Question:

Assignment 1: Discuss the concept of urban regeneration and its role in dealing with the urban dynamics. How can urban places be regenerated by considering the social, economic and physical character of a place in fostering the sustainability of the city in the future. Illustrate your answer by using your studio project as a case study.

(maximum 10 pages)

IntroductionAccording to Jon Ladd, Chief Executive of British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA), "Urban regeneration is a comprehensive and integrated vision and action which leads to the resolution of urban problems and which seeks to bring about a lasting improvement in the economic, physical, social and environmental condition of an area." In the context of urban development, it constitutes a range of complementary improvements at brownfield sites in relation to land, property and associated infrastructure, with the intention of achieving social, economic and environmental benefits. Meanwhile, urban design is primarily concerned with the quality of the public realm both physical and sociocultural and the making of places for people to enjoy and use. It is a complex process of ordering a community's natural and man-made features to establish a distinct visual image and identity - a sense of place - for the community. Good urban design practices help to create a legible development pattern, which makes the community understandable to residents and visitors alike. It is also good in the aspect of environmental sustainability.

Therefore, urban design has the potential to make an important contribution to urban regeneration. Regeneration is a concept that relates to the process of injecting new life to declining inner city areas. The historic buildings and its townscape has the potential of becoming an important asset in regeneration of the old city centre due to the opportunities available in providing low cost premises that draws in a rich mix of small scale activities, bringing life to declining urban areas.Urban regeneration is at the core of city planning and can be defined as the integrated local redevelopment of deprived areas including the neighbourhood, city and metropolitan area. It covers many aspects of city life such as physical, social and environmental (http://www.eurocities.eu/). Urban regeneration is primarily concerned with regenerating cities and early/inner ring suburbs facing periods of decline due to compounding and intersecting pressures. The ongoing processes of adaptation and change presuppose both development and decline with the former often dependent on the latter happening before reinvestment and renewal can occur (Carmona et. al, 2003). Regeneration of Urban PlacesAccording to Lichfield (1992), urban regeneration is a comprehensive and integrated vision and action which leads to resolution of urban problems and which seeks to bring about lasting improvement in the economic, physical, social and environmental conditions of an area that has been subject to change. It is a continuous process of remodeling older parts of urban areas, including their central business areas by means of rehabilitation and conservation as well as redevelopment. In dealing with urban dynamics, urban regeneration may forces in shaping the urbanization, as one of the major component is the built environment. It must respond to the social-cultural, climatic, technology, economics, behavioural & psychological aspects.

Urban Regeneration is about the improvement of run-down areas in towns and cities and it can bring social, economic & environmental benefits to the city dwellers in long term, as it also can create a livable city, a place where someone can live, learn, work and play. In order to achieve the sustainable urban regeneration, there are some principles of urban regeneration that must be followed, such as the sustainability use of natural resources; compliance with laws; concerning the health and safety of residents; increase of the urban image; conservation of heritage cities; and adding the value of city property and investment opportunities.Creating sustainable urban regeneration by considering the economics, environmental, physical and social character(source: Lecture Notes, Urban Dynamics Theory)

Urban regeneration is very important as it reflects to some issues and therefore, can overcome all these problems, such as rising urbanization that create unsustainable city, urban decline and urban decay that can create slum or crime, increase of brownfield areas and how to revitalize old city centre, traffic congestion and also urban sprawl.

Case Study

For this semesters studio project, the site is at Kuala Terengganu City Centre, which is located at the estuary of Terengganu River, facing theSouth China Sea. It is the administrativecapital, royal capital, and the main economic centre ofTerengganu. Kuala Terengganu City Centre is also the administrative centre for the district of Kuala Terengganu. It is located about 500 kilometres northeast ofKuala Lumpuron the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. City statuswas awarded to Kuala Terengganu with the titleBandaraya Warisan Pesisir Air(Coastal Heritage City) on 1 January 2008. Even though the city is not spared from modernity and development, Kuala Terengganu still retains strong Malay influences that are also mixed with other cultures as this place was once functioned as a port.In the view of Kuala Terengganu, there are also some issues (pros and cons) about the urban regeneration from the social, economic and physical character. As we know, urban regeneration is more than just upgrading the physical environment of an area to hopefully spark private investment. However, one of the most critical issues in urban regeneration is gentrification. The same problem also happened in Kuala Terengganu, as the development trigger the existing community to move away from the city centre, in the name of modernization & globalization. Even though in the reality, this should not be happening in the true spirit of urban revitalization. Instead of displacing the existing community, they should be relocated to the same site.From the bright side, in the aspect of social culture, there are variety of Terengganu Malay traditional cuisine such as nasi dagang, nasi minyak, keropok lekor and akok, with the traditional market activity at Pasar Payang, traditional boat making and boating activity, traditional shophouses activities at Kg Cina such as street cafe, goldsmith, sundries, eating activities at the gerai makan such as at Kg. Ladang and Pasar Payang and also the richness of heritage based activities related to tourism such as crafts songket, brassware, batik, boat and keropok making.

However, there are losses of Malay Traditional activities craftsmanship activity at the town centre such as brassware, batik and songket making and the demolishing of Malay Villages that also changed the social character of the people in town centre. There are also inadequate spaces for social interaction among the local at the city centre. Besides, local peoples activities also have been changed after the authority relocated them to the outside of the town. Another issue regarding the social aspect is that many people who come to Pasar Payang are tourists, compared to local people. Therefore, to regenerate the city centre by its social character is to bring back the traditional local lifestyle, creating a space and place for the traditional local cuisine trading and creating an urban social space and setting for peoples interaction.

In the aspect of economics character, Kuala Terengganu was a major fishing port and one of the important trading ports in Tanah Melayu (once upon a time). The economic sector in Kuala Terengganu is mostly made up of small-scale manufacturing industries such as the traditional textile making, local food industries, arts and craft factories, and agriculture, with most of them centered around residential areas or villages. However, the local people feel that the places are no longer belongs to them. There is lack of sense of belonging because of the displacement that destruct the community spirit. Another problem nowadays in Kuala Terengganu City Centre is that the local prefer to go to the hypermarket for shopping instead of the Pasar Payang because it is more convenient to find daily goods and other necessities. This phenomenon really gives impacts to some of the traders who do their trades traditionally. Therefore, it is one of the negative impacts of modernization that needs to be looked at in order to regenerate the city. This is because economic forces such as this will influences consumers ability to purchase and thus, affecting wider scope of community.Meanwhile, from the aspect of physical character, Kuala Terengganu city centre holds various strengths, such as its geographical location that is located at the estuary of Terengganu River which creates a strong character of Traditional Malay settlement. Kuala Terengganu is also well known as a Royal Town of Terengganu. Besides, the historical and heritage place are still present; such as Masjid Zainal Abidin, Bukit Puteri, Pasar Payang, Istana Maziah and Kampung Cina. It also used to have a strong morphology connection between one another (the castle is the centre of administration and safety, with the Shahbandar Jetty, Pasar Payang, Masjid Abidin, Field (Padang Rakyat / Medan Maziah), Bukit Puteri (fortress) and linked together with the villages area. Besides that, the architectural style, local craftsmanship and architectural features are one of the strengths of this city centre.

However, nowadays the Traditional Malay Villages has been demolished. The view towards the river has been blocked by the buildings. Besides, the reclamation of river destroys the traditional setting of the town, for example is Kg Cinas double frontage. Lack of connectivity between a node with another node in aspect of connectivity also become a problem. The traditional village for Malay people is no longer there at the original place, where now only Kg. Cina exists. There are also inadequate public spaces designed for the people in the town centre with inadequate trees and shading area at the town centre.Therefore, these issues and problems creates some threats to the urban regeneration process, such as the loss of characters of waterfront town as it become eroded due to reclamation, the traditional setting and architectural character of the town is changing to modern style building and haphazard development due to ad-hoc planning. The Malay village is slowly disappearing due to the development, with less people travel using bicycle and trishaw nowadays. Besides, there are also the problems of poor up kept of buildings.Looking at the bright side, urban regeneration can be done with some potential of the land reclamation at Taman Shah Bandar which can be developed as a new town centre and increase of public space, by creating a sense of unity for the town centre through architectural treatment in the material and motifs, such as buah kuntum, woodcarving and boat / tebar layar motifs that can be used to symbolize a waterfront city, creating linkages from a node to another node using architectural symbol that can show the site is a waterfront city, for example is by series of water trail / water element, beacon, lighthouse, and create a landscape character that show the transformation of waterfront city, from a fishing village to a marina.

Kuala Terengganu City Centres structure, with the nodes, path, portal and landmark Therefore, due to the rapid economic growth, modernization and development-oriented urbanization, some of other initiatives that can be taken into consideration to urban regeneration is by restoring the cultural and historical heritages of Kuala Terengganu into the heart of the city, initiate a balanced development between the old and new city section, creating more jobs and facilities for the people, enhancement of public space or square, optimizing adaptive reuse instead of demolishing and building new buildings, and maintaining the existing unique landscape features such as matured and shady trees.

Conclusion on How to Fostering the Sustainability of Kuala Terengganu City Centre in the futureAs the conclusion, Kuala Terengganu City Centre holds thousands of uniqueness for a place that once was a Royal Malay Traditional Waterfront City. Wisely geographically located at the estuary of Terengganu River, it certainly holds much uniqueness as a fisherman village with various tradition and heritage. However, due the modernization and development, the city needs to be regenerated so that it can sustain in the future. In aspects of urban dynamics, Kuala Terengganu City Centre is very potential to be regenerated as a liveable city for people to work, live, play and learn in a waterfront city with unique traditional heritage and character. It can be obtained by reviving the genius loci of waterfront heritage city through physical character and socio-cultural values that reflects local identity of the place, or even by increasing the vitality of the city by encouraging mix use and enhancing the diversity of activities for people. Apart of it, to foster the sustainability of the city centre is also by strengthening the relationship between a street ability to connect places and its ability to support movement and activities, and by enhancing the design of public spaces around Kuala Terengganu city centre for people and public realm.This urban regeneration must be continuous, Kuala Terengganu community based, people-centred, focusing on place making and also local identity. For example, in urban regeneration, it is crucial to understand that in a city, it is supposedly that the pedestrian is more important that the vehicle. Therefore, in the proposed design later, we can create a tool to defend the rights of pedestrians by transforming street intersections into public spaces, where the people really matters most, compared to vehicles. More restoration works and adaptive reuse of the old building stocks should be encouraged instead of building new. Besides that, one of the sustainable urban regeneration can be achieved by fostering the cultural values that creates the sense of place of Kuala Terengganu. Urban regeneration is seen as a sustainable approach to the future of Kuala Terengganu city centre as it enables new life to be injected to this city whilst achieving a better urban living quality. For example, the existing old building stocks that is usually rich in architecture offers a range of opportunities for conversion to office premises, studios, restaurants and shopping arcades. They can also be adapted for residential use to meet the growing demand for city centre living, and give healthy economic character to the place.

Besides that, to the people of Kuala Terengganu, the spirit of this place will stay no matter what happens. Therefore, to bring back whatever has been lost to this place, the urban regeneration will incorporate and adapt to all the social, economic and physical character of the place. And it can be strengthened by ensuring that the regeneration maintains a link with the past in terms of activities and physical characteristics.References:Barnett, J. (2007), Smart Growth in a Changing World. Chicago: American Planning Association.

Carmona, S., Heath, T., Oc, T. and Tiesdell, S. (2003), Public Places Urban Spaces: The Dimensions of Urban Design, Elsevier, Great Britain

Gehl, J. (2010), Cities for People, Island Press

Dahlia, R., Azmizam, A.R. (2013), Revitalizing Urban Development in Malaysia Through The Implementation Of Urban Regeneration Programme, 43rd Annual Conference Of The Urban Affairs Association

Urban Dynamics Lecture Notes for MSUD programme, UTM

http://unu.edu/publications/articles/urban-regeneration-and-climate-friendly-development-lessons-from-japan.htmlhttp://www.eurocities.eu/eurocities/issues/urban-planning-regeneration-issuehttps://www.mi.vt.edu/research/urban-regeneration/http://www.building.co.uk/10-ways-to-define-regeneration/3062794.article

The process of urban regeneration (source: Lecture Notes, Urban Dynamics Theory)

View of Kuala Terengganu from Bukit Puteri

View outside Pasar Payang

View inside Pasar Payang

View inside Pasar Payang

View towards Terengganu River & the land reclamation behind Pasar Payang area

View towards Kuala Terengganu from Seberang Takir

The gist of urban regeneration is by conservation, restructuring or even development

(source: Lecture Notes, Urban Dynamics Theory)

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