Theory project3

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC61303/ ARC2224) PROJECT 2: COMPARATIVE ESSAY NAME:

FOO WEI MIN

STUDENT ID:

0321577

TUTOR:

MR.NICHOLAS NG

SEMESTER 5 | AUGUST 2016

CONTENT

1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 CHINATOWN, KUALA LUMPUR 1.2 CHINATOWN, PHILADELPHIA

2.0 ANALYSIS AND COMPARATIVE ESSAY

3.0 REFERENCE

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1.0 INTRODUCTION This paper focus on an in-depth analytical research study on the life between buildings at China Town in two cities, Kuala Lumpur and Philadelphia. Theoretical studies are carried out to provide critical perspectives on key issues as well as relevant theories in architecture and urban context. This comparative essays is produced to discuss about the architecture, urban forms, activities, and contact points in the 2 selected cities.

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1.1 CHINATOWN, PHILADELPHIA.

Figure 1.11. Map showing urban grid form in China town, Philadelphia.

Chinatown in Philadelphia is formed as a result of discrimination of the local to the Chinese migrants in the past. These Chinese migrants united together, settled down and later form a community in this area. In 20th century, urban renewal have brought both positive and negative impact to the town. The town diversifies, community expands and this contributes to the multi-cultural characteristic in this area.

As a centre of Asian American residential-commercial neighbourhood in the city centre, the life between buildings are structured around the restaurants, stores and communal boarding houses that represent a huge variety of Asian cultures.

As one of the first cities in north America that adopt grid system, the main idea is to prevent the spread of fire and diseases in this area. This results in a number of perpendicular intersections among streets that promote pedestrian travels and it is where intimacy and interaction take place when activities are carried out between buildings.

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1.2 CHINATOWN, KUALA LUMPUR In the past, Chinese migrants move in for the tin trade, working as coolies in tin mines. Later in time, due to the topography of Petaling street which is higher than the rest of the town making it less prone to floods, shophouses are built to run businesses.

Figure 1.11. Morphological change in China Town area, Kuala Lumpur.

Instead of a well organised grid form as China town in Philadelphia, the urban grid of China Town in Kuala Lumpur is of deformed grid. This is very much related to the history where the infrastructure development are built along the railway track near the Klang River. These days, Chinatown is famous as treasure trove of heritage buildings and a bargain paradise. As a well known food and retail districts, varieties of local food acts as the main attraction to pull Figure 1.12. Figure ground if Chinatown, KL, 2016.

crowds in during day time whereas market selling goods in reasonable prices dominate this district in both day and night, and contribute to the peak after dark.

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2.0 ANALYSIS/ COMPARATIVE ESSAY

Urban space can be simply described as an area related to multi-centric municipalities forming as a whole. In this essay, urban space discussed are mainly the external space between buildings in a town, having a hierarchy from public, semi-public to private zones.

Street, in urban design, acts as an important elements that contributes to the vitality in an urban context. It does not only function as a space where public and social activities take place, it also act as a medium of movement that creates interactions among all groups.

Figure 2.1 Analysis area of China town, Philadelphia.

Philadelphia is ranked as the 4th most walkable city in 2016. (GreenPhilly, 2016.) Being walkable is one of the aims in urban planning because slower pace would bring more sensory experience when one passes through a public area where social activities take place. In Philadelphia, streets run at right angles forming gridiron plan. Linearity encourage pedestrian movements as it gives clear direction and ease navigation. Neighbourhoods close to the Broad Street or Market Street Lines have even better accessibility to the city contributing to

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more contact points around the city. However, streets of similar width in China town, Philadelphia, give equal accessibility to traffic causes no hierarchical difference among the streets. This condition might leads to a little degradation in outdoor social activities because that may results in an impoverishment in sensory experience due to the dull experience along a street.

In Kuala Lumpur, the deformed urban grid is very much related to the history in the past.

The infrastructure development were built along the railway station. Due to the types of transportation used in the past which are horse and carriage, the street between buildings are normally very narrow. In addition to the heavy usage of automobile these days, it results in congestion every day during peak hour, causing air as well as sound pollution issue in the city. Perhaps more effort are required to provide a more comfortable and non-polluted side walk in narrow streets area. These example perhaps, could highlights the impact of urban form on user’s experience when one travels along the streets.

Figure 2.2. Concept of necessary, optional, and social activities. (Caspani, P. 2012)

Linking back to the framework proposed by Jan Gehl in ‘Life Between Buildings: Using Public Space’, the outdoor activities can be categorised under necessary activity, optional activity, and social activity. Necessary activity are carried out on daily basis regardless of environment changes. In both cities, necessary activities happen when community attend to Page 6 of 14

school or to work. Public transit station in this case act as a contact point that allow public interaction at the modest level. Passive contacts that happened among regular passengers taking public transportation for necessary activities allow low intensity contact which helps to form other more complex and high intensity contact. This will then give an explanation on the importance of low intensity contact in an urban space. Passive contact, which could merely seeing or hearing other people, is the minimal and the primary driving force of life between buildings.

Here shows a similarity in Philadelphia as well as in Kuala Lumpur, on how a necessary activity act as a point where interaction among community starts. In Philadelphia, most of the bus stops are located along the Market streets where there is a high density of pedestrian flow surrounding the shopping mall. Since shopping for groceries is part of the necessary activity to be carried out by locals, there are a constant visits to the mall by public. Public transport in this case acts as a transit node that provides chances of contact. People gather in front of the mall or near the bus stops while waiting for a ride. ‘People attracts people’ can then best described when public starts to gather around in the same spot, or even start sitting at some unintendedly design seating area cause they tend to follow the crowds.

Figure 2.3. Frontage of Burlington Mall at Market Street in Philadelphia.

Figure 2.4. The bus station and LRT station at Jalan Hang Kasturi, Kuala Lumpur.

Whereas in Kuala Lumpur, working and going to school are the necessary activities to be carried out. The main bus station is located together with the LRT station form a node that welcome arrivals and embrace departure for workers as well as students. During the site visit, Page 7 of 14

it is noticed that the bus also stop in front of the ATC College in Petaling street to drop off the students. This shows that the contact point does not necessary located at the bus station specially built for its purpose, but any spot that is able to fulfils user’s need. Due to the high dependence on public transportation, the constantly moving public add vitality to the site.

Similar to the stations in Philadelphia, these contact point act as an essential prerequisite to the formation of social activity. Let’s imagine a place where there is no necessary activities that contribute to public flows, a desolated transit station without much users, would not that create a sense of deserted and insecurity and cause failure in place making?

Next, optional activity as oppose to necessary activity are very much depends on the physical environment in order to maximise the interaction among community. Philadelphia located in the United state of America, has annual high temperature of 64.7°F and annual low temperature of 47°F. (U.S. Climate data, 2016), making the city more walkable without the needs of any shelter at the side walk.

Figure 2.5 King’s market in Philadelphia.

Figure 2.6 Front steps for sitting and chatting along N9 Street, Philadelphia.

One of the example of optional activity identified is the King’s market set up in the store frontage. ( Figure 2.3) Although this informal activity is carried out in the middle of the street, it does not cause much obstruction to the pedestrian due to the wide pavements specially designed for pedestrian movement. Thus, in a way, it also acts as a contact point when Page 8 of 14

regular passer-by visits or purchases groceries daily and slowly build up a relationship with the shop owner. Another examples is when the local community decided to go out for a walk under a good weather and happened to meet their neighbours or friends so end up utilising the front steps for sitting and chatting. (Figure 2.4) These activities are mainly contribute by the physical environment and the climate condition, creating high intensity of contact among the local community.

Kuala Lumpur located in Southeast Asia just north of the equator, unfortunately, has an annual high temperature of 86°F and annual low temperature of 68°F (Malaysia World Travel Guide, 2016.), which is very warm and results in a reduction the walkability in the city. When there are lesser exploration of public in the city, the chance og contact also decreases. Thus if we were to compare the contact points contributed by optional activities, the contact points in China town in Kuala Lumpur will definitely lesser than that of China town in Philadelphia.

However, that does not mean there is no optional activity to be carried out in China town of Kuala Lumpur.

Figure 2.7. Five foot walkway in China town, Kuala Lumpur.

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In Southeast Asia, retail business are carried out in the ground floor of the shophouses while accommodation space are on the upper level. Five foot walkway in front of the shophouses function as a trade area and it allows pedestrian movements to be separated from the busy traffic. Based on the observation through site visit, the local community in Jalan Panggong will visit to the surrounding stores looking for friends and spend time with the shopowners. The five foot walkway which provide a more comfortable physical environment therefore allows optional activities to be carried on. The frequent meetings in connection with daily activities thus increase chances of developing contact with neighbour, as suggested

by Jan Gehl. This provide them an opportunity to maintain an already established relationship and have a high intensity of contact in the neighbourhoods.

Figure 2.8 Self- reinforcing concept by Jan Gehl. (Caspani, P. 2012.)

Social activity occurs spontaneously when people meets and interact in a public space.

Gehl mentioned in the text that people like to watch each other, be with the crowd, and sitting in proximity to others, with a comfortable soft boundaries that give comfort and sense of secure. Other than the necessary activity and optional activity, visual interation also plays Page 10 of 14

an important role to enhance the life between buildings in an urban space. In Philadelphia, some of the buildings with glass faรงade allow public to perceive the human activity beyond edge of the building. This contributes to the passive contact and interaction between indoor and outdoor area. The complexity and visual richness of a building faรงade would also capture attention of the passer-by, leading to passive contact to the people that stay or linger around in the same area.

Figure 2.9 Building with glass faรงade that allows visual permeability.

Figure 2.11 Illustrated diagram showing visual permeability through glass faรงade in Philadelphia.

Figure 2.10 Illustrated diagram showing contact points.

Figure 2.12. Illustrated diagram showing visual permeability through China town arch in Kuala Lumpur.

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These spaces however, although give similar visual effect to engage pedestrian that passes by, are not found in the Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur. This is because China town in Kuala Lumpur has a very strong and identical market culture. The stalls are usually set up in front of the building blocking the shop frontage. Therefore, instead of giving visual permeability through transparency of buiding façade, the china town in Kuala Lumpur catches people attention while one passes through the arch of China Town.

Figure 2.13. The identitcal arch of Petaling street in Kuala Lumpur.

Figure 2.14. The Madras Lane at Jalan Tun. H.S. Lee in Kuala Lumpur.

Through the arch in China town of Kuala Lumpur, one can see the variety of activities carried out in the street and therefore being drawn into the spaces. Another similar examples is the madras lane at Jalan H.S.Lee. Madras lane is a place famous for laksa and there are always people having lunch in the food gallery. In ‘Spaces for walking, places for staying.’, Gehl propose that a success public spaces should contains static and moving activities that attract people to stay or linger a little longer rather than just passing through it. In my point of view, I think China town in Kuala Lumpur have achieve this point as it has a variety of activities happening in the street itself, in contrast to the surrounding place. Whereas the Friendship Arch in Philadelphia merely function as a landmark that serve at most a waiting point for the locals.

Lastly, the factor that will contribute to contact point are the seatability found on site. In Philadelphia, seating area are found mostly on Market street in front of the mall frontage.

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These seating areas allow public to rest, stay or wait for someone and contribute to a low intensity contact among them. A similar area is also found in the north part of China town area in front of the Bangkok Bank. Tree canopies provides shades and seatability are provided for pedestrian to linger or stay. This places contribute to a low intensity contact when public lingers or stay in the area.

As a conclusion, I personally think that social interaction, perception, and sensory experience are very important to improve the life between buildings. Contact point in Philadelphia is very much based on the building elements, infrastructure and facilities prepared or designed for public uses therefore results in dense distribution of the contact points along Market Street. In my point of view, the concept of Jan Gehl is more clearly seen in China town in Kuala Lumpur as the formation of crowd are more clearly seen and more effectively contribute in social activities in the city. Neverthelss, I think that the urban planning in China town, Kuala Lumpur should be more thoughtful in order to enhance the walkability on site in combat to the warm climate. Perhaps when people experiences China town, Kuala Lumpur in a slower pace, they would discover the more valuable cultural value in the site and learn to appreciate this treasure trove of heritage site even more.

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References Alexander, C. (1977). A Pattern Langauge. New York: Oxford University Press.

Appleyard, D. (n.d). Retrieved November 28,2016, from http://www.pps.org/reference/dappleyard/ Caspani, P. (2012). Shaping of Urban Design Through a Humanistic and Pedestrian Perspective.

Retrieved November 28,2016, from https://issuu.com/pamelacaspani/docs/final_report Facchinetti,M (2015). Urban Planning 098425. Retrieved November 28,2016, from https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53777d8ce4b0a7ee8e9f9d06/t/5678179cdf40f37eb36666d9/ 1450710940563/MF_urbanplanstudio_2015_XII_122115_light.pdf Gehl, Jan, and Jo Koch. Life between Buildings: Using Public Space. Washington, DC: Island, 2011.

Print.

Mel, M. Traditional Street Activities in Kuala Lumpur City. Retrieved November 28,2016, from https://www.academia.edu/2004427/Traditional_Street_Activities_in_Kuala_Lumpur_City Potter, E (2011).Cities for People by Jan Gehl. Retrieved November 28, 2016, from http://architectureau.com/articles/cities-for-people/ Saikia, A. (2015, September 28). Urban Design Dimensions: 3.Social Dimension - Vasturaag Design Group. Retrieved November 27, 2016, from http://www.vasturaag.com/urban-design-dimensions-3social/ Saikia, A. (2015,September 28). Urban Design Dimension: 5. Functional Dimension. Retrieved November 28, 2016, from http://www.vasturaag.com/urban-design-dimensions-5-functionaldimension/ U.S. Climate Data(2016) Climate Philadelphia. Retrieved November 28,2016, from http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/philadelphia/pennsylvania/united-states/uspa1276 VKeong (2016) Curry laksa@ Madras Lane, Petaling Street KL. Retrieved November 28,2016, from http://www.vkeong.com/location/malaysia/kuala-lumpur/petaling-street-kl/curry-laksa-madras-lanepetaling-street-kl/ World Travel Guide (2016) Malaysia Weather, climate and geography. Retrieved November 28, 2016, from http://www.worldtravelguide.net/malaysia/weather-climate-geography Worldatlas (2016) Where Is Philadelphia, PA?. Retrieved November 28,2016, from http://www.worldatlas.com/na/us/pa/where-is-philadelphia.html

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