#1. Urban Planning in the Tropical Cities of Southeast Asia—Past and Future

Most discussions on urban planning are limited to scholars from the temperate regions while there remains a void of quality discourse on how tropical cities should look like, especially when it comes to the process of visioning and master planning of Southeast Asian cities. The subject ‘tropical cities’ immediately conjures romantic images of our cities to those living within and beyond this region—tree-line boulevard, majestic buildings tucked between gigantic trees and endless cultural activities made possible by the tropical climate. However, with the exception of George Town and Singapore, many cities in this region face difficulties in translating political tutelage into tropical urban miracles. The consequence of ineffective urban planning and governance is huge; it can come in the forms of weak socio-economic resilience, flash floods, urban heat island effect, pollution and poor urban well-being, costing politicians dearly on political mileage and developers on unrealised sales revenue.

Urban planning has always played a central role in Southeast Asian cities since practice of Indian Mandala philosophy in this region circa 1st century B.C., as evidenced in the earliest Hindu-Buddhist civilisation of Southeast Asia in Bujang Valley. Over the course of history, ideas of urban planning were introduced and spread by sojourners, immigrants, entrepreneurs and colonists coming from China, India, The Netherlands, Spain, France, British and America as well as unexpected places like Middle East, Denmark and Armenia. Hence, this explains the phenomena of cultural hybridity and the varied urban forms across Southeast Asia. Every year, accountants would tirelessly aggregate profits generated from the tourism industry, as they pay homage to these two phenomena mentioned earlier. When these phenomena combined with strong human capital and the right policies, we see a place like Penang being nurtured into a de facto cultural capital of Southeast Asia, quickly transforming itself into an intellectual hub we see today.

While it has been widely recognised that the essence of urban planning in Southeast Asia throughout the millennia lies in its open attitude towards global ideas, its adaptive institutional framework and its willingness to innovate, as well as propelled by the recent political will to implement sound urban solutions, still, tropical urban design remains an obscured intellectual territory that is largely uncharted. Tropical urban design remains an afterthought for many decision-makers in this region, even today, although with the noble exception of Singapore.

Over the last decade, Singapore has increasingly recognised the larger roles of its indigenous built heritage, nuanced social fabrics (i.e. blurring, overlapping, intersecting and multi-layered identities) and the importance of seamlessly integrating traditional Asian lifestyle with science and technology. Instead of turning its back on the tropical climate and declares war on the hot and humid environment it once did, there is a shift in paradigm on the congenital conditions of its geo-climatic location. Overnight, the tropical climate was turned from a liability into an asset. Singapore began to retrofit some of its bulky, overly air-conditioned buildings into structures which have been described as ‘breathing green concretes’. The concept of ‘garden city’ evolved into ‘city in a garden’ in 2008, unveiled by the National Parks Board.

Forest City Johor is currently being constructed. Could it set a new benchmark for the tropical cities of Southeast Asia?

Natural shades, water feature, cross ventilation, deep overhang have become the hype words among Singaporean developers in their property promotional videos and brochures. These are made possible by the relentless push for the adoption of practical scientific solutions by the Singaporean government. Locals, expats and tourists were surprised by how far this smart city has achieved on urban well-being in just a decade. As Southeast Asians are becoming increasingly confident intellectually and economically, perhaps, the next tempting question to ask would be: ‘If Singapore can do it, why not Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok too?’

To remain relevant in the 21st century, other than paying homage to the varied urban forms and the cultural hybridity of Southeast Asia like our predecessors, urban planners must incorporate elements of tropical urban design while keeping updated on the latest science and technology available to the citizens, institutions, infrastructures and amenities of our cities. Doubtlessly, the future of our cities is bright, but we must also recognise there is hard work ahead in realising this dream.

Developing a suitable blueprint for the future typical cities of Southeast Asia must now be a regional priority for the collective prosperity and urban well-being of our citizens for the coming decades. Futurologists, scientists and intellects have to be consulted on this regional exercise. While this blueprint is non-existential as of this moment, it is fortunate to state that this idea has recently surfaced among the Malaysian academia, it is anticipated to change urban planning in Southeast Asia forever.

#Blueprint #Futuretypicalcities