THE CITY AT EYE LEVEL ASIA
PLACEMAKING AS EMANCIPATORY PRACTICE IN ASIA?
Jeffrey Hou
EPILOGUE
A vast continent with rich cultural traditions, Asia is steeped in its extraordinary heritage of places, ranging from the majestic monasteries in the high plateaus of Tibet to the multicultural streetscapes of George Town on the island of Penang. For ages, these memorable and remarkable sites have evolved through exchanges of cultures and the economic and social life of their communities. They embody systems of cultural values and spatial practices that are integral to the local ways of life and the identities of those places. For much of recent history, however, these longstanding practices of placemaking in Asia were disrupted by a multitude of changes, conflicts, colonisation, and rapid economic development, and through institutions imposed on the local communities, including none other than the professional planning and design practice. Over time, vernacular practices gave way to imposed economic and political imperatives. Human-scale places were demolished and replaced by large-scale developments. The city at eye level was transformed by policies at the high level. It was not long ago that renowned planning scholar John Friedmann lamented that the “art of place-making has not informed planners of the swaths of the 320
