Assessment of Urban Public Spaces: Cases of Kuala Lumpur City Center
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ASSESSMENT OF URBAN PUBLIC SPACES: CASES OF KUALA LUMPUR CITY CENTER AMIR HOSSEIN ASKARI THESIS SUBMITTED IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 2014 UNIVERSITI MALAYA ORIGINAL LITERARY WORK DECLARATION Name of Candidate: Amir Hossein Askari (I.C/Passport No: F19822835) Registration/Matric No: BHA090013 Name of Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Title of Thesis (“this Work”): ASSESSMENT OF URBAN PUBLIC SPACES: CASES OF KUALA LUMPUR CITY CENTER Field of Study: Urban Studies I do solemnly and sincerely declare that: (1) I am the sole author/writer of this Work; (2) This Work is original; (3) Any use of any work in which copyright exists was done by way of fair dealing and for permitted purposes and any excerpt or extract from, or reference to or reproduction of any copyright work has been disclosed expressly and sufficiently and the title of the Work and its authorship have been acknowledged in this Work; (4) I do not have any actual knowledge nor do I ought reasonably to know that the making of this work constitutes an infringement of any copyright work; (5) I hereby assign all and every rights in the copyright to this Work to the University of Malaya (“UM”), who henceforth shall be owner of the copyright in this Work and that any reproduction or use in any form or by any means whatsoever is prohibited without the written consent of UM having been first had and obtained; (6) I am fully aware that if in the course of making this Work I have infringed any copyright whether intentionally or otherwise, I may be subject to legal action or any other action as may be determined by UM. Candidate’s Signature Date Subscribed and solemnly declared before, Witness’s Signature Date Name: Designation: ii ABSTRACT Public open spaces are vital elements of urban fabrics that animate communities in cities. They are appropriate spaces for performing cultural gathering or declaring political freedom. These significant places provide people with different facilities as well as social and health-promoting opportunities. Successful public open spaces meet the needs of people of different social classes, ethnicities, and in general different backgrounds. These substantially beneficial spaces in cities endow urbanites with physical, social, and psychological comfort. Investigating the visions of the City Hall Kuala Lumpur shows that the City Center lacks successful public open spaces that meet users’ needs. Therefore, the main question raised in this research is ‘what are the components of a successful public open space in the City Center of Kuala Lumpur?’ This research aims to enhance the quality of public life in the City Center of Kuala Lumpur through identifying the characteristics of a sociably successful public open space. The research employed a quantitative approach. Accordingly, the self-administered questionnaire surveys collected the data. The sampling method used was the mix of systematic and time-interval methods. Followed by that, the structure interviews with Landscape Architects, Academicians, and Town Planners verified the results of the public surveys and assisted the research in reaching the methodological triangulation. The findings showed that the public facilities play a more significant role in attracting people to the public open spaces than social and health-promoting benefits. The research disclosed that old people prefer passive activities such as sitting, talking to their friends, and watching people, while young people do activities and explore the places and mingle with both their peers and others. The findings uncovered that the physical, personal, managerial, iii and social factors influence social interactions in the public open spaces of the City Center of Kuala Lumpur. In summary, the physical factors, meanings attached, social activities and events, inclusiveness and social interactions, and design features are the urban factors contributing to the creation of a successful public open space. Overall, the findings of this research are beneficial to designers in choosing the factors to ameliorate the viability of social interactions among different groups of urban dwellers. This assists them in determining the features and characteristics of successful public open spaces that enliven the public life in City Centers. iv ABSTRAK Lapangan awam adalah elemen penting fabrik bandar yang dijiwai masyarakat sesuatu bandar. Kawasan begini adalah ruang yang bersesuaian untuk orang awam mengadakan perhimpunan kebudayaan atau mengisytiharkan sesuatu berkaitan politik. Tempat-tempat penting ini menyediakan berbagai kemudahan serta peluang-peluang bersosial dan aktiviti untuk kesihatan. Lapangan awam yang berjaya dapat memenuhi keperluan golongan masyarakat Bandar yang berbeza, etnik serta latar belakang. Tempat-tempat ini yang sebahagian besarnya memberi bermanfaat telah membiayai orang bandar dengan kemudahan fizikal, sosial, dan keselesaan psikologikal secara percuma. Melihat kepada wawasan Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur ternyata bahawa Pusat Bandaraya mempunyai kurang tempat lapangan awam yang berjaya iaitu yang dapat memenuhi keperluan pengguna. Lantaran itu, persoalan utama penyelidikan ini adalah ‘apakah komponen- komponen bagi sesuatu tempat lapang awam berjaya di Pusat Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur?’ Penyelidikan ini bertujuan untuk menambahkan kualiti kehidupan awam di Pusat Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur dengan mengenal pasti secara sosial sifat suatu kawasan lapangan awam berjaya. Kajian ini menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif. Dari itu, soal selidik kawalan sendiri digunakan untuk mengutip data. Kaedah persampelan yang digunakan adalah campuran kaedah-kaedah sistematik dan sela masa. Kemudiannya, temubual berstruktur digunakan dalam temubual bersama-Arkitek Landskap, Ahli-ahli Akademik, dan Perancang Bandar bagi mengesahkan keputusan kajian tinjauan dan membantu mencapai analisis triangulasi. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa kemudahan awam lebih berperanan untuk menarik orang awam kepada kawasan lapangan awam berbanding faedah-faedah sosial dan aktiviti v untuk meningkatkan kesihatan. Hasil kajian juga mendapati bahawa orang-orang tua mengutamakan aktiviti-aktiviti pasif seperti duduk, bercakap dengan rakan, dan memerhatikan manusia; manakala orang muda pula suka membuat aktiviti dan meneroka kawasan dan begaul dengan teman-teman sebaya atau orang lain. Sebagai rumusan, faktor fizikal, peribadi, pengurusan, dan sosial mempengaruhi interaksi sosial di kawasan lapangan awam di Pusat Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur. Sementara faktor fizikal, rasa tertarik, aktiviti dan acara social termasuklah interaksi sosial dan ciri-ciri reka bentuk merupakan faktor-faktor bandar yang menyumbang kepada kewujudan satu tempat lapang awam berjaya. Keseluruhannya, penemuan penyelidikan ini sangat berguna kepada pereka bentuk Bandar dalam memilih faktor-faktor yang boleh memperbaiki kebolehan interaksi sosial antara berlainan kumpulan penduduk bandar. Ini membantu mereka dalam menentukan ciri dan sifat kawasan lapangan awam berjaya untuk menceriakan kehidupan awam di sesuatu Pusat Bandaraya. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Foremost, I am extremely thankful to God; for without his mercy and beneficence, I would not be successful in achieving my goals. Next, I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to each of the following: Great thanks to Universiti Malaya and the Faculty of Built Environment. My warmest thanks go to my supervisor, Dr. Ibrahim Bin Mohd @ Ahmad, who sincerely assisted me during my research. My warmest thanks go to my dear wife, Soha Soltani, for her encouragement during my research. Special thanks to my family, for their encouragement and support throughout my research period. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Original Literary Work Declaration ii Abstract iii Abstrak v Acknowledgements vii List of Figures xiv List of Tables xv List of Abbreviations xviii List of Appendices xix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction and Background of the Study 1 1.2 The Operational Definition of the Terms 7 1.3 The Problem Statement 8 1.3.1 Issues of Public Open Spaces in Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur 10 1.4 The Aim of the Research 12 1.5 The Research Questions 12 1.6 The Research Objectives 13 1.7 The Significance of the Research 13 1.8 The Conceptual Framework of the Research 15 1.9 The Scope of the Research 17 1.10 The Structure of the Research 17 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction 19 2.2 Public Open Spaces 19 viii 2.2.1 Dimensions of Publicness 25 2.2.2 Attitudes Towards Public Open Spaces 26 2.3 The Significant Role of Public Open Spaces 30 2.3.1 The Importance of Public Open Spaces in the City Centers 32 2.3.2 The Role of Public Open Spaces in Public Life 33 2.3.3 The Role of Public Open Spaces in Quality of Life 35 2.3.4 Public Open Spaces and Urban Design and Planning 37 2.4 Typology of Public Open Spaces 39 2.5 Public Open Spaces in Malaysia 42 2.5.1 The Essence of Traditional Public Open Spaces in Malaysia 43 2.5.2 Public Open Spaces in the Era of Colonization 46 2.5.3 Contemporary Public Open Spaces 46 2.6 The Meanings Attached to Public Open Spaces 47 2.6.1 Public Open Spaces and Sense of Place 48 2.6.2 Social Ties Interwoven with Public Open Spaces 49 2.6.3 Place Attachment in Public Open Spaces 51 2.7 Current Qualities of Public Open Spaces 53 2.8 Privatization of Public Open Spaces 54 2.9 Transformation of Public Open Spaces 55 2.10 Needs in Public Open Spaces 56 2.11 Responsive Public Open Spaces 59 2.11.1 Physical Responsiveness 61 2.11.2 Activity Responsiveness 63 2.11.3 Social Responsiveness 64 2.11.4 Meaning Responsiveness