The findings from this Assignment 1 on will be taken forward to analyze the third city, Kuala Lumpur, in the Assignment 2. The students are required to document the spatial form of the city to note the key spatial experience that is driven by the urban form and content. The objectives are: a) to characterize the urban forms through Serial Vision; b) to establish the relationships and roles of the three urban design elements and c) to identify DISTINCTIVE aspects or patterns in their layout offering to the characteristics of a ‘colonial city’. The students will be given with basic urban study techniques such as figure/ground, serial vision, collage city, space syntax, etc. Therefore the students are required to analyze and apply those techniques in order to evaluate the spatial (tangible) and/or social (intangible) patterns in the city. You are required to a) illustrate the urban distinctive character by formulating your own theory of understanding, b) present the tales of your wishes and c) evaluate through the comparison of three cities. The submission format will be online and digital reports.

1. MAPPING THE TOWNSCAPE ARC 61003
TALES OF THREE CITIES 1
MAPPING THE TOWNSCAPE
Final Report
Mapping %e Colonial Kuala Lumpur
School of Architecture , Building and Design
Tales of Three Cities
ARC 61003
Module Coordinator :
Dr. Suchirita Srirangam

2. MAPPING THE TOWNSCAPE ARC 61003
FINAL REPORT 2
CONTENTS
MALACCA AND GEORGETOWN
1.1 Theorization of Colonial Malacca
1.2 Theorization of Colonial Georgetown
1.3 Comparative Study of Colonial Malacca and Georgetown
1.4 Summary
KUALA LUMPUR
2.1 Theories of Investigation
2.2 Preliminary Studies on Urban Form, Activity and Movement Pattern
2.3 Investigations
MAPPING THE TOWNSCAPE
TALES OF WISHES
CONCLUSION
01
02
03
04
05
INTRODUCTION
STUDENTS
AIDA JUNITA
ALAN KOO KA LOK
FRANCIS YEOW
KHOR HAO XIANG
LEE YIH
LIM SHEN
LOH WEI SHUEN
LOVIE TEY YIQING
LOW EN HUEY
LUM SI CHU
NAAJID NASEEM
NG ZE ZHENG
TOH KEAN HOU
WILLIAM GOH
0317766
0318757
1101A12395
0318065
0318340
0323209
0317896
0318155
0317889
0319502
0311649
0318967
0319575
0320311
TANG ZE ZHENG
TOH KEAN HOU
CHIN VIN YEN
0318967
0319575
0320311

3. MAPPING THE TOWNSCAPE ARC 61003
TALES OF THREE CITIES 3
DESCRIPTION
Aims to explore the case study cities through the ideas and theories prevailed in historical and contemporary
times. The objectives are to: a) critically think on various approaches of urban design and b) enhance
prevailing ideas of urbanism to acquire prior knowledge for the site visit to the case study cities. There will be
class discussions on the debates on factors that drive the urban form, where the usage of online sources
would be effectively practiced.
Through online virtual studies on the case study city, students are expected to capture interesting and
meaningful sketches and photographs related to social (urban life) and spatial (nodes etc.) contexts of these
towns. It is imperative that the sketches should contribute to the understanding of urban patterns and spaces.
The solution is in content understanding employing critical approach to the notion of ‘content’ as a purposeful
narrative to powerful questions relevant to the context (Low, 2010). To begin with, the question is:
What are the tangible and intangible colonial characteristics still prevalent in the context of the city of Kuala
Lumpur at street scale?

4. MAPPING THE TOWNSCAPE ARC 61003
TALES OF THREE CITIES 4
01
Malacca and georgetown
1.1 Theorisation of Malacca
Five-foot walkways link the street with the rowhouse
interiors, bridging the boudaries.
Urban Linkage
Multiple colonisation efforts by others forces existing
building to adapt, creating a multi cultural heritage.
Adaptive Facade
Diagram 1.1.1
Section of building showing five foot way
The Portuguese, Dutch & British brought their architectural styles over & localised them. Each time
this happens, the people tweaked their facades to suit the current authority.
Shifting architectural styles all conform to the same
shophouse layout & façade.
Harmonious Streetscape
As none of the old rowhouses were demolished for redevelopment, the culmination of
architectural styles created cultural diversity.Although the styles vary, they still conform the basic
design of rowhouse.
Rowhouse entryways provide passerbys a clear view
inwards.
Transparent Interiority / Exteriority
The width of the five foot walkway increases the level of interaction between the pedestrian & the
building occupant, providing a sense of transparency & openness between the interior & exterior.
The linear street grid expands organically outwards as
the town grows.
Organic Diffusal
Initially Malacca was composed of linear streets parallel to each other. As time goes by, Malacca
expanded organically due to the topography of the land & river.
The perimeter block typology birthed both the striking
front facades & intimate linear back spaces.
Hidden Backalley
Diagram 1.1.2
Hidden Backalley
Religious institutions act as nodes along the street.
Re-occurring Node
Diagram 1.1.3
(from left to right: Tamil Methodist Church, Kwan Yin Tong, Xiang Lin Si
Temple, Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, Kampung Kling Mosque, Sri
Poyyatha Vinayagar Moorthi Temple, St Francis Xavier Church)
Narrow streets impede vehicular speed, allowing
young & old to interact safely with each other.
Inter-Generational Interaction
During colonial era, the narrow streets were suited for pedestrian access. After the invention of
vehicles, the authorities designated them one-way streets, thus making the streets safer for
pedestrians.

5. MAPPING THE TOWNSCAPE ARC 61003
TALES OF THREE CITIES 5
While linearly arranged, each rowhouse has differing
architectural styles.
Disordered Linearity
People of similar status or trade congregate in the
same street, creating unique street characteristics.
Surprising Hierarchy
Diagram 1.1.4
Surprising Hierarchy
Diagram 1.1.5
(from left to right: early shophouse style, Dutch style, Southern China style, Art Deco style)
As new buildings take root, they redefine the
surrounding spaces.
Spatial Redefinition
The streets are infilled throughout the centuries with new buildings, changing the urban form,
movement patterns & space usage.
Colonial era Malacca was divided into zones according to
social status & building activity.
Social Segregation
Shophouses during the colonial era were taxed according to their street frontage plot. Trading
products & services were taxed differently as well. As a result, building activities were divided into
different zones.
Governmental & residential zones were connected along
an axis.
Axial Dominance
Shophouses during the colonial era were taxed according to their street frontage plot. Trading
products & services were taxed differently as well. As a result, building activities were divided into
different zones.
Diagram 1.1.6
Axial Path
The colonial influences made Malacca unique due to its
townscape & architecture.
Outstanding Universal Value
A combination of Portugese, Dutch & British influences, plus the adaptation of the various
architectural styles towards South East-Asian climate gave rise to a urban response unique to
Malacca globally.

6. MAPPING THE TOWNSCAPE ARC 61003
TALES OF THREE CITIES 6
01
Malacca and georgetown
1.2 Theorisation of Georgetown
Building owners circumvent the authorities' taxation
laws through innovative architectural measures.
Adapting to Control
Taxation & land cost are decided by building plot width during the colonial era. Land owners built
shophouses with greater length than width to save costs.
As a heritage site, Penang serves as a vibrant &
living 'museum'.
Vibrant Townscape
Different ornaments & carvings from the shophouses showcase the multitude of architectural
styles, cultural influences & diversified identities of Penang.
A road with point form building blocks bisect
Georgetown into two distinct urban typologies
Diversified Typologies
Diagram 1.2.1
Space Typology
Various nodes along the street influence
pedestrian movements, forming an
engagement pattern.
Engagement Pattern
Diagram 1.2.2
Nodes Influencing Engagement Pattern
Contrasting streetviews split along the main road due
to differing urban typologies.
Frames of Directional Quality
The loose typology on the west of Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling has both fine & coarse grain urban
blocks, the grid typology on the east consists of merely coarse grain urban blocks; providing
differing frame views.
Shophouses share the same façade design, creating
a pleasant streetscape.
Welcoming Facades
The five foot walkway connects the street to the rowhouse interior, giving pedestrians a sense of
welcome.
Colonial buildings lack human scale, creating a sense
of disconnection between them & the people.
Dominant Rulers
Diagram 1.2.3
Overwhelming Scale Disproportionate to Human Scale
Distinctive terrains surrounding Georgetown limits the
expansion of its boundaries.
Enclosing Edges
Paddy fields & higher terrain to the west of Georgetown, along with the sea on the east act as
natural town boundary restrictors.
Religious buildings have spheres of influences,
creating invisible boundaries on the urbanscape.
Invisible Boundary
Diagram 1.2.4
Invisible Boundary
The physical forms of ornaments reflect the
characteristics of the urbanscape.
Representational Organisation
Façade ornamentations depict the influence/affluence of owners, economic disparities between
social classes as well as the evolution of the built environment under a multi-ethnic community.

7. MAPPING THE TOWNSCAPE ARC 61003
TALES OF THREE CITIES 7
01
Malacca and georgetown
1.3 Comparative Study of Colonial Malacca and Georgetown
Morphological Comparison Analysis
Urban Linkage Both towns have this design feature as an architectural response to the
tropical climate.
Adaptive Facades
Harmonious
Streetscape
Vibrant Townscape
Multiple colonisation efforts influenced the development of architectural
styles,yet they never deviate from the basic building form.
Transparent
Interiority / Exteriority
Both towns have the five foot walkway serving the same function,
bridging the interior & exterior, providing transparency.
Organic Diffusal Malacca expanded organically along several key street lengths, while
Georgetown expanded sideways from one main street - each side using
different methods to achieve expansion.
Adapting to Control Both towns used massing form manipulation as an answer to restrictive
rulings regarding building plot areas.
Social Comparison Analysis
Hidden Backalley Both towns have this characteristic due to their elongated rowhouses
with their prominent front facades & quiet backalleys.
Re-occurring Node Both towns have religious buildings act as nodes along circulation
pathways.
Inter-generational
Interaction /
Engagement Pattern
With prominent landmarks acting as nodes, there are plenty of
congregation points to encourage social interaction among people.
Surprising Hierarchy In Malacca, streets are characterised by trade or social class;
Diversified Typologies Malacca has one defining typology - organic growth; Georgetown has
two - loose & grid typology.
Table 1.3.1
Comparison of Morphological Analysis between Malacca and Georgetown
Table 1.3.2
Social Analysis Comparison between Malacca and Georgetown
Perception Comparison Analysis
Disordered Linearity Both towns have buildings aligned linearly along grids, yet each façade
has differing architectural styles, creating disorder within a pattern.
Frames of Directional
Quality
Both towns have great contrast among their streetscape; Malacca along
hierarchical streets, Georgetown along axial pathways.
Welcoming Facades Both towns share the same basic façade design layout throughout their
building blocks, creating pleasant streetscapes.
Dominant Rulers Both towns have colonial buildings that do not relate to the human scale.
Table 1.3.2
Social Analysis Comparison between Malacca and Georgetown
Functional Comparison Analysis
Spatial Redefinition Both towns have new nodes built as time passes, redefining the urban
fabric in the process everytime.
Social Segregation Both towns were divided into zones according to ethnicity, race
background, social status & activity zones.
Enclosing Edges Both towns have surrounding terrain that restricts their expansion plans;
river for Malacca, sea & padi fields for Georgetown.
Invisible Boundary Both towns have religious nodes exerting spheres of influence, forming
invisible boundaries.
Representational
Ornamentation
Both towns have unique ornaments decorating their buildings that display
the cultural aspects of their heritage.
Temporal Comparison Analysis
Axial Dominance Both towns have govermental & residental zones connected along an
axis.
Outstanding Universal
Value
Both towns were unique in regards to their integration of various
architectural styles & urban response to local site context.
Table 1.3.4
Functional Comparison Analysis between Malacca and Georgetown
Table 1.3.5
Temporal Analysis Comparison between Malacca and Georgetown

8. MAPPING THE TOWNSCAPE ARC 61003
TALES OF THREE CITIES 8
It is clear that both towns share similar urban characteristics due to the influence of colonial
architecture. Yet they were fundamentally different from each other on one aspect - their design
solutions towards geographical issues. Restricted by the local topography, Malacca & Georgetown
devised unique solutions to address the problems they faced - parallel streets according to zones in
Malacca, multiple grid systems for Georgetown. The architectural tools & principles may be the
same, yet their approach all start from the terrain - thus resulting in entirely unique urbanscapes.
01
Malacca and georgetown
1.4 Summary of Comparison Study between Malacca and Georgetown

9. FORM
Kuala Lumpur is an organic cityscape with Petronas
Twin Towers as the landmark of the city. Kuala Lumpur
consists of linear form and point form which each district
are organizes itself with its distinctive cultural and
functional value. Linear form usually refer to
shophouses and terrace houses while point form are
refer to government buildings, commercial blocks,
transportation hubs and cultural building like religious
building and educational hubs.
MOVEMENT PATTERN
The activeness of road in Kuala Lumpur are based on
the accessibility factor. Main roads are usually active
due to its connectivity to other majority place in Kuala
Lumpur. Some minor roads are congested with vehicles
due to the activities and functions offered by the nearby
buildings.
FUNCTION
The commercial are largely occupies in Kuala Lumpur
although partially of the the function are tourism. Beside
that, religious building can be found in between the
commercial and tourism buildings. In addition, the
administration building are more cluster from the tourism
building. Hence, the function of Kuala Lumpur are a
mixed use of tourism, administration, religious and large
number of commercial buildings.
02
KUALA LUMPUR
2.1 Theories of Investigation
9
MAPPING THE TOWNSCAPE
FINAL REPORT
ARC 61003

10. ACCESSIBILITY
Petaling Street is accessible by several public
transportation as it acted as one of the major
transportation hub in Kuala Lumpur. The organic city
scape of Kuala Lumpur caused the emerge of different
road width that have various level of vehicles
congestion. Petaling Street market was accessible by
vehicles until it became a popular tourist spot.
ARCHITECTURE STYLE
Architectural style of Kuala Lumpur is a blend of colonial
influences, Malay Islamic Inspiration, modern and post-
modern. Most of the colonial buildings are built toward
19 th and 20th century. The colonial buildings in Kuala
Lumpur have been modified to cater the use of local
resources and local climate.
HIGH RISE, MID RISE, LOW RISE
Low rise and mid-rise buildings in Petaling Street are
mostly traditional colonial shophouses that still
functioning with its original purpose and retaining its
cultural value. The high rise buildings are rebuilt of
colonial shophouses due to the increasing demands in
the area.
PEDESTRIAN MOVEMENT
The setback of modern buildings creates pedestrian
walkway in Petaling Street. The five-foot walkway that
exists in the colonial shophouses gives a memorable
street network to Kuala Lumpur. The lack of connectivity
between pedestrian walkway and five-foot walkway
consumed the sense of continuity of the street.
NODES
In Pasar Seni, the intersect of LRT, KTM, and bus
station form a node and act as a ponder area for
traveler. Therefore, the nodes in Kuala Lumpur can be
identify by transportation hubs. Beside that, religious
building and tourism attraction are also act as a node in
Kuala Lumpur.
LAND USE
The land use in Kuala Lumpur are mainly commercial
usage. Beside that, administrational and institutional are
less in Kuala Lumpur. Although shophouses are shifted
into commercial usage, the religious usage are still
retaining since the beginning.
DISTRICT
In Kuala Lumpur, district are separate by the different
function and activity of the area. Hence, there is five
district can be identify in Kuala Lumpur.
02
KUALA LUMPUR
2.2 Preliminary Studies on Urban Form, Movement and Pattern
10
MAPPING THE TOWNSCAPE
FINAL REPORT
ARC 61003

11. MAPPING THE TOWNSCAPE ARC 61003
TALES OF THREE CITIES 11
Colonial cities Qualities
Modern Kuala Lumpur
Prevailing Fragmented Faded
Georgetown
Vibrant townscape •
Welcoming facades •
Enclosing edges •
Representational ornamentation •
Dominant rulers •
Frames of directional quality •
Invisible boundary •
Diversified typologies •
Melaka
Harmonious streetscape •
Adaptive facade •
Transparent interior / exterior •
Adapting to control •
Disordered linearity •
Surprising hierarcy •
Urban linkage •
Organic diffusal •
Axial dominance •
Social segregation •
Hidden backalley •
Reoccuring nodes •
Intergeneration interaction •
Spatial redifinition •
02
KUALA LUMPUR
2.3 Summary
Table 2.3.1
The inheritance of Colonial Cities -Georgetown and Malacca’s Qualities in Modern Kuala Lumpur

12. MAPPING THE TOWNSCAPE ARC 61003
TALES OF THREE CITIES 12
02
KUALA LUMPUR
Discussion on Kuala Lumpur
The spaces between forms in the random and inconsistent urban
configuration make up alley paths which in turn facilitates pedestrian
movement thus increasing permeability within the city area
Permeability
Enduring Transparency One of the aspect which remained with the colonial Kuala lampur
was the level of interaction between private/public. By the use of
fivefoot walkways, the petaling street retains the transparency
between inside and outside, thereby increasing interaction between
a public pedestrian and a private house owner. This gives an added
transparency to the street.
Space Infill The pavement along the petaling street was wide and larger
intended for people walking and meander along the street in the
morning and afternoon.However,during evening and night,more
stalls started to occupy in the middle of pavement causing the space
to become smaller and cozier while allows user to shop and discover
more selling items while meandering through the narrower
pavement.
Urban Linkage Petaling street is a very saturated place where concentrated with
peoples. Hence, the accessibility of people is very important toward
this places. In-order to fit in this volume of people.The linkage of
petaling street have to be systematic enough to prevent accessibility
failure occur. Base on my observation the main access way to
petaling street is vehicle road and five foot way. Due to my opinion
without any urban linkage non of a place will be activate.
Souless Having a very uniquely old facade but the contain of the shop had
been driven away as they leading people into the street with the
stalls. The streetscape mainly uses the stall on the street as a main
attraction tourist barely notice the shop and the shops barely serve a
purpose.
Visual Distraction The directional sense in Petaling Street are disturbed by the
activities happening in the market. The variety settings and size of
vendor stalls distracted users' focus on the buildings and road in
Petaling Street.
The street features mainly traditional Chinese shoplots with a narrow
yet symmetrical facade as influenced by tudorbethan style. The older
buildings are ornamented and intricately chiseled to resemble nature
and culture. Even the colour scheme of the shophouses provide a
layer of meaning to the style of the street, to bring about a plethora
of moods among the pedestrians.
Entrapment Node
As the street flourishes, more shops and stalls are taken over by
foreigners, the original familiarity had faded. Most of the buildings
styles such as art deco, utilitarian and neo-classical style had been
taken down to be replaced with new modern buildings. Buildings today
are free from ornamentation and the design had become more minimal.
It is obvious the the sense of place in Petaling Street had faded.
Faded
While the surrounding urbanscape may have changed due to changing
movement patterns & shifting grain blocks by urbanisation, the streets
retain their flow patterns. Key buildings & unchanging entry points set
the directional cues guiding pedestrian movement patterns, much like
in the past.
Permanent Nodes
Temporary market stalls adhered to five foot walkway formed a second
thickened layer of facade on the exterior of building, detaching public
pedestrian from shophouse owner. Walking along Petaling Street, this
eye catching immediate surrounding created interaction with pedestrian
while blocking entrance into the neglected shophouse. Perpendicular
movement across Petaling Street is minimum as slits of openings
between stalls, acting as threshold into shophouse are hardly
noticeable. Sense of hereness to thereness (perpendicularly) is a
strong contrast hence discouraging the forming of relationship between
both, whereas linear motion is emphasised in Petaling Street.
Thickened Facade

13. Figure ground
(left) Colonial Georgetown, (middle) Colonial
Melaka, (right) Modern Kuala Lumpur
Colonial Georgetown
TTwo typologies are seen in the urban
configuration in the area, which are organized
and eccentric arrangements. First of all,
government and religious buildings are seen in
point form as these buildings need to show
their significance and high status position.
Other than that, governmental buildings are not
meant for the public, which point formmeant for the public, which point form
configuration can achieve. On the other hand,
shophouses are organized in linear
configuration and identical to each other. Due
to its commercial purpose, linear configuration
shophouses are more open to public which will
help attract people to walk along the 5 foot walk
way and shop for goods.way and shop for goods.
Colonial Georgetown
Due to the west part of Jalan Masjid KapitanDue to the west part of Jalan Masjid Kapitan
Keling being in an old development area, the
buildings are built in unorganized arrangement,
which causes diversity of road width and
random arrangement of coarse and fine grain
building that blurred the sense of direction on
the site. The site consisted of fine grain and
coarse grain which also caused many deadcoarse grain which also caused many dead
ends to emerge. But, the newly developed east
part of Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling have a
clearer sense of direction due to its constant
road width and organized arrangement of fine
grain buildings which allows users to frame the
street view from one end to another.
Colonial Melaka
The existence of the religious buildings likeThe existence of the religious buildings like
Cheng HoonTeng Temple, Kampung Kling
Mosque and Sri Poyyatha Vinayagar Moorthi
Temple along the street since colonial period
becomes a very significant features for the
street. They naturally defined the public and
private realm along the street which makes
them a node in Harmony Street. With the nodesthem a node in Harmony Street. With the nodes
formed by these religious buildings, the
connecting alley ways to adjacent street
(Jongker Street) have supplementary factors
that cause it to form nodes as well since it is
easily accessible from the Harmony Street and
it provides other functions such as food stalls
and variety of shophouses.and variety of shophouses.
Colonial Melaka
The fort had marked a significant navigator toThe fort had marked a significant navigator to
the locals, traders and European government. It
connected the giganic fort and the intimate
shophouses, brought business opportunities to
the streets that derived from the fort, attracted
diffrent user groups such as traders, slaves,
locals, businessman in this area. The identify of
the fort was so prominent that it created athe fort was so prominent that it created a
contradicting relationship with the shophouses,
dominance in the context.
Colonial Melaka
The use of five footways is common in most ofThe use of five footways is common in most of
the streets of Malacca, whereby a setback of
around 1.5m is found at the entrance of
shophouses. By functioning as public covered
walkway, this narrow five foot way increases
the level of interaction between the public
pedestrian and the house owner as it draws
distance between two users closedistance between two users closer. Thereby,
the use of five footway in the streets of Malacca
provides a sense of transparency between
inside and outside through visual relation and
intimate distance.
Colonial Melaka
Back alleys behind shophouses along Petaling
street is no longer community oriented. Instead,
intimate and dark shades in the narrow alleys
intimate users as the function transformed into
unorganised service alleys such as trashunorganised service alleys such as trash
collection, outdoor air conditioning units. The
back alleys are losing its liveliness and is
becoming an eyesore to the society where
people intend to avoid due to its negative first
impression.
Colonial Georgetown
Buildings in Georgetown, particularly theBuildings in Georgetown, particularly the
shophouse typology, uses ornate facades to
create a sense of welcoming to the people on
the streets to converse at the continuous
walkway. In this case, the shophouses utilise
facade ornamentation and vibrant colours to
create a welcoming facade. In contrast, the
government buildings have a less welcominggovernment buildings have a less welcoming
facade to show dominance and authority
between ruler and the people.
Modern Kuala Lumpur
In contrast with Georgetown, the facades of
buildings in Kuala Lumpur ranges from
geometric and rudimentary features to ornate
facades - combination of Neoclassical, Art
Deco and Utilitarian style facades. In recentDeco and Utilitarian style facades. In recent
years, the development of buildings in Kuala
Lumpur in their facades has become
monotonous, even for the shophouse typology.
Therefore, it can be deduced that the
welcoming facades in Kuala Lumpur is
fragmented.
Modern Kuala Lumpur
The existence of the religious buildings likeThe existence of the religious buildings like
Petaling Street itself is a node due to it being a
tourist attraction hotspot, therefore people
tends to gather at the start or at the end of the
street before entering the shopping street. With
this strong node point, many other points have
also become a node due to its function that
compliments the street. For instance, a node iscompliments the street. For instance, a node is
formed when people gather around the junction
of Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock for public
transportation, or in the junction of Jalan Hang
Lekir whereby food stalls are located have
formed a nodes as supplement to Petaling
Street. Therefore, it is shown that reoccurring
nodes pattern are preserved in Petaling Street.nodes pattern are preserved in Petaling Street.
Modern Kuala Lumpur
The general populace area in downtownThe general populace area in downtown
Malacca contains the common boundaries of
two bodies, spaces or phases, also known as
the interconnection between two systems.
From the street planning, the building
connections between buildings, define the
linkage for pedestrian movement. This is further
achieved through the five-foot walkway whichachieved through the five-foot walkway which
provides human access in front every façade.
The wide pedestrian street and the alley path
between the shophouses also encourage
access as well as urban linkage.
Modern Kuala Lumpur
The modern buildings in Kuala Lumpur today
are obliged to comply with the duty to satisfy
the needs of the public.the needs of the public. An effective
infrastructure, particularly the public
transportation system, has become the main
drive to expand the urban network. Resultantly,
a change in function of the buildings and
activities in an area must be able to suit and
adapt to the needs of the users. Within the area
of city centre of Kuala Lumpur surroundingof city centre of Kuala Lumpur surrounding
Jalan Petaling, major public transportation links
can be identified – Pasar Seni LRT, Masjid
Jamek LRT and Plaza Rakyat LRT, along with
multiple bus stop points.
Colonial Melaka
Linkages between the major roads – JalanLinkages between the major roads – Jalan Tun
Perak (station Masjid Jamek), Jalan Tun Tan
Cheng Lock (station Pasar Seni) and Jalan
Hang Jebat (station Plaza Rakyat), where
transportation hubs are located, and minor
roads leading towards Petaling Street create
movement pattern and axes. The nature of the
grid pattern and location points of thegrid pattern and location points of the
transportation hubs allow for provision of urban
linkage into Petaling Street. Transit usage and
restraint to private vehicles in certain areas in
Petaling Street, are encouraged, to give priority
to pedestrian movement and help facilitate their
movement at activity centres.
Colonial Georgetown
Plot widths of shophouses were controlled by
the ruling government as shophouse owners
were taxed according to the width of their shop
along the street front. This motivated local
shop owners to take advantage of a loophole toshop owners to take advantage of a loophole to
avoid extra tax payment and land costs by
making their shops as narrow as possible but
going as long as they could lengthwise while
still being functional. Consequently, this set the
tone for local building typologies and the future
of the built environment.
Modern Kuala Lumpur
Presence of five foot walkway in shophousesPresence of five foot walkway in shophouses
along Petaling Street is a less prominent
feature, serving as a grey zone between public
visitors and private shophouse owners.
Temporary market stalls flanked on both side of
street block direct access to the five foot
walkway whereby
only access is through unorganised gapsonly access is through unorganised gaps
between the stalls. Evidently, linear
permeability between interior and exterior of
Petaling Street decreases into to fragmented
points of permeability through the informal gaps
between stalls.
Modern Kuala Lumpur
Back alleys behind shophouses along PetalingBack alleys behind shophouses along Petaling
street is no longer community oriented. Instead,
intimate and dark shades in the narrow alleys
intimate users as the function transformed into
unorganised service alleys such as trash
collection, outdoor air conditioning units. The
back alleys are losing its liveliness and is
becoming an eyesore to the society wherebecoming an eyesore to the society where
people intend to avoid due to its negative first
impression.
Colonial Georgetown
Due to morphological changes, many buildingDue to morphological changes, many building
developments have confined to different
building setbacks based on function and land
use planning permission. This have caused the
framing of directional qualities to be fragmented
as from the street level, a clear vision of what is
at the end of the street is obstructed by
buildings front, therefore losing the framingbuildings front, therefore losing the framing
quality of the street. Other than that, these
variations of building setbacks also caused the
pedestrian to lose the sense of linearity on the
road walking towards the end hence losing
sense of direction towards what is at the end of
the street as well.
Colonial Georgetown
Higher topography bounded flat paddy fieldHigher topography bounded flat paddy field
from Eastern part of Georgetown with hills and
forests landscaped view. Therefore, the hills
became edges disconnecting development in
Georgetown from other parts of Penang.
Colonial development tends to lean towards
Western Part of Georgetown as more flat lands
are at that area.are at that area. This clear boundary sets
limitation to the local where the ‘end’ of
Georgetown is clearly revealed since most of
the government administration buildings are
located there, which are confining their daily
activities and depth of views towards the
surrounding.
Colonial Georgetown
Shophouses in Georgetown share generalShophouses in Georgetown share general
consistencies in their features and
characteristics across the architectural style
periods with minimal variations. The significant
distinction between the architectural styles lies
in the ornamentation of the façade of the
shophouses.The facade ornamentation is used
to depict the influence and ato depict the influence and affluence of building
owners or occupants as well as levels of wealth
and status of the community at the time.
Modern Kuala Lumpur
As shophouses in Georgetown uses facadeAs shophouses in Georgetown uses facade
ornanmentation as levels of wealth, the
buildings in Petaling Street have different
storey height. The significant distinction
between the architectural styles lies in within
the building height. Most of the low-rise
shophouses ( 1-2 storeys) had preserved the
ornamentation, as compared to theornamentation, as compared to the
medium-high and high rise that uses minimal
ornamentation.
Modern Kuala Lumpur
In the Kuala Lumpur context, the enclosingIn the Kuala Lumpur context, the enclosing
edges are preserved, but it is formed solely
based on function of the buildings instead of
topography. For instance, an invisible boundary
has formed in Jalan Petaling because most of
the buildings in the area are for commercial
purposes, which makes it a commercial zone.
On the other hand, further up north from JalanOn the other hand, further up north from Jalan
Petaling gathers more of banking and financial
building. These edges are formed due to
governmental land use planning permissions
and prohibition through the process of dividing
land in a municipality into zones in parallel to
morphological development of Kuala Lumpur.
Modern Kuala Lumpur
The importance of Jalan Sultan as the mainThe importance of Jalan Sultan as the main
road is being shifted to Jalan HS Lee. The
period shift of Jalan Sultan has brought a lively
experience to Jalan HS Lee. The continoues
linear driveway encourages the vehicular
passing by, no stopping point whereas Jalan
Sultan provokes a more walkable a situation.
The sacrification of shophouses in Jalan SultanThe sacrification of shophouses in Jalan Sultan
perhaps to build the new MRT project perhaps
will bring back the vitality of the road.
Modern Kuala Lumpur
Being categorised under ‘commercial zoning’,Being categorised under ‘commercial zoning’,
spaces of Petaling Street are redefined to fit
profit-oriented purpose and is pre-determined
by government without providing freedom to be
personalised by the community themselves.
Usage of spaces in Petaling Street are
monotonous and formalised with similar
functions where unexpected surprises arefunctions where unexpected surprises are
hardly found on the street.
Colonial Melaka
Being categorised under ‘commercial zoning’,
spaces of Petaling Street are redefined to fit
profit-oriented purpose and is pre-determined
by government without providing freedom to be
personalised by the community themselves.personalised by the community themselves.
Usage of spaces in Petaling Street are
monotonous and formalised with similar
functions where unexpected surprises are
hardly found on the street. Informal spaces
around the street are abandoned, turning into
an eyesore rather than being used as everyday
life spaces.life spaces.
Modern Kuala Lumpur
The organized and eccentric configurations areThe organized and eccentric configurations are
preserved in the Kuala Lumpur context which
conserved the diversified typology pattern. This
is clearly seen on Petaling Street which is
famous for its linear shopping street as two
rows of shophouses and market stalls selling
various items facing each other are along the
entire road. Other than that, eccentricentire road. Other than that, eccentric
configuration can be seen on point form
arrangement of religious buildings, industrial
and some office buildings as these are also
private buildings which are confined to certain
setbacks rather than just to show its
significance.
M a p p i n g t h e t o w n s c a p e ( C o l o n i a l G e o r g e t o w n , C o l o n i a l M e l a k a , M o d e r n K L )

14. MAPPING THE TOWNSCAPE ARC 61003
TALES OF THREE CITIES 14
04
tales of wishes
“Georgetown is a town that is full of surprises. It is also well-known for its time-worn
shophouses that are recognised as the Unesco World Heritage Zone that will spark the inner
desire of my heart to visit the maze of chaotic streets, narrow lanes and past shrines that are
discovered. The indegenous colonial architecture that had stood up as a living museum reminds
me of what had happened to the town, encouraging me to appreciate and urge me to
understand the importance of preserving a historical town.”
- Lovie Tey Yiqing-
“ In my opinion, I think that Georgetown is a better city not just because of its rich cultural
background and the preservation effort by multiple parties as compared to Kuala Lumpur. One
of the most distinctive quality is that most of the public open spaces are well maintained and
equipped with events or streetscapes that made the streets and alleys welcoming.Unlike in
Kuala Lumpur, the back alleys are commonly used as service spaces or unused spaces raising
secuirty issues to the city. Thus this has created a city of sharing whereby the demarcation of
public and private is criss crossed, providing endless possibility to the users to use the city.”
- Low En Huey -
“ Being conquested by few European maritime nation, Melaka has leave a vibrant and rich mixture
of different cultures and ethnicity. The asssimilation of different cultures creates an unique
characteristic that is not parallel with others. Although the fort had been destructed due to war, but
it still shows a strong sense of direction to the locals and tourists till now. The unobstructed skyline
creates a harmonious balancing hence aided the strategic location of St. Paul's hill. The qualities
of colonial cities should be the considered into the urban planning without sacrifising the nature
elements, as it serves as a reference point, to avoid creating a monotonous, rudderless
townscape. The directional qualities in modern Kuala Lumpur has been took over by vehicular
route rather than natural landscape, pedestrian floating around the city aimlessly. whereby the
demarcation of public and private is criss crossed, providing endless possibility to the users to use
the city.”
- Loh Wei Shuen
-
“ Walking at the pedestrian street of Melaka, the shadow of unevenness case by the diversity
building makes me wonder the how a city can be retain after colonies by several times. In my
opinion, Melaka would be my most favourable city out of the three is because the diversity of
different period of colonies building can be found in a city. From example, walking along the the
Street of Harmony, dutch shophouses, british shophouses and different religious temple can
found in a street. Its give a sense of harmony and strength of the city that sustain and retain for
living in the different period. Hence, the beauty of diversity create Melaka city their own indentity
and makes the city so unique from the others.”
-Chin Vin Yan -
"George Town, Penang - a city that has its own unique urban identity, is my city of choice. This
city, which embodies the character of its culture, offers a much more modest and organically
driven architecture and urban configuration. George Town has a balance between cultural heritage
and modern urban schemes. One of George Town's humble building typologies, the traditional
shophouses, are both accessible and easy to adapt - which gives it much potential to be a model
for building blocks in the future that can thrive and adapt to social needs and create cultural
centres. This creates a basis for a flexible and diverse community, with consideration for national
identity and effective urban development in times to come."
- Aida Junita -
“Georgetown, Penang in Colonial period remained as my favourite city among three. A strong
sense of community is prevailing and is strengthened as the the British Colony took over
Georgetown, enforcing act of division between local races and from the government.
Oppositely, sense of unity among the community is fortified as they were given freedom in
customising spaces allocated to each race. Scale of Chinese shophouses were humanised,
along with public realm which is shared by the community are commonly found in between
buildings, and at the entrances.”
-Lee Yih-

15. MAPPING THE TOWNSCAPE ARC 61003
TALES OF THREE CITIES 15
“ I would prefer Kuala Lumpur because this city is a blend of modern and traditional. The sense
of hierarchy from traditional shophouses to modern high rise buildings are stronger than other
city in Malaysia. The dynamic of variety of road width and height offer a distinctive sense hence
able to frame different images while traveling in Kuala Lumpur”
- Ng Ze Zheng -
“ I believe that Melaka is a better city compared to Kuala lampur mostly because it retains its
cultural identity due to well preserved cultural buildings. Therefore Melaka has a strong cultural
background, whereas the cultural identity of Kuala Lampur in my opinion is fading due to less
emphasis on building preservation. In addition, Melaka has well organized city planning, with
the main street (Harmony street) linking residential and commercial zones enabling easier
circulation within the city and emphasizing urban linkage
- Naajid Naseem
“Despite how the rows of buildings have different set backs and unorganised grid form shown in
Kuala Lumpur, it is still my personal preferred city. This is because the deformed townscape
contains surprises and a sense of curiousity of what's ahead while walking at the street level as
many obstructions of buildings in front obscure the distant horizon. This has formed an
interesting townscape whereby every corner and alley has its own unique story behind it,
creating Kuala Lumpur as it is today, a city with an illustrious and vibrant history”
-Khor Hao Xiang-
“ I would prefer Petaling street. Petaling street has been a hub for businesses since the late
1800s. Its Cantonese name, “chee cheong kai”, means starch factory street, referring to a time
when tapioca mills dominated the area. Today, it’s a famous tourist area brimming with
makeshift stalls selling a variety of wares and tons of local food.With the advent of
modernisation, Petaling Street and its decaying surroundings have not escaped from the throes
of urban redevelopment. Rest assured, those of us looking for a good fill will still be able to
savour a slice of the old and new coexisting in KL’s Chinatown”
- Alan Koo -
“Kuala Lumpur is a city that balances both old and new, separated by a fine line of difference
between harmony and aggresion. It is a city that accomodates such a high amount of foot traffic
daily yet it is temporary, and ever changing. The roads intersect with streets and the streets
intersect with alleyways and the system repeats itself at such a high frequency that it feeds
traffic and pedestrians into itself constantly. I believe that Kuala Lumpur is the definition of a
urban city in the context of a developing country and therefore, is my prefered city”
- Francis Yeow-
“ Based on city I have studied from tales of city, the most preferred city for me is Melaka city.
Due to the heavy density of culture from the previous great history of Melaka. From the place
they do have heavy culture stuff such as mixing culture masjid the fusion of Portugal and Malay
and created a religion where they can participate together. Furthermore, the city is completely
protected the previous stuff as they remain the original face of the Melaka city. As they remain
the stuff our younger generation will get more benefit and knowledgeable to our past where the
most interesting history where only Melaka city have it. As conclusion, the most favourite part
for me toward Melaka city is the originality of Melaka face. “
- Lum Si Chu -
“ Penang is more in tune with its local surroundings, intergrating colonial influences & regional
styles together for a holistic urban design approach. As urbanisation progresses, the way the
authorities handled modern day amenities & heritage conservation is sensitive & effective.
Without resorting to constructing high-rises in bulk, Georgetown managed to preserve the
cultural essence of the past as well as keeping up with the times. Through appropriate
measures like retaining the old district zones & historic conservative efforts, colonial
Georgetown continues to live on”
- Lim Shen -
“ Petaling Street will be the city that I prefer to live in because of the rich of the human culture
while bringing in more tourists and making a very significant node in KUALA LUMPUR which
created a New culture that has been brought in overtime. Despite of fading the historical culture
there are still partially remained as a historical part of the city which also make the city seem
more organised. Having to remain the cultural part and also bringing a new culture will lead into
a new cultural place that had uniquely presented PETALING STREET as it is today.”
-Toh Kean Hou -
- Tang Ze Zheng -

16. MAPPING THE TOWNSCAPE ARC 61003
TALES OF THREE CITIES 16
05
conclusion
STREET BUILT FORM FUNCTION MOVEMENT PATTERN
Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling (Georgetown)
Mix of different scale of buildings which consists of
shophouses and public buildings. Religious Street Linear to diffused
Harmony Street (Malacca)
Mix of different architectural styles buildings with
narrow street frontages due to different colonialization. Religious Street Disordered Linearity
Petaling Street (Kuala Lumpur) Mostly shophouses with active store fronts Commercial and tourist spot Central focus
ASPECTS GEORGETOWN MALACCA KUALA LUMPUR
Topography Surrounded by hills and ocean Bordered by ocean and flat land Flat Land
Grid System Fish bone pattern Deformed
Axiality Axis formed by colonial government buildings Multiple axes
Open Spaces Public building's setback Wide Pedestrian Street
Permeability Multiple access points
Scale of Built Form Intimate Distant
Accessibility Direct access from Road
Front access only Access from front & back
Table 5.1
Comparison
Table 5.2
Comparison

17. MAPPING THE TOWNSCAPE ARC 61003
TALES OF THREE CITIES 17
CITIES Morphological Social Perceptual Functional Temporal
KUALA LUMPUR
From the rapid urban development,
skyline is decorated by many skyscrapers
as vertical built forms are seen as the
solution to limited land area, which also
causes a deformed urban grid pattern
Commercial activities
have dominated the
streets with only a few
religious buildings to
disrupt the monotonous
townscape.
Advanced urban lifestyle
due to rapid development,
with little cultural and
historical background that
are hidden and burried by
modern developments.
Mixture of building types as
develoments are based on public
transportation accesibility. For
instance, places that are easily
accesible for public transportation
will attract more commercial
buildings as compared to places that
are difficult to be accesed by public
transportation
The Kuala Lumpur development is
rapidly adapting to modernity as it is the
main city of the country, therefore fast
paced development is needed to not fall
behind of time internationally in terms of
country's status position globally.
Therefore, preservation of historical
streets are slowly fading to give way to
future developments.
GEORGETOWN
The development of georgetown
expanded sideways from the main street,
while retaining the frames of directional
quality whereby the streets are facing
towards the colonial governemtnal
buildings
The streets have no
specific classification of
social class, instead it is
by zoning based on
function and significancy
The streets share the
same basic facade
designs without any order
of social class or function,
therefore formed a more
vibrant streetscape
Significant buildings such as
governmental or trading ports are
located near the sea as development
of Georgetown expands from the
sea which is the first contact point for
the traders from outside of
Georgetown
The Georgetown development are slowly
adapting to modernity as many
skyscrappers and large scale
commercial buildings are being
developed, at the mean time preserving
little historical and cultural streetscape
MALACCA
The development expanded organically
along several key streets from downtown
Malacca, for instance the Harmony street
have infuenced the adjacent street to
develop in parallel to the main street
The street activities are
chracterised by trade or
social class
The streetscapes are
based on hierarchical
order, which forms a
series of streets with
different functional order.
For Malacca, the St Paul civic zones
are seperated from the residential
zones by the river as they stand in a
higher terraine, which is intended to
overlook the residential zone from a
high ground.
The development based on hierachical
order will be diminished slowly as many
of the streets are well preserved.
Therefore, the Malacca developments
will focus more on refurbishments and
improvements of existing historical
streets with a change of function.
Table 5.3
Comparison

18. MAPPING THE TOWNSCAPE ARC 61003
TALES OF THREE CITIES 18
CONCLUSION :
PARALLEL CITYInvisible edges are formed on both sides of Petaling Street by temporary
markets stalls flanked on sidelanes of the road, immediately blocking
direct access to the shophouses. Hence, one directional axis is
prominent whereas multiple layering of perpendicular axes along
Petaling Street are becoming vague, as a result of market stalls forming
the new unwelcoming facades into the buildings along the street. As a
result, main pedestrian pathway is squeezed in between this narrow
street, well shaded by acrylic roof, like a contemporary representation of
a typical Malacca’s hidden back alley, replaced with commercial
activities. Closely packed market stalls appear to be in immediate
distance, enveloping the pedestrian experience while offsetting away
from the buildings on sideways. To sum up, a parallel relationship
between the shophouse owners as well as public pedestrian is formed
where intersection between both are hardly visible.