Streetware: Retrofitting historic cores into cultural and creative districts in Southeast Asia

Abstract

The thesis develops a design methodology for the strategic urban regeneration of Historic Cores in secondary cities of Southeast Asia with the aim to transform them into Cultural and Creative Districts. It investigates three cores, George Town, Cebu and Bandung, located in three different countries, respectively Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia, which share a colonial urban past and are referential cultural destinations. Today, the presence of fragmented and obsolete urbanity in these cores affects the sustainability and productivity of the district. The research proposes the seeds for bottom up regeneration strategies that complement the existing landmarks and character of place by inserting a new vocation for these districts. The design methodology suggests a multi scalar contextual design process that discovers opportunity projects through urban learnings. A method was devised to obtain learnings through drawing tangible, physical data, and intangible, behavioural data, as layers of the context in order to reveal relationships and qualities across a range of urban conditions. The application of the method reveals a set of character opportunity projects that become the engines to stimulate scales of urban impact in the process of urban regeneration. The design process aims to inspire projects that encourage placemaking and city-making, to shape resilient, liveable and healthy cityscapes.