The Experience of Diversity in Open Spaces of Two Historical Towns in Malaysia (original) (raw)

Diversity as the physical correlate to open space's experience in two historical towns

This research studies diversity as a parameter in the built environment in two types of open spaces in colonial towns of Taiping and Georgetown. The richness of natural landscape elements, scales of spaces, distribution of activity patterns, and variety of visual stimulants in the open spaces were among the dimensions of diversity explored in this study. This paper is exploratory in nature, which applies a qualitative method. It involves descriptive and affective aspects of environmental experience of users of the two open spaces. The study suggests that diversity means socialization, which can be achieved through gradual and natural occurring assimilation.

DISPARATINGTHE MEANING OF PUBLIC PLACE OF A HISTORIC CITY

Previous researches have made critical contributions to the understanding of the significance of place to people. This study aims to explore one spectrum of people's place experience to reveal an understanding of place meaning as it is a complex and multi-faceted phenomenon that comprises of people's emotional relationships to place. Another concern of the study is to identify the importance of public space in historical cities. Firstly, the paper reviews the relevant literature on place and place meaning, while disparate and integrating concepts of it are encountered through semi-structured interviews with users of public space (n=40) in Melaka (a UNESCO world listed heritage city). The study folds the meaning of one long existed public space that had undergone a series of change, which is locally known as Dataran Pahlawan. Evolved from a seaside esplanade originally known as Padang Pahlawan, the space was gradually transformed in term of functions and physical appearance. The study provided evidence on people's experience of the place. The changes and the loss of Padang Pahlawan as a memorable public place have not weakened the place identity of the city and its place meaning. To the residents, the Dataran Pahlawan and its surrounding still contributed a panoramic experience and urban enjoyment. There are indeed elements that are commonly recognized with pleasure and care by the users, in which the study shows that the physical changes in some way modified people's will and awareness towards urban conservation. The study also corroborates additional benefits of Dataran Pahlawan, which are obtained through the very form and nature of the city. It is suggested that the area and it's surrounding convey various architectural meanings such as civic and ceremonial ground, a square, a district, a landmark and a node. It is a vision that results of mapping the meaning of the public space may determine its significance and values that contribute to the evocation of place identity in the Malaysian urban area.

Successful Attractions of Public Space through Users Perception

Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal, 2016

The success of the revitalization program of urban public space is viewed through attractions that have been identified. This study aims to investigate the perception of users in public space through the on-site survey. In summary, the motivations, behavioural patterns, impressions on the public space as an attraction and the perceived importance of urban public spaces in the development of the city are important attraction for successful public space. The findings of this study will show main attraction in successful revitalization of urban public space based on users perception and can be used in a meaningful way to the users.© 2016. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universit...

Spirit of Outdoor Spaces in between Urban Heritage Buildings

Procedia-Social and …, 2012

Positive outdoor spaces are lively and highly surveillance but negative outdoor spaces are leftover spaces that often treated as "no man's land". This paper will present an inventory of positive and negative outdoor spaces in which was conducted in the selected study site of Lebuh Armenian, Penang. The aim of the research was to identify the positive and negative spaces along the heritage street and suggest its potential development. This street was analyzed though researcher's visual observation and end-users' perception to revitalize as a space for urban heritage recreational development.

The Roles of Cultural Spaces in Malaysia's Historic Towns: The Case of Kuala Dungun and Taiping

2013

Cultural space constitutes the physical, cultural and perceptual attributes of a place that creates social phenomenon and place meaning. Nevertheless, cultural spaces in Malaysia's historic town were facing alteration which resulted to place declining and placelessness. Thus, this paper discusses the roles of cultural spaces that characterised the historic town's identity of Kuala Dungun and Taiping. A case study method was conducted involving site observation and questionnaire survey to collect residents' cultural experiences. Results indicated that cultural spaces generated from routine activity, sociocultural and economic vitality contributed to identity of the historic towns.

Hunting New Public Spaces in New Urban Area: A Case Study in Semarang City, Indonesia

2012

The public space is unequivocally important for new urban planning strategies. The public space fulfills an important role in increasing the 'social cohesion' in society. The explanation of the exact significance of the public space remains an implicit one. This paper is a report of an intensive quest to establish the preconditions for the design of new public spaces at new urban area in Semarang city, Indonesia. The basic of analysis of the cultural geography of the network city finds something new about a new perspective of cultural exchange as a typical urban quality. The result of this paper based on investigation of the new collective spaces of the urban field offers and insight into the factors that facilitate the development of new public domain. The conclusion of this study shows that one of the reasons for the lack of a vision as regards the quality of the public space lies in the fact that important 'players' such as administrators, designers and developers to a large degree think along the same lines.

Utilization Driven Diversity of Public Space in Rusunawa Makassar, Indonesia

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2016

Affordable urban homes for low-income residents were built in forms of Rusunawa, where functions of public spaces in such place have been distorted from their initial functions. Study identifies the underlying reasons of the changes through observations, structured and unstructured interviews, combination of both interview, and person-centered mapping. Public spaces in Rusunawa can be categorized into eight locations (corridor, main stair, emergency stair, common room, building entrance, parking area, open space, and mosque). Variety of residents' activities (private, social, trading, supporting, and worshiping) in the spaces was identified for analysis and data enrichments. Residents' social background understanding should give a better planning on public spaces integration in city residential areas.

Integrating the Community in Urban Design and Planning of Public Spaces: A Review in Malaysian Cities

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2015

Both disciplines of Landscape architecture and Urban Planning prepare a development plan for public spaces in cities and towns. Much of the design and planning of the spaces are done by the landscape architect and urban planners without community participation. This practice results in incompatibility of the spaces for the communities; underutilizing or abandoning the spaces, and worse vandalizing the properties of the spaces. This paper argues that community participation in the design and planning of urban public spaces can draw residents to establish a sense of attachment that may lead to community maintaining the spaces. A plethora of studies in human geography, urban sociology, landscape architecture and urban planning were reviewing the themes of community participation in the planning of public spaces. It is found that community participation needs to be underpinned by a philosophy that emphasises empowerment, equity, trust and learning. The quality of decisions made through community participation is strongly reliable on the nature of the process leading to them.

Public Open Spaces in North Sumatra Province

Asian Journal of Behavioural Studies, 2016

Since the regions in North Sumatra Province, Indonesia, become more urbanized, commercial centers grow up. In contrast, public open space (POS) tends to decline. In this condition, the study aim is to explore the public life that goes on. Through field observation, the research collected physical quality of POS and the variation and intensity of activities that community did there. The results showed that almost all of the POS design did not refer to the criteria of successful POS. However, people utilize the POS intensively and meet their needs, both in the good and poor quality of the POS. 2398-4295 © 2017 The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK.. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for E...