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Project B

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Carmen Chee
Carmen Chee

1) Three cognitive maps of Little India, Klang were analyzed from participants with different backgrounds and experiences with the area. 2) All participants used the Klang Mosque and Balai Bomba building as landmarks in their maps due to their prominence. 3) The maps showed both similarities, like the use of landmarks, and differences based on the participants' experiences and routines in the area. 4) While the scale and details differed in each map, the participants were able to identify clear edges and districts of Little India, demonstrating their mental representations of the spatial environment.

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SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Architecture THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC2224) (ARC61303) PROJECT PART B NAME : CARMEN CHEE CHA YI ID: 0313893 LECTURER: MS IDA
Tables of Contects Introduction to the site Introduction to Cognitive Mapping Cognitive Maps Similarities and Differences Conclusion References
Introduction to the site Located in the centre of Klang along Jalan Tengku Kelana is the little nook properly known as Little India. It is also the biggest indian street in Malaysia. Fierce competition among shop owners that offers cheaper prices for consumers, people are literally spoilt for choice amidst the rows of shops on the left and ride sides of Jalan Tengku Kelana, with stalls spilling onto the sidewalks and backlanes. Varieties of items such as sarls, colourful accessories like bangles and necklaces, textiles, stainless steel pots, Indian delicacies, gold and flowers are sold here.
Little India, Klang is well known during the Deepavali season. The street is transformed into a colourful spectacle of light and sound befitting the "festival of light". Majority of the shop owners pulled their resources together to decorate the street and the walkways of their shops. The street will be decorated weeks before the actual festival. The atmosphere is captivating where traffic usually will be clogged up during the season as thousands of people make their way from as far as other states to make their purchases. This area are always packed with Chinese since then. Majority are Hokkien out of the Chinese population here. Ninety-nine percent of the shophouses in Jalan Tengku Kelana are occupied by Indians, wheareas fifty percent are owned by Chinese, but rented by Indians. Hence, the town name 'Little India'. Previously Little India was named as 'Rembau Street' where 'Rembau' is the name of the man who owns the street. It started off with a few families and now it has expanded to about 200-300 families. Back then, the layout of the town is pretty simple. There were only four streets in total. The front area was called "front street". The area behind was called 'back street' wheareas the next street was called 'Tunku Street". Lastly, right behind Tunku Street is Sultan Street. Everyone of the older generation knew about the back street. The name was later changed to Jalan Melayu. After some time, the name was changed again to Jalan Stesen Satu.
Introduction to Cognitive Mapping Cognitive mapping can be defined as a type of mental representation which serves an individual to acquire, code, store, recall and decode information about the relative locations and attributes of experiences in their everyday or metaphorical spatial environemnt. A clear mental map is able to provide emotional security to an individual where it is also the framwork for communication and conceptial organization, and heightens the depth and intensity of everyday human experience. Thus, a legible mental map of the urban environment is needed to counter the always looming fear of disorientation. Lynch mentioned that the city itself is a powerful symbol of a complex society. He argues that an environmental image should consist of these three components: ? Identity - The recognition of urban elements as seperate entities ? Structure - The relation of urban elements to other objects and to the observer ? Meaning - Its practical and emotional value to the observer It is essential that these urban elements are not hermetically designed into precide and fine detail but to be presented in an open-ended order. Lynch presents his work as an agenda for urban designers. Urban designers are encouraged to design the city in such a way that it gives room and spaces for these three related 'movements': mapping, learning and shaping. In the first step, people should be able to acquire a clear mental map of the urban environment. Moving on, they should be able to learn how to navigate in this environment by training. Third, people must be able to operate and act upon their environment.
For this project, it allows us as students to create cognitive mappings of Jalan Tengku Kelana, Klang; also known as Little India to understand peoples' perception and spatial behavior in the town area today. Three cognitive maps from different backgrounds and age group are used to present a critical understanding of the emerging contemporary urban spaces in Little India, Klang. The first map is drawn by a local businessman who owns a shophouse and lived there for years wheareas the second map is drawn by a local who lives in Setia Alam, who only visited the area for a few times as a tourist. Lastly, the third map is produced by a man who works there recently and just moved in to Klang with last year.
Participant 1 Mr. Hassan, 60. Shopowner. This map is very simple and straightforward. It is generally focused on the places that he remembers. First, he wrote down the names of the places he used as points of directions. Then he draw blocks over the names of the places and create paths that leads one place to another from his memory. We can carefully see that the position of the places in the blocks are not at the corner of the street, instead it is drawn at specific distances from the corner. Furthermore, the block size of the places that he drew does not have any connection with the actual size of the building. It represents the amount of importance he gives to the buildings when he orientates himself in the area.
Participant 2 Mr. Lee , 29. Businessman. This map is more focused on the shophouses along Jalan Tengku Kelana. For some reason, the Mydin building is more dominant in his view and recalls the location of it more vividly compared to the other buildings. Locations of the buildings are quite accurately placed. He started off drawing the Mydin building then the Mosque, followed by paths. The paths outlined in the map is inaccurate in terms of the distance and it's proportion of length, however, the buildings are arranged in order.
Participant 3 Nathan, 26. Worker in Klinik Sentosa. This map is focused on the smaller details of a specific region of the town. He started off drawing the map with pathways instead of buildings. This shows that he recalled his way of entry to the area. A few shoplots are included as well as the Klang Mosque. One or two signboards are drawn where he often use them to navigate his way since he moved in.
Similarities All the participants tend to use the Klang Mosque as a reference point to locate other buildings and roads around the area. This might be due to its physically dominant structure and singularity stand-alone building that makes it attached to their mental maps. The structure and colour of the Mosque might be the factor that stick to people's memory. Moreover, the Mosque is location at the corner of the long road of Jalan Tengku Kelana which allows everyone to pass by it when they're around the area. Since visual information plays an important role in memory, a frequent encounter with the mosque itself makes it a vivid visual memory for all participants eventhough they were unable to draw the architectural details of the building. The Balai Bomba building is also identified by all participants as a major landmark. It is sometimes referred as the red building next to the highway across the river. Participant 2 and 3 are less sensitive to the distance and direction as their maps shows relative proportion when compared to the actual map. These two participants tend to store bits of distance and direction data to operate efficiently around the area. No participants was able to recall or use any special detail or texture to use as an identity for any space or building in town. It is rather common in all participants that technology plays a more significant role than visual and sensory feedback from site. Participant 2 even tried to use google maps when he was asked to draw a cognitive map of his own. This shows that second hand information are more useful to certain people.
Differences Participant 1 overlooked the existence of Klang Railway Station which is the closest public transportation to the area. Since he lives and works in the area, the station is given with little importance to him, while participant 2 and 3 are aware of the station and included in their drawings when they're forming the pathways. Furthermore, participant 1's map lacked visual information but his explainations involved more sensory elements. On the other hand, participant 2 and 3 who lived away from the selected study area clearly remembers the pathways to major landmarks of the area as well as the public transportation. They had more visual data compared to sensory data as visual information is predominant to everyone during the first stage of cognitive mapping. This might be also due to their similar routine throughout the area during each visit and encounter of the area.
Conclusion There is a density of information relating to the perception of Jalan Tengku Kelana that varies depending on the observer. The participants focused on the details that attracted them enough to secure its memory of the place. The scale and proportion of the places were perceived differently to each participants due to respective point of view and time. However, participants were able to identify clear edges and districts. However, there seem to have no clear path within the area except the main road. Participants have difficulties to form a clear mental map, however, with their personal experience of the area, it is rather easy to learn the environment and their way of the area. The urban elements of Jalan Tengku Kelana is interconnected and sensed as a whole.

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Project B

  • 1. SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Architecture THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC2224) (ARC61303) PROJECT PART B NAME : CARMEN CHEE CHA YI ID: 0313893 LECTURER: MS IDA
  • 2. Tables of Contects Introduction to the site Introduction to Cognitive Mapping Cognitive Maps Similarities and Differences Conclusion References
  • 3. Introduction to the site Located in the centre of Klang along Jalan Tengku Kelana is the little nook properly known as Little India. It is also the biggest indian street in Malaysia. Fierce competition among shop owners that offers cheaper prices for consumers, people are literally spoilt for choice amidst the rows of shops on the left and ride sides of Jalan Tengku Kelana, with stalls spilling onto the sidewalks and backlanes. Varieties of items such as sarls, colourful accessories like bangles and necklaces, textiles, stainless steel pots, Indian delicacies, gold and flowers are sold here.
  • 4. Little India, Klang is well known during the Deepavali season. The street is transformed into a colourful spectacle of light and sound befitting the "festival of light". Majority of the shop owners pulled their resources together to decorate the street and the walkways of their shops. The street will be decorated weeks before the actual festival. The atmosphere is captivating where traffic usually will be clogged up during the season as thousands of people make their way from as far as other states to make their purchases. This area are always packed with Chinese since then. Majority are Hokkien out of the Chinese population here. Ninety-nine percent of the shophouses in Jalan Tengku Kelana are occupied by Indians, wheareas fifty percent are owned by Chinese, but rented by Indians. Hence, the town name 'Little India'. Previously Little India was named as 'Rembau Street' where 'Rembau' is the name of the man who owns the street. It started off with a few families and now it has expanded to about 200-300 families. Back then, the layout of the town is pretty simple. There were only four streets in total. The front area was called "front street". The area behind was called 'back street' wheareas the next street was called 'Tunku Street". Lastly, right behind Tunku Street is Sultan Street. Everyone of the older generation knew about the back street. The name was later changed to Jalan Melayu. After some time, the name was changed again to Jalan Stesen Satu.
  • 5. Introduction to Cognitive Mapping Cognitive mapping can be defined as a type of mental representation which serves an individual to acquire, code, store, recall and decode information about the relative locations and attributes of experiences in their everyday or metaphorical spatial environemnt. A clear mental map is able to provide emotional security to an individual where it is also the framwork for communication and conceptial organization, and heightens the depth and intensity of everyday human experience. Thus, a legible mental map of the urban environment is needed to counter the always looming fear of disorientation. Lynch mentioned that the city itself is a powerful symbol of a complex society. He argues that an environmental image should consist of these three components: ? Identity - The recognition of urban elements as seperate entities ? Structure - The relation of urban elements to other objects and to the observer ? Meaning - Its practical and emotional value to the observer It is essential that these urban elements are not hermetically designed into precide and fine detail but to be presented in an open-ended order. Lynch presents his work as an agenda for urban designers. Urban designers are encouraged to design the city in such a way that it gives room and spaces for these three related 'movements': mapping, learning and shaping. In the first step, people should be able to acquire a clear mental map of the urban environment. Moving on, they should be able to learn how to navigate in this environment by training. Third, people must be able to operate and act upon their environment.
  • 6. For this project, it allows us as students to create cognitive mappings of Jalan Tengku Kelana, Klang; also known as Little India to understand peoples' perception and spatial behavior in the town area today. Three cognitive maps from different backgrounds and age group are used to present a critical understanding of the emerging contemporary urban spaces in Little India, Klang. The first map is drawn by a local businessman who owns a shophouse and lived there for years wheareas the second map is drawn by a local who lives in Setia Alam, who only visited the area for a few times as a tourist. Lastly, the third map is produced by a man who works there recently and just moved in to Klang with last year.
  • 7. Participant 1 Mr. Hassan, 60. Shopowner. This map is very simple and straightforward. It is generally focused on the places that he remembers. First, he wrote down the names of the places he used as points of directions. Then he draw blocks over the names of the places and create paths that leads one place to another from his memory. We can carefully see that the position of the places in the blocks are not at the corner of the street, instead it is drawn at specific distances from the corner. Furthermore, the block size of the places that he drew does not have any connection with the actual size of the building. It represents the amount of importance he gives to the buildings when he orientates himself in the area.
  • 8. Participant 2 Mr. Lee , 29. Businessman. This map is more focused on the shophouses along Jalan Tengku Kelana. For some reason, the Mydin building is more dominant in his view and recalls the location of it more vividly compared to the other buildings. Locations of the buildings are quite accurately placed. He started off drawing the Mydin building then the Mosque, followed by paths. The paths outlined in the map is inaccurate in terms of the distance and it's proportion of length, however, the buildings are arranged in order.
  • 9. Participant 3 Nathan, 26. Worker in Klinik Sentosa. This map is focused on the smaller details of a specific region of the town. He started off drawing the map with pathways instead of buildings. This shows that he recalled his way of entry to the area. A few shoplots are included as well as the Klang Mosque. One or two signboards are drawn where he often use them to navigate his way since he moved in.
  • 10. Similarities All the participants tend to use the Klang Mosque as a reference point to locate other buildings and roads around the area. This might be due to its physically dominant structure and singularity stand-alone building that makes it attached to their mental maps. The structure and colour of the Mosque might be the factor that stick to people's memory. Moreover, the Mosque is location at the corner of the long road of Jalan Tengku Kelana which allows everyone to pass by it when they're around the area. Since visual information plays an important role in memory, a frequent encounter with the mosque itself makes it a vivid visual memory for all participants eventhough they were unable to draw the architectural details of the building. The Balai Bomba building is also identified by all participants as a major landmark. It is sometimes referred as the red building next to the highway across the river. Participant 2 and 3 are less sensitive to the distance and direction as their maps shows relative proportion when compared to the actual map. These two participants tend to store bits of distance and direction data to operate efficiently around the area. No participants was able to recall or use any special detail or texture to use as an identity for any space or building in town. It is rather common in all participants that technology plays a more significant role than visual and sensory feedback from site. Participant 2 even tried to use google maps when he was asked to draw a cognitive map of his own. This shows that second hand information are more useful to certain people.
  • 11. Differences Participant 1 overlooked the existence of Klang Railway Station which is the closest public transportation to the area. Since he lives and works in the area, the station is given with little importance to him, while participant 2 and 3 are aware of the station and included in their drawings when they're forming the pathways. Furthermore, participant 1's map lacked visual information but his explainations involved more sensory elements. On the other hand, participant 2 and 3 who lived away from the selected study area clearly remembers the pathways to major landmarks of the area as well as the public transportation. They had more visual data compared to sensory data as visual information is predominant to everyone during the first stage of cognitive mapping. This might be also due to their similar routine throughout the area during each visit and encounter of the area.
  • 12. Conclusion There is a density of information relating to the perception of Jalan Tengku Kelana that varies depending on the observer. The participants focused on the details that attracted them enough to secure its memory of the place. The scale and proportion of the places were perceived differently to each participants due to respective point of view and time. However, participants were able to identify clear edges and districts. However, there seem to have no clear path within the area except the main road. Participants have difficulties to form a clear mental map, however, with their personal experience of the area, it is rather easy to learn the environment and their way of the area. The urban elements of Jalan Tengku Kelana is interconnected and sensed as a whole.