discussion, held from June to July, was done block by block, and more than 3,500 neighbours participated in the meetings. On 12 February 2002 President Macapagal-Arroyo officially proclaimed the area as a socialized housing site, and the land was awarded to its inhabitants from the former owner, the Philippine Port Authority, and set aside for residential use. However, today, none of its inhabitants has received any property title and, due to its prime location within the city, the threat of being evicted is still prevailing. Because of its location near the city centre and the port, Baseco provides a very good location close to a lot of job opportunities. This makes the site attractive for workers and immigrants from other cities and islands to settle down when they arrive to Manila. However, this

<3: page 132

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—

131

<2: Map of Manila and its neighbourhoods. 1898 Source: Wikimedia Commons (www.commons.wikimedia.org)

Ibid./ in the same place Sand, Shell Fragments A1 to D Mangrove/Marshland

Naturally occurring ~90m depth

Mud And Garbage

A2 to D ~45m depth

A1 to B A1 to D

~15m depth

Naturally occurring ~90m depth B to C ~20m depth

A1 to B ~15m depth

A1 to D

Naturally occurring ~90m depth A2 to C ~22m depth

B to C ~20m depth

A1 to B A1 to D

~15m depth

Naturally occurring ~90m depth A2 to C ~22m depth

B to C

Mud (5-50m)

~20m depth

Soil (50m-)

Silty sand &stiff clay w/ garbage (0-2m)

Silty sand &loose clay w/ garbage (2-4m)

Silty sand &soft clay (4-8m)

Soil (21m-)

Silty clay &shell fragments &decayed organic materials (8-21m)

<3: Types of soil and their components and stability Note-10 Source: MLA LA4702 studio 2013/14. in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Baseco 2014â&#x20AC;?

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former dumpsite in the Manila port area still doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the minimum conditions to provide a decent life to its inhabitants. Settlers build their homes on stilts in the swampy area, which gathers large amounts of garbage. The sanitary conditions are poor and the makeshift shelters are prone to climate hazards, typhoons and flooding, as well as to frequent fire.<4 Other than a few public structures such as a school, a clinic and a playground that have been provided by the government, the Baseco compound has been left relatively cut off from the main city infrastructure of Metro Manila, which makes it an urban island in the city. Land Monopoly and Housing Policies In this sense, the Baseco Compound in Manila constitutes a representative example of the kind of informal settlements that are in need of urgent improvement to their living environment, yet which would have much to lose in terms of the existing community network and livelihood should they be reformed under the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s standard procedure of upgrading through relocation to a new far-off site. In 1992 the congress enacted the Urban Development and Housing Act, the law that gave a new name to the squatters: informal settlers. Essentially, this law protects private ownership of land in

132

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133

<4: Poor sanitary conditions in Baseco

Ibid./ in the same place the urban areas from illegal occupants. Coupled with the government housing policies, which usually focus on the relocation of informal settlers, the construction of new houses and subsidized lending, this led to the demolition of hundreds of thousands of housing units located on private or on infrastructure land, as well as the massive relocation of entire communities to distant locations, often against the wishes of the inhabitants and their inevitable loss of income as a consequence. Under the Benigno Aquino III administration alone, 556,526 families in Metro Manila have been moved to relocation sites not only to solve the problem of flooding, but also to give way to infrastructure projects and private real estate developments (ICF, 2014). Summarizing, the current housing policies for regenerating informal settlements mainly comprise two approaches: relocation and reblocking. The first approach involves the relocation of residents to resettlement sites that are usually outside of the city.Yet, informal settlements emerge in city centres because these are places where the poor can find work more easily. Consequently, moving the people away from the city breaks off their sources of income and daily interactions with the city and, despite the existence of better facilities, relocation often does not produce sustainable results in the long run. In many cases, people prefer to abandon their new housing and return to squatting in locations near their work places.<5 TThe second approach, reblocking, involves the clearance and redevelopment of an existing settlement. This means temporarily moving the slum residents, clearing the land and building new housing for them on the same site. This method, although it intends to keep the people in the place they live, creates a logistical problem of needing to house the residents of the affected settlement for a long period while works are being carried out. Often, this issue is left unaddressed by the municipality and falls to the residents to find their own temporary lodging, frequently resulting in another informal settlement developing

City

Informal Settlement

City

Informal Settlement

<5: Displacement process

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elsewhere. In addition, the intention of reducing the initial density usually ends up generating a new redevelopment that does not have enough capacity to accommodate all the residents, creating inequalities, displacements, community disruptions and social conflicts. This project explores an approach beyond the housing

provision and the improvement of informal settlements focusing on infrastructure, public space and people. The proposal of decentralised infrastructures tackles the issues of public space, community space and flood alleviation at once and provides a strategy to revitalise the existing housing stock.

The Makeup of the Decentralised Infrastructural Spine One of the biggest environmental dangers facing the Baseco Compound is the threat of storm surges and huge waves flooding the neighbourhood during storms.<6 With the absence of any formalised drainage system, the frequent episodes of rain in Manila’s climate results in floods when rainwater falling on the surface of the land is not directed away but rather begins to accumulate. As a consequence, many areas in Baseco become flooded even when there are no typhoons, like during strong monsoon rains when the neighbourhood experiences knee-deep floods. During these episodes, the higher inland ground level results in the excess rainwater pooling around the lower-lying periphery, flooding the streets and homes for days at a time.<7 The problem of flooding has got significantly worse with the increase of density. The housing congestion minimizes the area of permeable soil; the streets then become the only water runoff spaces. In addition, density reduces the area of open spaces for the community since, due to necessity and land scarcity, every usable square meter is occupied by housing for newcomers. Wet Season

Extreme wet Season

2- to 10-year flood:

50- to 100-year flood:

53.3mm-78.4mm/hr

100.5mm-109.8mm/hr

147.2mm-252.5mm/day

344.8mm-383.8mm/day

0.2 - 0.3 m 0.3 - 0.5 m 0.5 - 0.8 m

<6: page 136

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135

0.2 - 0.5 m 0.5 - 1.0 m 1.0 - 1.3 m

<7: Flooding areas Note-10 Source: MLA LA4702 studio 2013/14. in “Baseco 2014”

Ibid./ in the same place 1950’s

Manila Bay

Laguna Lake

1960’s

Manila Bay

Laguna Lake

1970’s

Manila Bay

Laguna Lake

1980’s

Manila Bay

Laguna Lake

1990’s

Manila Bay Flood Prone Area For 50-100 Years Flood Flood Prone Area For 2-10 Years Flood Slums Affected By 0.5M Flood Slums Affected By 1.0M Flood Slums Affected By 1.5M Flood

Laguna Lake

<6: Flood Affected Areas In Metro Manila Note-10 Source: MLA LA4702 studio 2013/14. in “Baseco 2014”

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Space for Water Due to the high density to which the settlement is currently built up, and with the aim of minimizing the impact on the existing housing,

the proposal utilizes the existing streets as the only available space to create a series of resilient and decentralised infrastructural spines that will make room for the excess water during rainstorms.<8 These spines act as channels towards which the surface runoff will be directed; they will provide passage for the water to drain off into the sea. The concentrated flows of storm runoff are filtered through beds of recycled gravel, with the intention of generating the potential for reuse as greywater by residents in the local handicraft industry. By transforming the streets into a decentralised infrastructure for water, the proposal seeks to create a strategy for a more resilient and liveable Baseco. In contrast to the current treatment of the streets in Baseco as simply a residual space to allow for the passage of people and vehicles, with the expected improvements to the ground condition the streets will have the potential to become the arteries of the community’s social interaction and daily activities, without the dampness pushing people back into their homes.<9 Using the example of one of the five proposed decentralised infrastructures, we tested the feasibility of the proposed strategy against the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration’s (PAGASA) color-coded rainfall and floodwarning system. By using the levels of rainfall under the system’s four classifications of “torrential”, “intense”, “heavy” and “moderate” episodes to calculate the volume of water falling onto the area of proposed drainage, we divided these volumes by the volume of the proposed channel in order to estimate the number of hours the channel would successfully hold the excess runoff. According to the calculations, the decentralised infrastructure will have the capacity to manage almost double the water volume during torrential events, which will reduce the impact on the housing areas. The proposed construction method for the decentralised infrastructure, the street-channel, is excavation.<10 The unearthed material is reused to fill sandbags to line the walls of the channel in order to increase its resistance to erosion. Sandbags are already a common building material on site; in this sense, it will be possible for residents to carry out construction of the channel themselves. For added protection against dampness, each sandbag is composed of 90% excavated material and 10% hardener. The objective of this approach is to allow the bag material to weather off over time, leaving behind the cured earth block as a durable retaining wall. Due to the soil conditions and the excavation of the intervention, rainwater can be retained so that it can be reused for community purposes such as urban farming.

<8: page 138

<9: page 139

136

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<10: page 140

Ibid./ in the same place

<9: Decentralised infrastructure

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138

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

139

<8 : Stages for Flood Control. Decentralised infrastrucure

Ibid./ in the same place Section A-A

Beginning of infrastructural spine: Swale open court

Section B-B

Intake points of infrastructural spine : Recycled gravel beds + perforated pipes

Section C-C

Stepped relief of infrastructural spine : gravity-driven greywater flow + re-use of greywater to support handicraft industry.

Section D-D Wider spans of infrastructural spine: Layering with urban network of interconnecting nodes.

Section E-E

Maintaining connections across infrastructural spines: Combining crossing with dykes.

<10 : Decentralised infrastructure. Construction method

decentralize

Space for the Community The project aims to transform the proposed decentralised infrastructures into something more than just functional elements. In this sense, it explores the potential of transforming the decentralised water infrastructure into a resilient social space for the community. The proposal consists of a network of interconnecting nodes along the streets to positively transform and improve the quality of public space, as well as to provide a shared respite from the often cramped confines of the average Baseco house. By selecting one of the five proposed decentralised flood channels as a representative site and carrying out a more in-depth study of the urban tissue and existing practices, the project focuses on the first phase, which will serve as the trigger factor for the revitalisation of the rest of the neighbourhood. The chosen site for this initial intervention regarding the proposed decentralised street-channels is located adjacent to the end of Basecoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main street, providing the potential for an extension of the existing urban spine toward the coastline. The main street is currently an artery of daily activity and social interactions,<11 however, its many programmes truncate at the end of the road, since the damp conditions of the path beyond do not draw people further along. 140

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

The Wet and Open Market The project proposes three nodes along the spine. The first one will articulate the existing formalized main street with the winding streets of the informal area. The creation of a market space as a node to extend the activities from the main street serves to provide a collective space for the buying-and-selling activities scattered throughout the

141

<11: Streets, spaces of vibrant activity

Ibid./ in the same place RAINWATER ROOF

COMMUNITY WET MARKET

decentralize

THE OPEN MARKET

142

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

143

<12: The wet open market

Ibid./ in the same place individual homes and alleyways. By attracting such activities to a central locale, inhabitants will have a meeting point and a representative place that everyone can identify with and commute to for their food, necessities and to engage social interaction and conversations. In addition, the market offers an alternative space for the numerous street hawkers during episodes of rain, providing a more resilient option that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t affect the economic activities.<12 The Shared Workspace. Community Food Stalls and Vertical Gardens. A second node, a Neighbourhood Centre, is located in a central position along the spine. This node is formed by two parts: the shared workspace and the gathering deck. The shared workspace for the inhabitants provides support for the local handicraft industry. One of the existing practices in the communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s local industry is the making of woven products from water hyacinth plants. The decentralised water infrastructure helps to create an alternative space for harvesting the plants that will later be transformed into local products. Having support facilities for the practice of drying and weaving water hyacinth stems into products increases the number of products that the community is able to produce, which improves the local economy. The growth of this local industry will result in a more stable source of income, making it into an integral part of the Baseco community identity. The shared workspace extends along the street through a covered space to accommodate food stalls and vertical gardens. In Baseco, cooked food is often sold from the houses as a means of income, but the complex and narrow street system reduces accessibility and the number of people who can benefit from this type of activity. This covered space offers the possibility for families located in less accessible areas to open their own food stalls. The vertical garden can be used as a small-scale community food production area, increasing the area dedicated to growing basic vegetables, which is common practice among residents to supplement their diets. The Gathering Deck In continuity with the covered space, and as a part of the Neighbourhood Centre, a public space in front of the existing church is provided as a local platform for interaction, strengthening the sense of community and security among neighbours.<13 In informal settlements, the street is usually the space for social interaction. In this case, the church and the space in front of it act as a nodal focal point for the community. The project qualifies and signifies the space, providing a suitable place for congregation and creating a new neighbourhood identity space.

COMMUNITY FOOD STALLS AND VERTICAL GARDEN

EXISTING PRACTICE

LOCAL TOOL BOX

<12: page 142

decentralize

THE SHADED WORKSPACE EXISTING PRACTICE

EXISTING PRACTICE

LOCAL TOOL BOX

144

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

145

<13: The shared workspace

Author : Alyssa Ee Xinmei Advisor : Oscar Carracedo Department of Architecture. National University of Singapore. Text : Alyssa Ee Xinmei / Oscar Carracedo

Ibid./ in the same place

decentralize

146

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

147

AHMEDABAD GUJRAT INDIA

KUMBHARWADA DHARAVI INDIA

PANCHIKAWATTA COLOMBO SRI LANKA

In relation to sheltering, the intensification and densification of informal and low-income neighbourhoods can be considered to be a part of the regular stages of development. Working with these two concepts in specific locations as a revitalisation strategy allows for reducing the impact on consolidated areas while introducing transformative synergies within the existing fabric.

intensify

BASECO MANILA PHILIPPINES

KAMPUNG SKUDAI KIRI JOHOR BAHRU MALAYSIA

KARET TENGSIN JAKARTA INDONESIA

Ibid./ in the same place

REVITALISING LOW-INCOME NEIGHBOURHOODS THROUGH LAND INTENSIFICATIION AND DENSIFICATION

3 Km

500 m

Panchikawatta. Colombo. Sri Lanka

This project emerges from the fight for space in urban areas: the space planned for commercial and industrial activities versus the space used by informal settlements. Commercial and productive spaces increase as the economy improves, while urban informal areas are displaced and relocated â&#x20AC;&#x153;for the sake of the cityâ&#x20AC;? and to create new places for economic development. The project sees urban informality as a key economic factor in urban environments that interact in a symbiotic relationship with the formal city. In this sense, urban informality cannot be ignored or omitted in this growth equation and needs to be considered as an integrated part of the urban living environment. This proposal for the neighbourhood of Panchikawatta in Colombo focuses on land intensification as a means to retain and revitalise low-income settlements on site and in close proximity to productive spaces, while accommodating future developments. The proposal understands intensification as a way of inclusion where density, typologies and programmes can be combined in order to achieve a stable balance between city fragments. Colombo is the commercial capital and the most densely populated city in Sri Lanka, a fast developing city aiming to transform itself

intensify

150

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

151

Ibid./ in the same place into a world-class city (Urban Development Authority, 2014). As the most important port on the Indian Ocean, Colombo centralizes most of Sri Lanka’s foreign trade. In addition, we observe that most of the international flights to Sri Lanka arrive in Colombo, and most of the domestic airports in the country have flights to and through the city as well, which evidences Colombo’s role as a gateway and a hub.<1 On the other hand, the analysis of the population growth of the Colombo Metropolitan Region for the last year shows that the population has had a positive growth rate on the periphery of Colombo city, whereas within the city there has been a decreasing rate.<2 According to the Draft Urban Transport Master Plan completed in November 2013 by the Ministry of Transport, this population increase in the areas to the east of Colombo city can be explained by the changes in land use in the city centre and the transformation of this part of the metropolis into a commercial, financial and service centre. The transformation of Colombo city into a commercial and service hub is leading to the continual displacement of residential areas to locations outside the city. Land value in the city centre is rising and, in search of good locations, pressure has been exerted on informal tissues that are easy to relocate and redevelop. As a consequence, low-income settlements are threatened with relocation and eviction, and a gentrification process is expelling population toward the periphery and suburban areas in search of affordable living spaces. This redevelopment pressure can be seen in the relocation plan,<3 where new relocation sites on the suburban periphery aims to free Colombo’s city centre from low-income housing. However, the impact of this plan has not only affected the informal areas, but the whole city system as well. As residential activities increasingly occur on the periphery, mobility toward Colombo’s city centre increases. The result is that approximately half of the workforce for Colombo city, who live in the city’s suburbs, have to travel into the city for work every day.<4 In this sense, the relocation and eviction of low-income housing toward the periphery of the city will impose the additional cost of a daily commute on the lowerincome group, who will continue to have their jobs in the city centre. It will also increase the environmental costs and the infrastructural pressure on the existing network. Furthermore, relocation could threaten the loss of existing communities, their values, activities and lifestyle. Therefore, the proposal seeks to retain and improve low-

income housing within Colombo city in order to preserve its diversity, the value of these communities and their proximity to their workplaces while reducing mobility as part of a more sustainable and resilient city model. All these objectives are

achieved by the densification of existing commercial and productive

<3: Page 154

<4: Page 154

intensify

Legend Point Pedro

Domestic Airport International Airport International Airport (Cargo Only) International Harbour International Harbour (Cargo Only) Domestic Flight Path

Jaffna

Vavunia

Trincomalee

Anuradhapura

Sigiriya Hingurakgoda Batticala

Ampara

Oluvil

CMB

RMI Katukurunda

HRI Koggala

Hambantola

Callo

<1: Domestic flights Note-11

Below -0.15% -0.14-0.00% 0.00-0.10% 0.10-0.50% 0.51-1.00% 1.01-4.00% above 4.00%

<2: Annual growth rate (2001-2012) Note-11

152

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

153

Ibid./ in the same place

<3: Slums relocation sites Note-11

Work day population mobility Colombo metropolitan region

Night population mobility Colombo Metropolitan Region <4: Day-night work population flows. Note-11

intensify

areas, which will allow for maintaining and revitalising the low-income housing areas. Panchikawatta: An Opportunity Space in Central Colombo Water has always been the important development factor for Colombo. In the 16th century, as the Portuguese port town, Colombo relied on one main body of water, Lake Beira, as a fresh water source as well as a defence strategy (Biedermann, 2009). Subsequently, the Dutch expanded the water network through the canal system to irrigate the plantations to the South and to transport goods from the highlands. The city developed according to this trading pattern and continued to do so during the British colonisation period (Schrikker, 2007). Colombo limits to the north with the Kelani River. Near the Victoria Bridge that spans the river lies the beginning of the Sebastian Canal, a stretch of waterway built by the Dutch and one of the city’s most valuable canals. The canal, which once linked the inner port at the Grandpass with the waterfront, was used to transport trade articles such as copra, cinnamon, pepper, fibre, arrack or coconut oil. At present, the canal has become an underutilized and polluted space, the back side of the city. On its way towards the Beira Lake and the waterfront, the Sebastian Canal runs through Colombo 10 and 12, separating these two districts. On the right bank of the canal lies the Panchikawatta neighbourhood, an informal low-income area that has become one of the most congested parts of the whole city. The neighbourhood is formed by a complex mixture of activities and low-income informal housing. Today Panchikawatta is especially known for selling spare car parts. On the other bank of the canal sit the abandoned former industrial buildings of The Hultsdorf Mills Co. (Ceylon) Ltd, founded in 1835. Surrounded by vibrant streets full of local retailers, mosques and schools, the nearly three dozen red brick warehouses, silos, colonial buildings and rusty steel structures at Hultsdorf form an expectant “terrain vague” waiting to be redeveloped, right beside the centre of legal activity in Colombo: the Sri Lanka Law Courts. These two sites, located just 2 km from the city centre, constitute a great opportunity for the future development of Colombo. Consequently, the city’s Master Plan envisions that the area will be transformed into a high-density concentrated development zone. Despite its potential within the city and its proximity to the city centre, the study of the area shows a clear lack of services for the population living in the area. Healthcare, sports, and leisure facilities or open spaces are completely missing in the neighbourhood, and only a part of the educational needs are covered with the presence of two schools.<5 This shows the precarious situation of the population living

154

—

155

<5: Page 156

Ibid./ in the same place Open spaces

Clinics

Hospitals

City park District park Neighbourhood park Public open spaces Private open spaces

Colleges

Universities

Training centres

Shopping malls

Cinema

Sport facilities

<5: Open spaces and services Note-11

intensify

in Panchikawatta, the deficiencies in municipal service delivery system for the poor, the centralized municipal functions with inadequate capacity to respond the community’s needs, and the inadequate community representation in the municipal decision-making process (UN-Habitat, 2002). Informal Colombo Informal low-income settlements are currently one of the most important issues in Colombo. In 2002, it was estimated that around 1,614 low-income urban settlements and 53,659 housing units were located within the Colombo Municipal Council area (UN-Habitat, 2002). The 77,612 family units living in informal areas and low-income housing – an estimated 400,000 people or 60% of the population – are scattered around Colombo, but mostly located in the northern and central parts of the city. They can also be found along canal reservations, railway line reservations or in low-lying swampy areas located mainly in the eastern and southern parts of Colombo city. In most cases, they are in close proximity to commercial areas, where the residents have their jobs.<6 Under the urban revitalisation plan, these low-income settlements are forced to be relocated to the periphery of the city,<3 where the displaced residents will be housed in high-rise buildings .The neighbourhood of Panchikawatta, with 73 informal settlements, 1,557 housing units, 3,310 families, and more that 15,000 inhabitants (UN-Habitat, 2002), constitutes one of the areas that, due to its strategic position, will be relocated to the periphery of the city. Transferring Density as a Means of Revitalisation Based on the average annual growth rate of the commercial workforce, industrial workforce, and residential population respectively,<7 the proposal calculates the projection of future space needs per person for low-income housing, commercial and productive activities in 2040. According to this projection, and based on the economic data for Colombo, it is expected that by 2040 the commercial workforce will have increased by 60%, the industrial workforce by 133% and the population will have increased by 8%. On the other hand, the existing average plot ratios were calculated using an analysis of different samples of the existing commercial, residential and industrial tissues. Projecting these plot ratios for the year 2040, we obtained the plot ratios and total amount of space needed in order to meet the expected growth.<8 In conclusion we realized that, through the transfer of development rights, for every

3 hectares of commercial and productive area with an average plot ratio of 3.47, 2 hectares of low-income settlements can be maintained on the same site. Although different scenarios were considered with regard to space allocation, the proposal focused on

<6: Page 158

156

—

157

<7: Page 159

<8: Page 159

Ibid./ in the same place

Slums Shanties

<6: Low-income settlements Note-11

Hultsdorf Mills Co. (Ceylon) Ltd

intensify

<7: Annual growth rate of the commercial workforce, industrial workforce, and residential population Plot ratio calculation

Existing (2014)

Projected (2040)

158

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

159

<8: Plot ratios projection

Ibid./ in the same place the retention of all the low-income settlements on site via the transfer of development rights and the intensification of productive spaces. In addition, the proposed scenario acknowledges the current supporting network for low-income settlements such as the road network and canal network to the city. In this sense, and with the aim of improving the connectivity between low-income settlements and the city, the proposal also identified the low-income settlements located far away from the existing infrastructure network or public transport systems and included them to be relocated within identified regions for intensification.<9 Prototypical Interventions for the Intensified Regions: The Case of Panchikawatta The proposal of a Master Plan of intensified areas for Colombo is intended to create a synergy between residential spaces and workplaces within a particular region in order to stimulate the economy, as well as improving the welfare of the community. The proposal identifies the San Sebastian Canal and Panchikawatta as one of the intensified regions in Colombo, with its various centres connected by road and canal networks. In this case, the proposal projects the canal system to be reactivated as a water promenade, connecting the area to the Lake Beira Downtown Core.<10 In order to propose the most suitable specific intervention prototypes in accordance with the urban context, the project studied three aspects of the existing urban fabric of Colombo city: consolidation (built to unbuilt land area ratio); functions; and accessibility (proximity to infrastructure network). In terms of functions, the proposal focused on: productive spaces for commercial or industrial uses; mixed-use spaces, where productive spaces meet residential uses in the same area; and finally residential spaces. With regard to accessibility, uses were classified according to their proximity to infrastructure networks. And as for consolidation, the urban tissues were classified according to the built to unbuilt land area ratio, as the potential spaces where densification and intensification may often result in an increase of Gross Floor Area (GFA).<11 As a result, the project obtains a matrix of 12 urban situations and, subsequently, prototypical solutions.<12 Using the area of Panchikawatta as an example, and taking advantage of the proximity of the abandoned industrial area of the Hultsdorf Mills, the project discusses the urban revitalisation of the informal city in close proximity to the waterscapes of the Sebastian canal, while retrofitting former industrial areas. The proposal understands that, in order to reduce inequality and to create

inclusive urban environments, it is important to integrate the formal and informal characteristics of the city into the same approach. This will help to avoid displacements and maintain the

<10: Page 162

<11: Page 164

<12: Page 166

intensify

Intensified Regions

Rail Network

Main Road Network

Productive Areas

160

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

161

Low Income settlements to be relocated

Existing Low Income settlements

Low-income settlements

Canal Systems

Low-income settlements to be relocated Commercial Industrial

<9 : Proposed densification and rejuvenation areas

Ibid./ in the same place informal settlements in the same place (on site), minimizing the social impact on the less favoured. Of the 12 urban situations detected in Colombo, 7 are present on the Panchikawatta site. The prototypical interventions for these sites increase the building footprint to varying extents depending on the current built to unbuilt ratios. Furthermore, this allows for increasing the GFA in order to transfer the maximum quantity of development rights from the informal sites to the productive areas. In this sense, the prototype for the less built-up areas in Panchikawatta, which predominantly accommodates commercial and productive uses, focuses on intensification via a 37% increase in the buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s footprint, and the retrofitting and densification on top of 10% of the existing buildings. On the other hand, in the proposal for the highly built-up residential sites â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the informal areas â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the intensification is achieved through the consolidation of the existing urban tissue. In this case, the proposal focuses on selective interventions across the urban fabric to increase the density in order to accommodate the relocated units and the slight increase in the planned population growth. As a result of the application of the prototype, an 20% increase in housing units can be achieved with a minimum impact on only 5% of the land. Finally, the prototypes for the moderately built-up mixed-use areas incorporate both residential and commercial uses and mediate between the two.<13 In all cases, the increase in the building footprint is combined with a proposal for the necessary public space on the ground level, according to the resulting density. Public spaces are also curated for sensitive mediation between newly densified productive areas and informal areas.<14 Author : David Oktaviaus, Josiah Leong, Seah Kangwei Advisor : Oscar Carracedo Department of Architecture. National University of Singapore Text : David Oktaviaus / Josiah Leong / Seah Kangwei / Oscar Carracedo

<13: Page 166

<14: Page 168

intensify

162

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

163

<10: Intensified region

Ibid./ in the same place

Urban Fabric Study

Productive (Commercial/Industrial Area)

Built area low : 29% 1A

Commercial/ Industrial (29%) Un-built (71%)

Commercial/ Industrial (42%) Un-built (48%)

Commercial/ Industrial (48%) Un-built (52%)

Commercial/ Commercial/ Industrial Industrial (48%) (54%) Un-built Un-built(52%) (52%)

Intermediate Increase in Building Footprint Intermediate Densification a top 40-60% of Existing Buildings

Built area high : 60% 1C

Commercial/ Industrial (60%) Un-built (40%)

Commercial/ Industrial (63%) Un-built (37%)

Minimal Increase in Building Footprint Intermediate Densification a top 60-80% of Existing Buildings

Prototypical Interventions

Large Increase in Building Footprint Minimal Densification a top 20-40% of Existing Buildings

Built area medium : 48% 1B

Residential areas with close proximity to Main Road

Built area low : 17% 3A

Built area medium : 30% 3B

Built area high : 63% 3C

Residential (17%) Road (10%) Un-built (73%)

Residential (30%) Un-built (70%)

Residential (63%) Road (4%) Un-built (33%)

No Intervention

Residential (17%) Road (10%) Un-built (73%)

Residential (34%) Un-built (66%)

Intermediate increase in building footprint Densification a top 5-20% of existing residential buildings

Residential (68.5%) Road (4%) Un-built (27.5%)

Minimal increase in building footprint Demolition and densification a top 5% of existing residential buildings

intensify

Mixed Use (Productive/Residential) Area

Built area low : 28% 2A

Residential(14%) Residential(16%) Commercial Commercial (14%) (24%) Road (10%) Road (10%) Un-built (62%) Un-built (50%) Increase in Building Footprint & Densification to refer to 1A, 3A respectively

Built area medium : 46% 2B

Residential(14%) Residential(15%) Commercial Commercial (32%) (39%) Un-built (54%) Un-built (46%) Increase in Building Footprint & Densification to refer to 1B, 3B respectively

Built area high : 60% 2C

Residential(36%) Residential(38%) Commercial Commercial (24%) (25%) Road (10%) Road (10%) Un-built (30%) n-built (27%) Increase in Building Footprint & Densification to refer to 1C, 3C respectively

164

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

165

Residential Areas away from Main Road Network

Built area low : 19% 4A

Residential (19%) Un-built (81%) No Intervention

Residential (19%) Un-built (81%)

Built area med :36% 4B

Built area low : 64% 4C

Residential (0%) Residential Reserved for fu(36%) Un-built (64%) ture dev.: (100%)

Residential (64%) Un-Built (36%)

Relocation to Residential areas within close proximity of road network

Residential (0%) Reserved for future development : (100%) Relocation to Residential areas within close proximity of road network

Commercial Residential Main Road Distance Secondary road Water Body

Commercial Residential Main Road New Building Densification Cultural Public Spaces

Commercial Residential Proposed Intervention Public Spaces Ground Road Network

<11: Classification of urban tissues

Ibid./ in the same place

1A - Productive Area, Low Built Area Ratio 1B - Productive Area, Medium Built Area Ratio 1C - Productive Area, High Built Area Ratio 2A - Productive & Residential Area, Low Built Area Ratio 2B - Productive & Residential Area, Medium Built Area Ratio 2C - Productive & Residential Area, High Built Area Ratio 3B - Residential Area, Medium Built Area Ratio 3C - Residential Area, Medium Built Area Ratio

Productive (Commercial/Industrial) Residential <12: Matrix of urban situaions

Intensified Residential Areas Type 3C. Residential High Built Area Communal Market place Common Laundry Area Cafeteria Densified Residential Units Rooftop Existing Land AreaUrban Residential : 13,600 sqm (66%) Farming Unbuilt : 6,400 sqm (33%) Initial Plot Ratio : Residential : 1.0

Intensified Land AreaResidential : 14,600 sqm (73%) Unbuilt : 5,400 sqm (27%) Initial Plot Ratio : Residential : 1.18

Residential Proposed Extension

Extension of Balconies

intensify

Intensified commercial area Type 1A. Productive (commercial/industrial), low built area

Communal Market place Logistics Hub Existing Land AreaConference Centre Com. : 4,200 sqm (20%) Unbuilt : 15,800 sqm (33%) Plaza place Initial Plot Ratio : Residential : 0.8

Underground Parking Exhibition centre River Promenade

Intensified Land AreaCommercial : 7,350 sqm (37%) Unbuilt : 12,650 sqm (63%) Final Plot Ratio : Commercial : 3.46

166

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

167 Intensified Mixed-Use Area Type 2B. Mixed-use (productive/residential), medium built area Mediating public spaces Mediating promenades New Residential Towers Vertical Circulation cores Existing land areaResidential : 3,100 sqm (15%) Mediating Plaza Commercial : 8,500 sqm (43%) Unbuilt : 8,400 sqm (42%)

Densified industrial building Densified commercial building

Final Plot Ratio : Residential : 1.0 Commercial : 2.16

Intensified Land AreaResidential : 3,100 sqm (15%) Commercial : 9,600 sqm (48%) Unbuilt : 7,400 sqm (37%) Final Plot Ratio : Residential : 1.18 Commercial : 3.46

<13: Urban prototypes

Ibid./ in the same place

intensify

168

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

169

<14: Intensified and densified productive and informal areas

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Ibid./ in the same place *Note-

Page

Kampungs are a traditional form of urban villages, mainly in Malaysia and Indonesia

‘Singapore Metropolitan Region’, Erik L’Heureux ed, CASA, NUS 2012

with input by Chua Gong Yao, Koh Ai Ting Aileen, Yap Shan Ming

Additional drawing input by

Epiphanie Barli Lie, Estelle Sim Jia Wei, Joe Fu, Chua Kian Tiong, Loh Kin Kit under ‘Dirty Little Secrets’ 2014/2015 advised by Associate Professor Erik L’Heureux

Drawings by and adapted from

‘Territorial Frameworks: Paris/Singapore, Year 4, Semester 1, 2014 with input from Ang Jia Cong, Arvind Roy, Wynne Chen, Samantha Chia, Teresa Chua, Diana Chandra Tiong, Geroge Fung, Eugene Ong, Saan Vitayathanagorn, Mr.Wish, Zhang Huihui advised by Associate Professor Erik L’Heureux

“Hot & Wet; ‘A Collection of Architectural Love Stories’” from 2013/2014 with input by

Amanda Wong, Sarah Ng, Oscar Korintus, Hu Wen, Ong Wee Jin advised by Associate Professor Erik L’Heureux

Epiphanie Barli Lie, Estelle Sim Jia Wei, Joe Fu,

Chua Kian Tiong, Loh Kin Kit under ‘Dirty Little Secrets’ 2014/2015 advised by Associate Professor Erik L’Heureux

‘Territorial Frameworks: Paris/Singapore, Year 4, Semester 1, 2014 with input from Ang

Jia Cong, Arvind Roy, Wynne Chen, Samantha Chia, Teresa Chua, Diana Chandra Tiong, Geroge Fung, Eugene Ong, Saan Vitayathanagorn, Mr.Wish, Zhang Huihui advised by Associate Professor Erik L’Heureux

Drawing representational technique adapted from ‘The Big Village: Strategies of

Inhabitation Along the Ciliwung River, Jakarta’ Advisor: Joerg Rekittke

‘Territorial Frameworks: Paris/Singapore, Year 4, Semester 1, 2014 with input from Ang

Jia Cong, Arvind Roy, Wynne Chen, Samantha Chia, Teresa Chua, Diana Chandra Tiong, Geroge Fung, Eugene Ong, Saan Vitayathanagorn, Mr.Wish, Zhang Huihui advised by Associate Professor Erik L’Heureux

MLA LA4702 studio 2013/14. in “Baseco 2014” MLA students 2013/2014 are : Chow

notes

130,132

notes

Zhaoyu Jaden, Feng Yuanqiu, Goh Weixiang, Hu Zhije, Kow Xiao Jun, Loh Pei Qi, Wan

135,136

Jing, Uraiwan Songmustaporn, Xu Haohui, Xu Lanjun, Xu Yan, Zhang Shangyu. Advisor: Hwang Yun Hye

Drawings adapted from ‘Colombo 10-12’ Studio, Year 4 Architecture, Semester 1, 2014

153,154

with contributions from Adrian Lee Min Hui, Belle Ong Ying Lun, Mandy Wong Shi

156,158

Mei, Yeo Zheng Hang, Muhammad Shuib Gin Mohamed Amin, Josiah Leong Ming Tzem, David Oktavianus, Seah Kang Wei, Nithya Govindhan. Conducted and advised by Assistant Professor Oscar Carracedo

174

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Ibid./ in the same place

Contributors Almudena Cano is an architect and urban designer, currently developing an AHRC-funded PhD at the Royal College of Art (London) about urban regeneration processes and socio-political design practices at the local level. Her previous academic projects at ETSAM (Polytechnic University of Madrid) have been internationally awarded, published in specialised journals and exhibited at the 13th Biennale di Venezia and XII BIEAU, among others. Since 2009, she has worked professionally in collaborative urbanism for research teams and architectural firms in Madrid, London and Paris, such as Bres+Mariolle et Associés and Arenas+Basabe+Palacios. As a curator of architecture exhibitions, talks, competitions and events, Almudena has coordinated projects such as Archiprix International Madrid 2015 in collaboration with ETSAM-UPM and Archiprix Foundation. Alyssa Ee believes in the power of an engaged crowd to drive impactful change. She is confident that all people are creative & have the potential to create better solutions when everyone has a hand in the design process. Instead of taking on the role of the sole creator, she wants to better understand how designers can become the facilitator of dialogues & feedback loops; the designer as the guide to rally the collective in creating bridges between problematic situations & creative solutions. She obtained her Master of Architecture at the National University of Singapore in 2014 & continues to pursue the participatory design process in her career today.

Hendry Octavanus is a firm believer in architecture as a tool to improve the lives of others. This is a belief he carried through his design projects as an undergraduate and hopes to continue this belief as a current practitioner in Singapore. He obtained his Master’s degree in Architecture from the National University of Singapore in 2014 in which, influenced by his childhood environment, his thesis explored the physical, social and economic relationships of ‘village’ and ‘urban’ in Jakarta. Joe Fu is an architect working at Ong&Ong Pte Ltd. He was a recipient of the BCA sponsorship and Ong&Ong scholarship in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Joe graduated from NUS with a Master’s degree in Architecture (M.Arch) in 2015. He has worked on theatrical, office and institutional designs during his practice. Joe is also particularly interested in the potential of urban revitalisation, especially in the larger metropolitan regions. Other than pursuing his calling in architecture, Joe is also a passionate rock climber. He believes that one can always seek inspiration from nature, and there are always things we can learn from it.

Anthony Leow got his Masters in Architecture from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2015. Taking the path less travelled during his architecture studies, he is currently working in the renowned construction company Woh Hup. His role in the firm is as Architectural Designer and Building Construction Coordinator is leading him to attain what he believes is a fundamental for architecture and design.

Having recently graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Master’s degree in Architecture (August 2016), Josiah Leong has a keen interest in the social and community aspects of architecture. Pursuing these interests, he has participated and played an active role in overseas community building projects such as one involving the major renovation of a boy’s dormitory in an orphanage in Sumba, Indonesia. His interest also lies in the shifting ways of interaction within communities – both online and in the physical realm. This has led him to engage in research on the collaborative economy and its relationships to architecture and society.

David Oktavianus graduated from the Master’s programme in Architecture at the National University of Singapore (NUS) in summer 2016. Aside from architectural design and urban planning, he is interested in studying the relationship of architecture to the lower income group. His Master’s thesis discussed the typologies of architecture that mediate urban inequality in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Beyond school, he has held internships at notable architectural firms in Singapore, organised debates and exhibitions on behalf of NUS, and helped with an exhibition organised by Grimshaw Architects. Beyond architecture, he has designed sets and performed in NUANSA (the annual Indonesian student musical), he was a pianist with the NUS Jazz band, as well as the managing editor of the NUS Design2014 publication, and was the educational director of the Architecture Society in 2015.

Seah Kang Wei graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Master’s degree in Architecture. During his undergraduate years, Kang Wei spent a summer with fellow international students in the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) programme, learning about South-East Asian contemporary urbanism. His interest in architecture lies in the negotiation between urbanism and nature, both architecturally and symbolically. In his thesis, which focuses on the issue of sports and mobility in Singapore, he challenges the inefficacies of current sporting typologies and envisions an integration of a new urban sporting fabric with the current transportation systems in Singapore. A sports aficionado, Kang Wei is passionate about gymnastics and football and is a fervent supporter of Manchester United Football Club.

biographies

biography

Advisors Erik L’Heureux (1973) AIA, LEED AP BD+C is an American architect and educator. He is an Associate Professor and B.A. Arch Programme Director in the Department of Architecture at the National University of Singapore. His research focuses on the impact of hot and wet envelopes on the equator as well as the urban development of the Singapore Metropolitan Region. Erik studied at Princeton University from 1997–2000 (M. Arch) and at Washington University in St Louis (B.A. Arch) and previously taught at the Cooper Union in New York City. He has won a series of awards for his design work including a WAF Category win in 2013, the FuturArc Green Leadership Architecture Merit Award in 2013, the AIA New York City Design Merit Award in 2012, the President’s Design Award from Singapore in 2011, and two AIA New York State Design Awards in 2009 and 2007, respectively. In 2015 Erik received the Wheelwright Prize from Harvard University. In 2015, he co-curated the updated exhibition “1000 Singapores: Eight Points of the Compact City” at the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine in Paris, an expansion of the exhibition “1000 Singapores: A Model of the Compact City” held at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2010. He is a contributing editor to Architectural Review Asia Pacific and has published Deep Veils, a book on his design research. Erik publishes, lectures and exhibits regularly. Luis Basabe (1975) is an architect and urban designer and co-founder of ARENAS BASABE PALACIOS ARCHITECTS. His work has been granted multiple international distinctions such as the Holcim Award Bronce Europe in 2014, and six awards in the Europan international competition. His work has been published and exhibited in nine European countries, as well as in Russia, Korea and India. Since 2010 he has been an associate professor at the Technical Superior School of Architecture of Madrid (ETSAM) and visiting professor of urban design at the Politecnico di Milano. Luis has also been guest lecturer and researcher at various international universities: RWTH Aachen (Germany), Universität Stuttgart, TU München, TU Wien, University of Cambridge (UK), CEPT Ahmedabad (India), and now Politecnico di Milano, as well as in a dozen Spanish academic institutions. Luis’s work focuses on strategic, process-oriented approaches to urban design, as well as on the definition of urban supports and configurative syntaxes for open-ended urban developments. In recent years, he has been active in cooperative planning processes and the study of urban production in vulnerable and socially complex contexts.

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Ibid./ in the same place

biography

Advisors Author and Editor

Oscar Carracedo

Contributors

Almudena Cano Piñeiro

Alyssa Ee Xinmei

Anthony Lewow Cheng Ting

David Oktavianus Hendry Octavanus Joe Fu Zhuo Josiah Leon Seah Kangwei Students advisors

Erik L’Heureux

Luis Basabe Oscar Carracedo Image editing

Tulika Agrawal

Design advisor

Olivegrin - Keris Wee

Published and distributed by

ORO

https://www.openstreetmap.org/ Printed and bounded in Singapore

Ibid./ Nine Lessons and Six Possibilities about On-site Resilient Revitalisation Strategies for Informal Neighbourhoods Edited by OSCAR CARRACEDO