Contrasting global imagery to local realities in the postcolonial waterfronts of Malaysia's capital cities

Urban waterfront redevelopments are often about image-making for economic and political gain. This article analyses three major recent waterfront projects within the Kuala Lumpur metropolitan area: Kuala Lumpur City Centre, the River of Life, and Lake Putrajaya. All have been important in projecting...

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Main Authors: Stevens, Quentin, Kozlowski, Marek, Ujang, Norsidah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Archnet-IJAR 2016
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/29134/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/29134/1/Contrasting%20global%20imagery%20to%20local%20realities%20in%20the%20postcolonial%20waterfronts%20of%20Malaysia%27s%20capital%20cities.pdf
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author Stevens, Quentin
Kozlowski, Marek
Ujang, Norsidah
author_facet Stevens, Quentin
Kozlowski, Marek
Ujang, Norsidah
author_sort Stevens, Quentin
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Urban waterfront redevelopments are often about image-making for economic and political gain. This article analyses three major recent waterfront projects within the Kuala Lumpur metropolitan area: Kuala Lumpur City Centre, the River of Life, and Lake Putrajaya. All have been important in projecting an image of a modern, developed, postcolonial Malaysia. The article examines these waterfront landscapes in relation to three key themes: their contribution to the overall city image, to economic development, and to ecological performance. The article draws upon policy documents, project plans, interviews with local policymakers, designers and academics, field observation of the current physical development, land use and social use of the three waterfront precincts, and a mental mapping survey of users' cognitive images of how these precincts fit within the overall city image. Analysis shows that the appearance, use and development process of these three waterfront projects draw heavily on international models. The article suggests several waterfront sites and uses within the three projects that indicate a more authentic local paradigm for urban waterfront development.
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spelling upm-291342016-06-20T06:12:12Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/29134/ Contrasting global imagery to local realities in the postcolonial waterfronts of Malaysia's capital cities Stevens, Quentin Kozlowski, Marek Ujang, Norsidah Urban waterfront redevelopments are often about image-making for economic and political gain. This article analyses three major recent waterfront projects within the Kuala Lumpur metropolitan area: Kuala Lumpur City Centre, the River of Life, and Lake Putrajaya. All have been important in projecting an image of a modern, developed, postcolonial Malaysia. The article examines these waterfront landscapes in relation to three key themes: their contribution to the overall city image, to economic development, and to ecological performance. The article draws upon policy documents, project plans, interviews with local policymakers, designers and academics, field observation of the current physical development, land use and social use of the three waterfront precincts, and a mental mapping survey of users' cognitive images of how these precincts fit within the overall city image. Analysis shows that the appearance, use and development process of these three waterfront projects draw heavily on international models. The article suggests several waterfront sites and uses within the three projects that indicate a more authentic local paradigm for urban waterfront development. Archnet-IJAR 2016 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/29134/1/Contrasting%20global%20imagery%20to%20local%20realities%20in%20the%20postcolonial%20waterfronts%20of%20Malaysia%27s%20capital%20cities.pdf Stevens, Quentin and Kozlowski, Marek and Ujang, Norsidah (2016) Contrasting global imagery to local realities in the postcolonial waterfronts of Malaysia's capital cities. ArchNet-IJAR, 10 (1). pp. 240-256. ISSN 1938-7806 http://archnet-ijar.net/index.php/IJAR/article/view/906
spellingShingle Stevens, Quentin
Kozlowski, Marek
Ujang, Norsidah
Contrasting global imagery to local realities in the postcolonial waterfronts of Malaysia's capital cities
title Contrasting global imagery to local realities in the postcolonial waterfronts of Malaysia's capital cities
title_full Contrasting global imagery to local realities in the postcolonial waterfronts of Malaysia's capital cities
title_fullStr Contrasting global imagery to local realities in the postcolonial waterfronts of Malaysia's capital cities
title_full_unstemmed Contrasting global imagery to local realities in the postcolonial waterfronts of Malaysia's capital cities
title_short Contrasting global imagery to local realities in the postcolonial waterfronts of Malaysia's capital cities
title_sort contrasting global imagery to local realities in the postcolonial waterfronts of malaysia's capital cities
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/29134/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/29134/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/29134/1/Contrasting%20global%20imagery%20to%20local%20realities%20in%20the%20postcolonial%20waterfronts%20of%20Malaysia%27s%20capital%20cities.pdf