Urban Design Study on Kota Bharu City Centre, Kelantan, Malaysia
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Urban Design Study on Kota Bharu City Centre, Kelantan, Malaysia Muhammad Hishamuddin Zakaria, Mazran Ismail, Ahmad Sanusi Hassan and Najib Taher Al-Ashwal Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/awg/article-pdf/21/2-3/193/2273797/1480-6800-21_2_193.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 School of Housing Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Penang Malaysia Urban design elements within a city play a vital role in stimulating mental mapping in personal perception of the city. A comprehensive urban trail has been conducted focusing on a city centre to study the elements of urbanism and planning strategies by the government of Kelantan to make sure the function - ality and its character representation of Kota Bharu, Kelanta, recently rebranded as an Islamic City. The incorporation of the Islamic city design approach, urban planning and community building ideas towards a better city have been taken into considerations by the authoriies in Kelantan in developing and presenting the ideas of the Islamic City. The strategic and pragmatic urban design approaches adopted by the government of Kelantan, by indicating the specific zoning within the city centre itself, have indirectly strengthened the city developmental identity. Hence, this study shows that urban design elements play an essential role in creating a specific mental mapping in personal perception regarding Kota Bharu city centre. Keywords: Urban design element, mental mapping, development concept, design approach, accessibilities planning, Islamic City Introduction Nowadays urbanism is a prime keyword to improve the way of living, the view of the city and the population’s civilisation in Malaysia. There are varieties of design elements in urbanism to fit in with the city development concept and to achieve an improved standard of living for the community and to enhance economic growth. These urban design elements indirectly function to create the mental image for the people who have visited the city. On October 1 st , 2005, Kota Bharu was declared an Islamic City by the state government, and thus the city development concept is interwoven with the state government slogan of ‘Developing with Islam’. Hence, Kota Bharu city centre also incorporates the three essential connections: that between humans and God, humans with other human beings and lastly, humans with nature (Nasir and Salleh 2014; Hassan, Ghani and Ahmad 2018; see also Nasir 2011). The Arab World Geograph er / Le Géographe du monde arabe Vol 21, no 2-3 (2018) 193 -208 © 2018 Geo Publishing, Toronto Canada 194 Zakaria, Ismail, Hassan and Al-Ashwal The present paper aims to study the urban design elements closely associated with the city development concept and discuss the influ - ence of basic urban design elements in creating the proper structuring within Kota Bharu city centre and the associated mental image among the city’s residents and visitors. This paper seeks to thoroughly explain the main five design elements in planning: e.g. paths, edges, Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/awg/article-pdf/21/2-3/193/2273797/1480-6800-21_2_193.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 districts, nodes and landmarks. The first design element is paths, which connect all channels in the city and also acts as an urban back - bone to create a unique character for the city. Meanwhile, the edges are boundaries and separations between two sections that break its continuity. A district, on the other hand, is the zoning of the cityscape that connects city sections sharing some commonalities. Moreover, nodes are strategically located as primary focal points or junctions of two or more converging paths or roads that sometimes become a public plaza or square. Finally, landmark acts as a visual object that represents the identity and point of reference for the city such as key monuments and sculptures. Kota Bharu city centre has been chosen as a case study for this research due to its city development concept as an Islamic City as well as because of its culture, architectural heritage and historical richness, as Kelantan state capital with a population of some 490,000 in 2010. A recent opinion survey studied the concrete perceptions visitors have of the character of the Kota Bharu cityscape as an Islamic City, with suggestive positive preliminary findings, concluding that “ visitors perceived overall Kota Bharu city image as represents the Islamic city image” ( Hassan, Ghani and Ahmad (2018, 1310).They stress: “To promote Islamic tourism in Kota Bharu as a new cultural tourism product in Malaysia … the rebranding process acts as both a planning strategy … and tourism strategy” (ibid. p. 1304). They also note: “The city rebranding also has significant implications for the development of the local community regarding image and changing economic and social environment to be more conducive and competitive with the values and philosophy of Islam” (ibid.). This paper will also discuss the five essential design elements that can be found in Kota Bharu city centre and how they influence its attractive image as a capital city of Kelantan and stimulate a specific distinctive mental map for that city in personal perception of its residents and visitors. Literature Review To study and analyse the basic urban design elements, five elements are focused on: paths, edges, districts, nodes and landmarks. These The Arab World Geographer / Le Géographe du monde arabe Vol 21, no 2-3 (2018) Urban Design Study: Kota Bharu City Centre, Kelantan, Malaysia 195 elements are the catalyst in stimulating a public image in any given city. This public image is then overlapped with the individual mental image or perhaps with a series of public perceptions held by a signifi - cant group of citizens. The definition of urban design elements as clas - sically defined by Lynch (1960) are as follows: Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/awg/article-pdf/21/2-3/193/2273797/1480-6800-21_2_193.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 Paths Paths are related to the connectivity of the city that connects to all channels, roads, streets or walkways within a town. This is where the user customarily, potentially or occasionally moves. A path can be a backbone for a city as it provides the urban form of a network and also serves to incorporate a unique character into its specific urban design. Therefore, the path can be a dominant element for many people because users can feel and observe the cityscape while moving through the paths; and along these paths, the other urban design elements are related to it. Edges Edges act as the separation or break in the continuity of a city. They generally function as boundaries between two areas or territories and are represented by railroad tracks, shores, walls or edges of develop - ment. Topography can also be considered as an edge as it divides the regions or joins them together. Edges are usually perceived as oblique references because they constitute organising features, particularly in the role of holding together generalised areas, as in the outline of a city by barriers: water or walls, more or less penetrable by people. Districts Within a big city, there are a few sections, neighbourhoods medium to large, that connecting to each other become a city, called a district. Those sections identically share the same characteristics or common attributes with each other that define the identity of the city itself. These characteristics are represented by the interior, or as can be observed, by the exterior of the whole city. Usually, a unique arrange - ment of the paths or districts becomes the common practice as indi - vidual differences. The formation of districts also mentioned by Harvey (1989) is a tool that been used to ease the transition between managerialism and entrepreneurialism in urban governance. This can be elaborated as a division of the sections within the city for the prin - ciple of “divide and rule”. The Arab World Geographer / Le Géographe du monde arabe Vol 21, no 2-3 (2018) 196 Zakaria, Ismail, Hassan and Al-Ashwal Nodes According to Lynch (1960, 12): “Nodes are the strategic foci into which the observer can enter, typically either junctions of paths or concentrations of some characteristic”. Nodes are the gathering points or locations that strategically locate to become a main focal Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/awg/article-pdf/21/2-3/193/2273797/1480-6800-21_2_193.pdf by guest on 23 September 2021 point in a city. It can be squares, plazas or even intersecting roads or junctions that break or redirect the traffic. The concentration of one or more than one functions indirectly and will attract tourists and locals by mixed-use developments or cultural districts, with their synergy of offices, shops, cafes, restaurants and cultural facilities, as mentioned by Snedcof (1985). Nodes can be recognised by their functions for the people when people find the space memorable regardless of shape or physical form. Hence, a pragmatic approach must be adapted to these nodes to give them their own identity by applying paintings, sculptures, walls, floors, other functions or even intensity of use. Landmarks Landmarks are frequently used as clues of identity and even of struc - ture, and seem to be increasingly relied upon as a journey becomes more and more familiar. Landmarks are three-dimensional elements found in a city. They differ from nodes that can be utilised by the people; landmarks act as external features or visual structure for the user as a point of reference. Landmarks provide a vista to the city or even a general sign perceived by people around it. They can be static or unique monuments, structures or objects that are vital for an orien - tational process when they are distinctive and less in number. Like nodes, landmarks must be represented by unique features such as different shape, colour, size, height or visibility to gain contrast with the background, to distinguish their dominance and singularity.