Asian Transformations in Action - Api-fellowships.org

214 COLLAGES OF BETTERMENTREDEFINING THE ASIAN SPACE: A COMPARATIVE VIEWOF EVOLVING STREET CULTURE AND PEDESTRIAN SPACEDEVELOPMENT IN BANDUNG, BANGKOK AND MANILAIderlina Mateo-BabianoIntroductionAsian streets convey a sensorial experience distinct fromthe Western model. Traditional knowledge resultingfrom the environment and sociocultural histories isimprinted on how people use the streets and how thesestreets are formed. The veneration of nature spirits, asseen by the presence of street shrines along the sidewalks,is an Asian phenomenon reflective of animistic roots.Diverse activities such as street vending and hawkingadd to the thriving character of the sidewalk, imitatingthe diversity of the Asian forest and further enhancingthe pedestrian experience. However, from a transportviewpoint, the presence of these activities serves as abarrier to smooth pedestrian flow and contributes tothe deterioration of the street environment. Moreover,street use has also become a political issue whereinvendor presence has become a symbol of a city’s pooreconomy and, because of its unregulated characteristic,encourages irregular migrants. Streets are also beingblamed for hosting other negative activities such asbeing a haven for drugs and becoming a living spacefor the homeless.This study works within the premise that the traditionalknowledge systems that evolved throughout a city’shistory, starting from its forest beginnings to thestrong influence of acculturation, may provide a betterunderstanding of pedestrian street culture, and inparticular, how the amalgamation of cultures tangiblyshaped street configuration and contemporary streetuse, especially in Asian colonial cities. This may provideinputs to address pedestrian issues and the improvementof contemporary streets.ObjectivesThe objectives of the study are: (1) to examine thespatio-historical development of urban street spaceand pedestrian culture within three case cities:Bandung (Indonesia), Bangkok (Thailand) and Manila(Philippines); (2) to compare the influence of historicaltrends, with Bangkok having limited external influenceand Bandung and Manila representing colonial cities,and examine how these historical trends affected spacemorphology, street sociology and pedestrian psychology;and (3) to identify factors that influence local streetculture to further understand street morphogenesis, theinterplay of movement and non-movement behaviorand street space utilization.MethodologyThe study analyzed three case cities: Bandung,Bangkok and Manila. Bandung is a colonial city in amountainous, temperate zone; Manila is also a colonialcity but on a plain with a tropical, humid climate.Like Manila, Bangkok also developed on a plain witha tropical, humid climate but, unlike Bandung andManila, experienced only limited colonial influence.The study starts with the sociocultural perspective ofspatial use as a way of understanding Asian pedestriansand street use. It is descriptive, interpretative andempirical, utilizing culture to define the parameters thatsustain people’s use of the street environment. Datagathering was conducted through a review of historicalprecedents on street space use, an intensive review ofprimary and secondary resources, direct observationand street user questionnaire surveys. The aim was toprove that present space utilization is still a consequenceof and reflects the underlying pedestrian culture ofthe past. An extensive examination of streets focusingmainly on emergent pedestrian spaces, referring to bothmovement and non-movement, was conducted.Initially, three types of data collection activities wereimplemented in Bandung to examine street userbehavior: a pedestrian diary, an ocular inspection surveyand interviews. However, the low response rate of 15percent led to a major change in the research process.Instead, a street user need survey was developed utilizingthe analytic hierarchy process (AHP), which wasintroduced by Saaty (1980). AHP is a decision-makingtool and evaluation procedure that incorporates bothqualitative and quantitative factors. It has the advantageof reflecting the way people think and make decisionsby simplifying complex decision to a series of one-toonecomparisons. The survey’s goal was to elicit userresponse on what a positive pedestrian environment is.English and Thai versions of the survey instrument wereAsian Transformations in ActionThe Work of the 2006/2007 API Fellows