Planning for Park - Perdana Lake Garden

AUP 1212 LANDSCAPE PLANNING

NUR UYUN BT. AMAN (0530108)

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LANDSCAPE PLANNING FOR PARKS AND RECREATION AREA.

Planning for parks and recreation area is important aspect that should be taken

into account as both play roles in order to create healthy and wealthy community

by providing place for therapeutic refreshment of one’s body or mind as well as

leisure in form of entertainment or rest. Area for playing should be allocated

because play is essential for the development of skills, the most basic of which

are common motor skills in young generation. Regard to social aspect, this can

be a basic step to build a healthy community with most progressive skills

enhancement. Otherwise, we are going to facing up the community with rigid

and bored activities inclusive the way of thinking and react.

Other than that, planning for parks and recreation area also facilitate to boost

the economic status because the planned park area exactly will attract people

from inside and out of the area as well as foreign country. This will give positive

impact at economic credibility especially in investment sector and indirectly

upgrade the quality of public service in an area. But, for not miss a thing, a

planned park should be well maintained and cared for the consistency in serving

good environment and activities for public to make sure the succeed of that

public spaces.

There are 11 key elements in transforming public spaces into vibrant community

places in a way to reflect the positive effect on social and economic aspect which

are:

1) The community is the expert

2) Create a place, not a design

3) Look for partners

4) You can see a lot just by observing

5) Have a vision



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6) Start with the petunias: experiment…experiment..

7) Triangulate

8) They always say ‘it can’t be done’

9) Form support function

10) Money is not the issue

11) Money is not issue

By referring to these key elements, we can judge to one particular public space

whether or not it is succeed. For this reason, we are going to check out one of

the existing parks in Malaysia; Taman Tasik Perdana or Perdana Lake Garden.

The location of the garden from KL Central and Commuter station.



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Perdana Lake Garden being the very first public park for the city of Kuala Lumpur

established in 1888. It covers 91.6 hectare of parks and gardens at the heart of

Kuala Lumpur. The gardens incorporate the National Monument, Deer park,

Butterfly Park, Bird Park, Carcosa Seri negara, The Forest Research Institute,

Orchid garden and Hibiscus garden.

It lies just on the edge of the city and used to be where the British elite built

their fine homes in the colonial times. Today, its landscaped hills and beautiful

trails provide an escape for city dwellers out for a jog or some early morning tai

chi. Its main attraction is the lake surrounded by lush greenery.



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People can roam through the aviaries at the Bird Park and Butterfly Park or take

a stroll through the beautiful Deer Park and Orchid Garden, which are all

reachable either by foot or by regular shuttle buses. From the gardens, people

can also visit other attractions such as the National Monument, the Planetarium

and the Islamic Museum.

Stairs that lead to the

Memorial Tun Abdul

Razak

View from the top of

stairs into Perdana

Lake Garden.



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Entrance to the

Deer Park from

Perdana Lake

Garden

One of the

entrances that

bring people to

the Bird Park,

Planetrium,

Islamic Art

Museum and

National Museum

as well.



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Here, the visitors may see a sprawling 91.6 hectares of close-cropped lawns,

undulating hills and carefully cultivated gardens. It provides a showcase of

harmony, beauty and tranquility created by both man and nature. Built around

two lakes, the tropical garden is a pleasant oasis within the city providing a cool

and soothing ambience as one walks through a vista of exotic blooms, luxuriant

foliage, imposing sculptures, creative theme parks and majestic-looking

raintrees.



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Lake Garden also offers locals and visitors a wide range of facilities such as

children's playground, jogging tracks, exercise stations and rowing boats.

Boating station near by the administration office

One of the cafes provided



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One of the playgrounds section for children

Shuttle service within the garden



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Jogging track and pathway- differ by the type of pavement

Another café and parking lot in the garden



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Public Toilet



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Perdana Lake Garden houses Herb and Conservatory Garden located near the

children's playground on one side and the lake's main activity centre on the

other. The Herb Garden houses at least 200 species of plants. Most herbs in the

garden are well labeled, carrying the local and scientific names and information

on their efficacy on the particular health problem.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall's park workers are ever willing to share the plants'

medicinal secrets of those yet to be labeled. The garden collections like cat's

whiskers, kaduk, grandmother's earrings, mother-in-law tongue, basil, roselle,

jarah, tulang-tulang and many more.



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With a huge raintree welcoming visitors, the adjacent Conservatory Garden looks

like a well-landscaped garden with a combination of bigger and richer trees and

trimmings like benches, shades, pergolas and ponds.

It houses almost all species including ferns, creepers, raintrees, shrubs and

bamboos with focus on those requiring concerted effort to cultivate and

conserve. In addition, the conservatory makes a nice hideout from the noise and

clamor.

The entrance of Herb and Conservatory Garden

An angle in the Herb

Garden.



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Based on the observing done at Perdana Lake Garden, it has going through

some enhancement of service within few years recently. The condition and

quality of Perdana Lake Garden before is not the same as we see today and this

is one of the examples show that planning in public area being seriously practice

in our country.

From the observation, the status of Perdana Lake Garden can be reached by the

S.W.O.T analysis.

Strength -Lake covers most of the area



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-Provide many open spaces

-Link with other sub-park

-Surround by green area



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-Many entrances

-Facilities provided within the park (as pictures shown above under

facilities provided)

Weakness -Far from public transportation hub

-Some part is not well-maintained



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-Some area which is quite isolated and far from people

-Lack of fixed scheduled events

Opportunity -Lake will be the most attractive element at the park

-Open spaces give chance for people to create their own activities

-Can be centre hub for people to transit to other sub-parks or area

as all are linking together

-Greenery can bring tranquility to visitors

Threat -Hard for people who use public transport service to reach to the

park

-Unhygienic area can give bad impression to public and cause

uneasy to them

-Lack in promoting the used of public park

From that, we can say that Perdana Lake Garden is almost to succeed because

the park is actually meet the needs of stakeholders as the park is frequently used

by public especially at weekend. From the key elements, Perdana Lake Garden is

able to ‘create a place, not a design’ only. It provides spaces accompanied by



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pleasant design of nature where public can use any spaces or area surrounded

by well-designed scenery.

In other hand, the element of ‘have a vision’ is applied in which there are some

activities provided such as boating and people can use space for perhaps a

family day. They also can use the track for cycling and jogging routine. As the

Perdana Lake Garden is nearby to some government department and places

where people work, it can be a place for them to drop by after facing tense and

pack duration within office hour. Thus, the park can instill the sense of pride in

the people who live and work in the surrounding area.

The element of ‘start with the petunias:experiment..experiment’ is applied

because the park is always in a process to upgrading the quality of services an

the condition of the area. Elements such as seatings, outdoor cafes, striping of

crosswalks and pedestrian havens, community gardens are some of the stuffs

that incorporate with this elements at the park.

Next, ‘triangulate’ element is practice for instances, the arrangement of open

spaces is only above or next to the lake where they use for boating activity and

there are café, and prayer room provided. Another is the location of open space

and playground which locate just next to and segregated only the road from the

main entrance. Plus, the herbs garden is only located next to the open space.

The location of other sub-parks also can create for some more activities where

people can transit to and experience for other activities. These actually able to

create for more activities when the form and space is well- arranged and

naturally will bring people to triangulate. Same goes to the location for other

form that support the function of the area such as seatings and water-cooler

especially in the playground area.



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Open space locates near to the playground in which can combine activities of

public.



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Finally, I would say that Perdana Lake Garden is almost to create a lively and

succeed park with its strength and capability but the main weakness of this park

is it is far from the transportation hub and scheduled events that can increase

the coming of people into the park and make more useful to public rather than

function as natural or green area in a town.



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APPENDICES

Some attractive and scenic view within the Perdana Lake Garden:



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Some activities that occur at Perdana Lake Garden:

Planning for Park - Perdana Lake Garden

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