Urban Comparative Analysis Essay

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE BUILDING AND DESIGN Bachelor of Science (hons) in Architecture

THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC 61303 / ARC2224)

PROJECT 2 : COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ESSAY Jalan Besar, Klang, Selangor & Nguyen Trai Street, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Name: Lim Siew Ni Student ID: 0326733 Tutor: Mr Nicholas Ng

//Content

01

INTRODUCTION

02

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

03

CONTACT POINTS AND ACTIVITIES ANALYSIS

04

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

2.1 Jalan Besar, Klang, Selangor 2.2 Nguyen Trai Street, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

3.1 Jalan Besar, Klang, Selangor 3.2 Nguyen Trai Street, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

4.2.1 Scale of street and walkways 4.2.2 Shophouses and building function 4.2.3 Shaded walkway 4.2.4 Back Alley 4.2.5 Streetscape

05

CONCLUSION

04

REFERENCES

01 // Introduction In this comparative essay, the findings from case study (Part 1) and local site research from Design Studio V to be analyzed. The analysis framework will look into the similarities and dissimilarities based on the patterns of social activities, types of contact points and the varying degrees of contact intensity between two site studies.

The difference in physical environment influences the meetings of people in public space and outdoor activities to a varying degree in many different ways.

The character of social activities varies, depending on the context in which they occur. Although the physical framework does not have a direct influence on the quality, content, and intensity of social contacts, architects and planners can affect the possibilities for meeting, seeing, and hearing people- possibilities that both take on quality of their own and become important as background and staring point for other forms of contact. (Gehl, 2011, pg13) In summary, this essay focused on the outdoor activities and the physical conditions that influenced them. The outdoor activities in public space can be divided into three categories: necessary activities, optional activities and social activities.

Figure 1.1 The graphic representing the relationship between the quality of outdoor spaces and the rate of occurrence of outdoor activities (Gehl,2011,pg 11)

Figure 1.2 The simplified outline of the various contact form (Gehl,2011,pg 15)

02 // Historical Background 2.1 Jalan Besar, Klang Selangor The town of Klang, located just outside the Kuala Lumpur, in the state of Selangor. It has been a site of human settlement since prehistoric times. In 1950s, the empty lands that were once filled with mangroves, green and vacant spaces. Throughout the development of Klang, the vehicular networks of highways and pathways were existed and constructed to connect the North Klang and South Klang. Therefore, the urban grid was formed and there is a significant change in terms of building footprints, hence the intensity of urban grids is increased.

Having a overpass circulation along the Jalan Besar, the heavy construction of the road occupies a significant amount of available land for the public to use.

As the development progressed,more and more the spaced are replaced and this cause a depletion of social engagement of people along the Jalan Besar street. Most of the shophouses are as not well maintained today as they were ought to be. Most of the shophouses are currently being taken over by the immigrants for small business.

2.2 Nguyen Trai Street, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam The district 5 of Ho Chi Minh city, more popularly known as Cho Lon, is the city’s Chinatown. Saigon’s District 5 is home to the largest market in Vietnam, a deluxe shopping mall and charming Chinese pagodas. Nguyen Trai Street has a number of markets, shops, and commercial centers, named after national hero Nguyen Trai (1380-1442). Connecting the modern District 1 to the culturally wealthy District 5, Nguyen Trai is known as one of the most lively streets in downtown saigon that has high community activities and contact points.

Figure 2.1 Klang Site Plan

Figure 2.2 Nguyen Trai Street Site Plan

03 // Contact Points and Activities Analysis 3.1 Jalan Besar, Klang Selangor Contact Point Chong Kok Kopitiam

Contact Intensity Moderate to high -Involves passive contact and acquaintances contact

Shophouses

Moderate to high -Involves of chance contact

KTM Station

Optional Activity -Outdoor dining allows the diners to observe the building Social Activity - Chit chatting while enjoying the meal Necessary Activity -People walk pass to their final destination Optional Activity -People stay at the five foot walkway for sun shading purposes

High

Necessary Activity -People take the public transport to work or -Involves passive contact to study close friendship -High human density Optional Activity results high passive contact - Tourist use the KTM to reach their desire intensity destination

Gallery Diraja Sultan Abdul Moderate to high Aziz -Involves passive contact to close friendship -High human density results high passive contact intensity Back Alley

Activities Necessary Activity -People mostly come for breakfast

Low

Necessary Activity -One of the sightseeing hotspots along the heritage walk Social Activity - Tourist will have interactions with the locals to explore more about the heritage building Necessary Activity -A parking space for workers around the area

-Involves passive contact to close friendship Optional Activity -High human density -A transition spaces for people to go to other results high passive contact area intensity

3.2 Nguyen Trai Street, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam Contact Point Restaurant Hai Ky Mi Gia

Bus stop for Route 68 Bus

Contact Intensity Low to moderate -Involves passive contact and acquaintances contact

Moderate to high -Involves passive contact to close friendship -High human density results high passive contact intensity Low to moderate

Alleyway between Nguyen Trai and Phan -Involves passive Van Tri contact to close relationship

Cross junction/ Edge of the street

Activities Necessary Activity -People come and go by using the zebra crossing Optional Activity -Outdoor dining allows the diners to observe the building Social Activity - Having the meal while having interactions with friends and families Necessary Activity -People are waiting for the bus or friends Optional Activity -Tourist use public transportation for path finding

Necessary Activity -Motorists park the motorcycles at the alleyway Optional Activity -Food stalls were placed to allow passerby to have a closer look or buy items

-Involves high intensity of chance contact Social Activity - Street vendors place their products along the walkway and allows social interactions with the passerby Moderate Necessary Activity -Pedestrians are waiting for the traffic light to cross the -High intensity of busy road passive and chance contact Optional Activity -Scooter Saigon tour often happens around the area, experiencing passive and friendly contact with the passerby Social Activity - Tourist converse with idle talk while going along and around the street and having interactions with each other

Night Market

High

Necessary Activity -Tourist and local walk along the night market sidewalk

-High activity concentration results Social Activity high contact frequency - Bargaining among the buyers and sellers

04 // Comparative Essay 4.1 Architecture and Urban Density Urban density refers to the human population inhabiting in a given urbanized area. The urban density plays an important role as how does the city functions and understands the need of the city thus proposing strategies that encourages outdoor activities in the city.

Along the Nguyen Trai Street, it possesses a high amount of mid to high rise building that span along the road. According to worldometers.info ,Vietnam ranks number 15 in the list of countries in the world by population. This affects the architecture has evolved in a way to accommodate the rapid growth of population in Vietnam, resulting in massive high rise structure to maximize the residential density.

Nevertheless, the urban development of Klang does not share the similar stage with Nguyen Trai Street. Compared to Vietnam, Malaysia has the lower human population density. Therefore the shophouses that run along the city streets of Klang are able to maintain their height between 3 to 4 stories. This are also able to preserve the historical essence of the street that depicts the historical events such as colonial rule which affected the architecture styles.

Figure 4.1 High rise buildings in Ho Chi Minh

Figure 4.2 Continuous building height in Klang

4.2 Typologies of building and street 4.2.1 Scale of street and walkways In life between buildings, Jan Gehl said that the relationship between distance and intensity, closeness and warmth, in various contact situation has an important parallel in the prevalent perception of architecture elements (Gehl, 2011, pg69). In Nguyen Trai Street it has a wider street which often are felt to be cold and impersonal. However,it also has a wider walkway which allows for many activities to occur as it allows more social and business to occur.

Sometimes locals park their motorcycle within the walkway and occupy the space that user cross. A wider walkway in Vietnam still can allow for many activities to occur as the wider space permits for more forms of entertainment, social and business to occur. Therefore, the chances of optional and social activities have increased and affected the intensity of contacts.

Conversely in Jalan Besar, the area only has narrow walkway and smaller street scale. A narrower walkway will limit the activities that occur at the area due to lack of space, allowing only necessary activities to occur. But in another perspective, the smaller street scale allow people to who move about in the spaces are experienced at close range. The scale of street is smaller with only 2-lanes distance where people on both sides of the street are connect to each other and the spaces are perceived as intimate and more personal.

From the analysis, it shows that the narrower the street, the higher the chance of contact between people and the shophouses surrounded and therefore increase the chance for optional activities as people attract people.

Diagram 4.2.1.1 Diagrammatic section of Nguyen Trai Street. People are dispersed due to the wider roads.

Diagram 4.2.1.2 Diagrammatic section of Jalan Besar with a more narrow road and walkways engaging Intensity of contacts

4.2.2 Shophouses and building function The two streets portray the similar features in terms of the building function.

The idea of combination of a commercial and residential hybrid building where the ground floor is mainly for commercial purpose due to the accessibility to the public realm while the upper floor is to be used as residential for the shop owners.

In District 5 of Ho Chi Minh city, the typical shoplot arrangement of the shophouses is evolved into shoplot apartments and increase in scale due to population demands of the city. This eventually produce a wider range of variations towards the building function based on the social context of the street.

Most of the buildings are functioned as mixed use shoplots. The commercial based is located on the ground level whereas the residential dwelling has span to multistory lengths.

Different functions can be seen on each of the building around Jalan Besar and on the ground and upper floor. The different spaces of retail, clinics, banks, residential and abandoned spaces, are all fused together while adding more functionality to the street. The common typology shared on site is the combination of residentials, offices and fashion outlets. The functions are coordinate interconnectedly within a building.

Diagram 4.2.2.1 Diagrammatic layout of the shoplots in District 5 in term of the scale and function

Diagram 4.2.2.2 Diagrammatic layout of the shoplots in Klang in term of its mixed use function

4.2.3 Shaded walkway Along the Jalan Besar, shophouses along the road are set back to make a space for pedestrian walkway. The buildings have recessed entrance or steps that can be functioned as the temporary shelter especially for the hot weather in Malaysia. However, most of the shop owners use the five foot walkway as an advantage for extension of their business. The arrangement of of restaurant tables were put under the shaded area to attract the passerby, thus increase the contact intensity. However, the physical arrangement of tables and chairs becomes an obstacles to block the way to access to a certain destination.

Moreover, people tend to stay under the five foot walkway for sun shading device, creating a concentration of people in a certain space. The intensity of contact is found to be low at the beginning, but when the human flow continues to pass through over the area, it would perhaps grow slightly into another level.

For instance, the five foot walkway in front of Chong Kok Kopitiam has a denser human intensity due to the extended sittings and people standing there waiting to be served. A chance and friendship contacts happens among the shop owners, outside diners and passerby. This creates a high human density and becomes a node or contact point along Jalan Besar.

Compare to Chong Kok Koptiam, the shoplots along the Nguyen Trai street use the awning to shelter the pedestrian sidewalk from harsh weather, which has the similar function with five foot walkway. In this way, pleasant walking routes and cosy shopfronts are created due to the presence of shades and people tend to stay there for a longer time. For example, restaurant Hai Ky Mi Gia often pull up sittings in front of their restaurant for people to sit and eat and mingle among each other under the shades, thus creating close friendship relationships.

Figure 4.2.3.1 Shop owners put the seatings in front of five foot walkway which leads to high intensity of people and passive contact.

Figure 4.2.3.2 Shop owners provide tables and chairs for people to sit down comfortably under the shades and create close contact among each other

4.2.4 Back Alley Along Jalan Besar, the back alley is in a good condition but it is functioned for service purposes.Therefore the activity intensity and chance contact between people is low. The back alley is mainly served as a parking for the workers that working around the area and it becomes a transition space for people to go another place so there is a necessary activity of the workers and increase the chance of passive contact.

On the other hand, the back alley of Nguyen Trai Street is more lively compare to Jalan Besar. It is also in a well conditioned as the shop owners also fully utilized the alley by extending the business to the back. This encourages human engagement and the narrow walkway promote slower walking pace and increase the rate of chance contacts between people and shop. Narrow walkway between shops also allows people to connect visually with upper floors easily through windows and induce passive contact.

Figure 4.2.4.1 shows a well conditioned back alley but low human intensity due to the lack of activities of back alley in Jalan Besar

Figure 4.2.4.2 shows the Nguyen Trai Street back alley with moderate human intensity due to the extension of business from the front

4.2.5 Streetscape Along Jalan Besar, the inconsistent walkway line can be concluded in both side of the buildings due to the extension of business and narrower walkway.

Therefore the slow pedestrian traffic happens and gradually increase the human intensity. However, the degree of contact intensity is considered as moderate because it only involves in the passive and perhaps chance contacts in all sense.

In Nguyen Trai street, they use the sidewalk garden to help to set up the first vision of the street. The large canopy and greenaries not only give shading to the street but also people have to encounter the sidewalk garden before entering the shoplots. The building environment is more attractive and appealing, which will increase the possibility for involvement and interaction in place. This has increase the quality of the physical environment, it provides comfort to the passe-by and drives them to slow down their pace to enjoy the environment around them rather than coming for specific destination only. In this way, it promotes activities to happen along the walkway and street vendors can easily bring the crowds along the walkways and increase the intensity of chance contact. During night time, the vendors put out their food stalls and become the night market which turns the street into another contact point and the sellers are bargaining with the buyers and thus creating a chance and passive contact.

In terms of walking experience, both streets give a sense of linearity, travelling straight away from one place to another. Similarly, both contact point of the street might be closer to the stations for public transportation, creating a node for tourists and locals to wait for transportation, either to work or path finding. This is a necessary activity which leads to chance and acquaintance contact.

Figure 4.2.5.1 shows the inconsistent walkway line along the five foot walkway due to the extension of business

Figure 4.2.5.2 shows the canopies along the Nguyen Trai Street create a more appealing first impression to the street before entering

05 // Conclusion In a nutshell, physical condition of the street can be one of the factors that affect throughout all the aspects on both Jalan Besar and Nguyen Trai Street. As Jan Gehl mentioned in ‘life between buildings’ that the higher quality of the outdoor, the higher the necessary activities take place- though they clearly tend to take a longer time because of the better physical condition. Therefore, Nguyen Trai Street has a more favourable walkway due to its wider space and green canopies as shading medium. As for the Jalan Besar, the street has a more heavy vehicle traffic and not properly plan for pedestrian. Despite of their difference, the contact point of both is more or less the same, it’s just the condition of the the space itself makes them different from others.

06 // References Countries in the world by population (2018). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/population-by-country/ Gehl, J. (2011). Life Between Buildings: Using Public Space. Island Press.

Good morning, Vietnam! (Day 101). (2011, April 27). Retrieved from https://shawnwashere.wordpress.com/2009/01/16/good-morning-vietnam-day-101/ Guide, C. P. (n.d.). City Pass Guide. Retrieved June 15, 2018, from https://www.citypassguide.com/en/travel/ho-chi-minh-city/attractions/point-of-interes t Ramble and Wander. (2017, August 26). Malaysia: Royal Klang Heritage Walk, Selangor.

Retrieved from https://www.rambleandwander.com/2017/08/malaysia-royal-klang-heritage-walk-sela ngor.html Workman, V., & D. (2018, February 08). Klang Sightseeing: Unique Things to See & Do in Klang, Malaysia.

Retrieved from https://www.theislanddrum.com/unique-klang-sightseeing/