PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES OF STREETSCAPE IN THE INNER CITY OF KUALA LUMPUR: CASE STUDY OF BUKIT BINTANG STREET AND TUN PERAK STREET MOHADESEH MAHMOUDI DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE ARCHITECTURE FACULTY OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA KUALA LUMPUR 2012 UNIVERSITI MALAYA Original Literary Work Declaration Name of candidate: Mohadeseh Mahmoudi (I/C Passport No: N14029832) Registration /Matric No: BGB090001 Name of degree: Dissertation: Master of Science Architecture Title of Dissertation: Physical attributes of streetscape in the inner city of Kuala Lumpur: Case study of Bukit Bintang Street and Tun Perak Street Field of Study: Urban Design 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 except 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 in prohibited without the written consent of UM having been first had and obtained; 6) I am fully aware that is 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 Physical environment is one of the most influential factors on livability of urban spaces and eventually quality of life of city residents. Recently, the rapid urbanization in Kuala Lumpur city has raised the necessity of examination of the quality and livability of Kuala Lumpur urban spaces. The main aim of this study is to evaluate the quality and livability of Kuala Lumpur streetscapes through examining the physical attributes of studied areas and identifying the physical problems. Bukit Bintang Street and Tun Perak Street which are located in the inner part of Kuala Lumpur City Center were selected as the case studies. To achieve the research objectives, a sequential mixed method was adopted. Firstly, the 15 influential physical attributes on design and livability of streetscape were identified. Secondly, the current conditions of physical attributes of two case study streets examined qualitatively through observation and photography to explore physical problems of the studied areas. Then, questionnaire surveys conducted to examine the importance of identified problems and the role of different organizations on decreasing the problems. The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS. Correlation was carried to identify the effects of identified physical problems on livability of the areas. The results revealed that some problems such as the traffic congestion, small road, inadequate parking space, improper walkway paving, inadequate planting, lack of renovation of ruined buildings, inadequate facilities for disabled people and inadequate public services and maintenance, mostly deteriorate the livability of the studied streetscapes. In addition, the respondents recognized Kuala Lumpur City Hall as the major responsible organization for improving the problems. Finally, the researcher recommended two groups of strategies - KLCH role and government role - for improvement of the physical quality and livability of Kuala Lumpur city center's streetscapes. iii Abstrak Persekitaran fizikal merupakan salah satu faktor yang paling berpengaruh terhadap keadaan kehidupan, sekaligus menentukan taraf kualiti hidup penduduk bandar. Dewasa ini, kemajuan permodenan bandar yang pesat di Kuala Lumpur melahirkan keperluan untuk mengkaji kualiti dan keadaan kehidupan di bandaraya itu. Justeru, kajian ini bertujuan untuk menilai kualiti dan keadaan kehidupan di jalan-jalan sekitar Kuala Lumpur dengan mengkaji ciri-ciri fizikal dan mengenal pasti masalah fizikal kawasan tersebut. Dua buah jalan telah dipilih sebagai kajian kes, iaitu Jalan Bukit Bintang dan Jalan Tun Perak. Kedua-dua jalan ini terletak di tengah-tengah pusat bandaraya Kuala Lumpur. Untuk mencapai objektif kajian, kaedah campuran yang berurutan telah diguna pakai. Sebagai langkah pertama, sebanyak 15 ciri-ciri fizikal yang mempengaruhi reka bentuk dan keadaan jalanraya telah dikenal pasti. Seterusnya, keadaan sebenar ciri-ciri fizikal bagi kedua-dua kajian kes tersebut diselidiki secara kualitatif melalui pemerhatian dan kaedah fotografi untuk meneroka masalah fizikal kawasan-kawasan itu. Kajian soal selidik dijalankan bagi menentukan sejauh mana pentingnya setiap masalah yang disenaraikan, dan pada masa yang sama, Mengenal pasti peranan pihak yang bertanggungjawab untuk mengurangkan masalah-masalah. Maklumat kajian dianalisa melalui perisian SPSS untuk menentukan kesan hubungan antara masalah fizikal dan keadaan hidup kawasan tersebut. Hasil kajian mendapati beberapa masalah utama yang menyumbang kepada kemerosotan keadaan hidup di kawasan kajian kes. Ini termasuklah kesesakan lalu lintas, lebar jalan yang kecil, ruang pakir kereta yang tidak mencukupi, laluan pejalan kaki tidak sesuai, dekorasi tumbuhan yang sedikit, bangunan lama yang tidak diselenggara, kekurangan perkhidmatan awam, dan kekurangan kemudahan untuk orang kurang upaya. Berikutan iv dengan itu, hasil kajian membuktikan bahawa para responden mengiktiraf Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) sebagai organisasi utama yang sepatutnya bertanggungjawab untuk memperbaiki masalah-masalah ini. Walau bagaimanapun, di akhir kajian ini, penyelidik mencadangkan bahawa DBKL dan pihak kerajaan merupakan dua pihak yang perlu berkerjasama dan bertanggungjawab dalam memperbaiki keadaan kehidupan dan kualiti fizikal jalan-jalan di Kuala Lumpur. v Acknowledgement Accomplishment of this research would not have been possible without the assistance of many people. Firstly, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my great supervisor, Dr. Faizah Ahmad who offered invaluable guidance, assistance, and support. She has been an amazing mentor for the past three years who shared her wisdom and knowledge whenever I resorted to her. I wish to convey my thanks to the staff of faculty of Built Environment in University of Malaya for their help and assistance during the past two years at the faculty. Besides, I acknowledge Kuala Lumpur City Hall for providing the information and answering my questions. I am also truly indebted to people who were involved in my study and responded to my questionnaires. I could not complete this research without their valuable help. I also thank all my wonderful friends for sharing their knowledge and invaluable assistance. I have learnt so much from them in many ways. Furthermore, my special thanks go to my Malaysian friend, Nurshuhada Zainon, who translated my questionnaires and abstract from English to Malay and Hanan Elsawahly who helped me with her valuable knowledge at the last minutes of this study. I would like to express my love and gratitude to my beloved family, my mother, father and little brother; for their endless love, which encouraged me to finish this degree. Even though, they were not in Malaysia, they always supported me morally. Words fail to express my appreciation to my lovely husband, Hesam, for his understanding and patience through the duration of my study. He has always been there for me. Finally, I send my regards to all people who helped and supported me in any way during this study and I forgot to mention their names, and to Allah, the Omnipotent. vi Table of Contents Original Literary Work Declaration ……………………………………………………….ii Abstract………… ………………………………………………………………………….iii Abstrak……………………………………………………………………………………. iv Acknowledgement………………………………………………………………………….vi Table of Content…………………………………………………………………………...vii List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………...…xii List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………...xiv Chapter 1 Introduction…………………………………………... 1 1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research background .......................................................................................... 2 1.3 Problem statement............................................................................................... 6 1.4 Research aim and objectives ............................................................................... 7 1.4.1 Research questions .................................................................................. 7 1.4.2 Research objectives ................................................................................. 7 1.5 Scope of research ................................................................................................ 8 1.6 Research methods................................................................................................ 8 1.7 Significance of the study................................................................................... 10 1.8 Structure of the thesis.......................................................................................