Public Space In Urban Asia

Over the past few decades, rapid urbanisation has threatened to erode public space, especially in emerging economies. Market forces that prioritise profit generation are allowed to construct venues of consumption in its place. Though their physical appearance may resemble traditional public space, in reality, they are greatly restrictive and diminished in affordability, accessibility and social meaning. It is in this context that William SW Lim, chairman of Asian Urban Lab, has brought together architects, designers, historians, sociologists and urbanists from the region to discuss public space in selected Asian cities.Part One contains essays from participants from Chongqing, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Taipei and observations from commentators. Several essays by William SW Lim on the subject round off the discussion in Part Two. The thoughtful essays in Public Space in Urban Asia emphasise how engaging with the present actuality of cities and public awareness of spatial justice in cities are crucial — for it is the achievement of spatial justice that will help create a greater level of happiness across societies in our increasingly urbanised world.

The rapid urbanization of the Asian continent and transformation of its cityscapes have incited many professionals and scholars to pay urgent attention to the study of Asian streets and public spaces in the hope of recording them, learning from their complex nature, and even applying distilled principles in new environments before they disappear under the assault of rapid urban transformation. This volume presents articles focusing on four prevalent themes, namely transformation and modernity, the culture of streets, experiencing the street and finally, design and quality of streets. However, these themes inevitably overlap, pointing out again the complexity of what we call the "street" and the necessity for interdisciplinary research. Finally, adding "Asian" to "street" opens up the discussion about spaces in the Asian city, and even concepts of "Asian-ness", if indeed such a concept can be defined. Believing in the importance of understanding "Asian streets" and "streets" in general for future design and planning of our cities, this collection of essays encourages greater interest in this subject, and therefore more interdisciplinary research. Accordingly, this book should interest not only urban planners, architects and other design and building professionals, but also environmentalists, sociologists, anthropologists, geographers and historians as well as the general public.

While there is no lack of studies on Asian cities, the majority focus on financial districts, poverty, the slum, tradition, tourism, and pollution, and use the modern, affluent, and transforming Western city as the reference point. This vast Asian empirical presence is not complemented by a theoretical presence; academic discourses overlook common and basic urban processes, particularly the production of space, place, and identity by ordinary citizens. Switching thevantage point to Asian cities and citizens, Transforming Asian Cities draws attention to how Asians produce their contemporary urban practices, identities, and spaces as part of resisting, responding to, andavoiding larger global and national processes. Instead of viewing Asian cities in opposition to the Western city andusing it as the norm, this book instead opts to provincialize mainstream and traditional knowledge. It argues that the vast terrain of ordinary actors and spaces which are currently left out should be reflected in academic debates and policy decisions, and the local thinking processes that constitute these spaces need to be acknowledged, enabled, and critiqued. The individual chapters illustrate that "global" spaces are more (trans)local, traditional environments are more modern, and Asian spaces are better defined than acknowledged. The aim is to develop room for understandings of Asian cities from Asian standpoints, especially acknowledging how Asians observe, interpret, understand, and create space in their cities.

Following the lifework (1960s to 2010) of visionary Singaporean architect William S. W. Lim, The Impossibility of Mapping (Urban Asia) is a compelling compilation of case studies and historical projects. This multifaceted publication takes Lim's ideas to a future Asia: a region defined by an irreducibly complex urban topography under constant flux. Looking from Singapore to Southeast Asia, and from this region to Asia more expansively (and beyond), it presents a diverse range of activities which may be productively framed through the notion of critical spatial practice.The book has three interconnected points of departure: Lim's lifework; the interdisciplinary exhibition 'Incomplete Urbanism: Attempts at Critical Spatial Practice' at NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore, and the related conference, 'The Impossibility of Mapping (Urban Asia)'; and the cross-cultural and urban festival 'CITIES FOR PEOPLE, NTU CCA Ideas Fest 2016/17', held at venues around Gillman Barracks, Singapore. The multiple links are emphasised in three key ways: through editorial texts, through design concepts, and through selected projects inserted as 'intermissions' between each of the book's sections.Artists, planners, activists, architects, scholars get together in this volume to respond to Lim's critical spatial practice. Research essays, artworks, visual and textual documentation, spatio-temporal maps grapple with the diversity of Southeast Asia, offering unexpected responses to planning, building, and living cities and urban spaces, but also put forward the question, 'Who owns the city?'. This key collection offers a path into spatial questions in Asia and beyond, and serves as a teaching and research tool.

Although rarely explored in academic literature, most inhabitants and visitors interact with an urban landscape on a day-to-day basis is on the street level. Storefronts, first floor apartments, and sidewalks are the most immediate and common experience of a city. These "plinths" are the ground floors that negotiate between inside and outside, the public and private spheres. The City at Eye Level qualitatively evaluates plinths by exploring specific examples from all over the world. Over twenty-five experts investigate the design, land use, and road and foot traffic in rigorously researched essays, case studies, and interviews. These pieces are supplemented by over two hundred beautiful color images and engage not only with issues in design, but also the concerns of urban communities. The editors have put together a comprehensive guide for anyone concerned with improving or building plinths, including planners, building owners, property and shop managers, designers, and architects.

Contributed articles; chiefly with reference to India and China.

PUMIAO 1. The Subject Matter: Urban Public Places 2. The Location: Asia Pacific Region 3. The Purpose of the'"Book: For the Makers of Public Places 4. The Three Perspectives of the Book: Description, Criticism, and Intervention 5. Perspective One: Characteristics of Asia Pacific Cities and Their Public Places (1) High Population Density (2) Large Cities (3) Mixed Uses (4) Government-Centered and Pro-Development Culture (5) The East-versus-West Bipolarity (6) Small Amount of Public Space (7) Absence of Large Nodes and Overall Structure in Public Space (8) Intensive Use of Public Space (9) Ambiguous Boundary between the Public and the Private Summaries of Chapters 1-5 6. Perspective Two: Current Issues and Debates (1) Identity Formal Identity Functional Identity (2) Sustainability High-Tech versus Low-Tech High-Density versus Low-Density (3) Equality Equal Participation Equal Accessibility Summaries of Chapters 6-9 7. Perspective Three: Major Trends in Design and Theory (1) The "Grey" Relationship between the Public and the Private (2) The Transformation of Traditional Typology (3) Indigenous Decoration, Color and Material in New Applications (4) The Tropical Public Place Summaries of Chapters 10-17 8. Conclusion Pu Miao (ed. ), Public Places in Asia Pacific Cities, 1-45. © 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers. 2 P. MIAO 1. The Subject Matter: Urban Public Places A visitor to Kuala Lumpur will hardly forget the experience of strolling among the fragrant fruits sold under the overhang of the five-foot walkway during a tropical downfall.

Seemingly messy and chaotic, the landscapes and urban life of cities in Asia possess an order and hierarchy that often challenges understanding and appreciation. With contributions by a cross-disciplinary group of authors, Messy Urbanism: Understanding the “Other” Cities of Asia examines a range of cases in Asia to explore the social and institutional politics of urban informality and the contexts in which this “messiness” emerges or is constructed. The book brings a distinct perspective to the broader patterns of informal urban orders and processes as well as their interplay with formalized systems and mechanisms. It also raises questions about the production of cities, cityscapes, and citizenship. Messy Urbanism will appeal to professionals, students, and scholars in the fields of urban studies, architecture, landscape architecture, planning and policy, as well as Asian studies. “The rubric of ‘messy urbanism’ is a productive antidote to the binaries that have limited a productive discussion about urbanism in Asia. This book is a significant contribution in understanding the inherent nature of the built environments in aspiring democracies—an emergent urbanism that seamlessly embraces the incremental, temporal, and ephemeral as given conditions in the formation of Asian cities.” —Rahul Mehrotra, Architect / Professor of Urban Design and Planning, Harvard University “This book is of a high quality, with multiple examples from Hong Kong and China. The authors have covered the topic admirably and I expect the book to attract a wide readership.” —Vinit Mukhija, Associate Professor and Vice Chair of Urban Planning, UCLA