Comparative analysis essay

1. Introduction
MedanPasaroralso known as “MarketSquare”isa sitefamedforitshistorical value
in Kuala Lumpur.Similarly the selectedstreetthatwe will beanalyzing along with
MedanPasaris Khao SanRoad,an area known forits identityas a tourist
destination.Bothurban contexthas a predominantcultural trading activity as the main
attraction oftheseroads,the contextofhowthesetrading spacesoperatesand
subsequentlyhowitaffectshumanexperiencewillbestudiedand researchedonthis
comparativeanalysis .Wewillbereferencingtheoriesinrelation toJan Gehl,‘Life
BetweenBuildings’and KevinLynch ‘Image of the City’.
In the study of the relationship between how interactions happens and
intensifies through spaces.

3. Theselectedsiteforthisresearchanalysis,Medan Pasarwill beencompassedof
Pasar Seni, Jalan Hang Kasturi and Medan Pasar. These
areas have a profoundimpactonthe factorsaffectingthesocialpatternof Medan
Pasar.

4. Khaosan Road is a small road located about a block from the Chao Phraya
River at the northern side of Rattanakosin. Dubbed as “the centre of the
backpacking universe”, backpackers and budgettravelers alike are drawn
by its cheap deals and accommodationas it is filler with a wide range of
restaurants and bars, money exchange counters and Wat Chana
Songkram, a temple as a landmark. Khao San Road has everything a
backpacker needs.Its carefree vibe, unlike anywhere else in Bangkok, is
infectious where the atmosphere is popular with tourists and locals alike.

5. Comparative analysis
Three types of outdooror public activities wereexploredinthe JanGehl’s
theory
-Necessary,optionaland socialactivities.
Necessaryactivity are definedascompulsoryactivitythat involves everyday tasks
and activities which take place throughout the year in all conditions,
independent of exterior environment. The participant has no choice over
the physical frameworkofthe space.
Whereasincomparison,optionalactivitiesonlyhappensunderfavorableconditions,
onlyunderthe conditionifonewish to dosoand is willing tofind timeand placeto do
so.
Andlastly, socialactivity isthe resultant equationofthe necessaryand the optional,
it is produced when people are present in the same place and time that
allows the possibilitiesofcontact,albeitvoluntary orinvoluntary, possibilitiesthattake
ona quality oftheirownand becomeimportantasbackgroundand starting pointfor
otherformsofcontact.Theimportanceandinfluenceofsocialactivity is that it
proliferatesexchangeofinteractionand experiences, to see and hear people,
forming the intangible relationship between the people and building in the
urban context.
Subsequentlythe ideaof‘contactpoint’was exploredinJanGehl’s ‘LifeBetween
Buildings’,where it is the ideaofa placewherepeoplearein contactand getto meet
oneanother to allowinteraction tohappen.This ideacan also belinked to Kevin
Lynchtheoryof‘nodes’,inwhich nodes is the focus point or concentration of
human activity for orientation. The type of contact pointsrangesdependingon
the intensity ofthe contact,ofthe intensity ofthe human interaction.
It is also important to note that Lynch theory explores depends on mental
images to orient themselves in urban situations. The imageability of a
large-scale space is the ability of a navigator toforma coherentmentalimageof
it. Theimagesare the productbothofimmediatesensationandthe memoryofpast
experienceandis usedtointerpretinformationand toguideaction.
Physical framework is the driving factor of social activity, as Gehl’s theory
mentioned,

6. Socialactivity is indirectlysupportedwhenevernecessaryand optionalactivitiesare
givenbetterconditionsinpublicspaces.Andthelegibilityoftheseelementsdefines
the quality ofthe urban landscape and the proliferation of the contact point.
The more legible the quality of the urbanelementsare,the morechancesof
contactpointsand nodesaremorelikelyto occur.
The following analysis will be done in the context of firstly, the localized
community, the traders and workers,and secondly,theshoppersandtourist
communityin bothMedanPasarand Khao San Road.
To begin with, the necessaryactivities of Medan Pasar include its role as
the central bus hub as a mainframe for daily commute,providing transport
between the districts in the vicinity for the localized community. This makes
the Medan Pasar bus hub a necessaryactivity that is of a transitional
nature in the context of a main public route that foreignworkers, office
workers and traders pass through to get to their respective workplaces,or
perhaps to the next station of public transport. The site’s status as a hub of
daily commute makes it a commonwaiting area for mostlocals as they
await the bus, generating passive interactions in between the wait.
Being a fully pedestrianized, open square in the midstof the densely built
urban fabric of Kuala Lumpur, Medan Pasar creates a gravitational setting
for congregation,becoming a meeting place and creating at best, a low-
intensity contact point for the localized community, as well as a platform for
the occasional community organized public event. However, the conditions
of the site are lacking in aspects that could boostsocial intensity,
preventing the site from becoming a high intensity social contact point for
the localized community. For example, it can be noted that most of the
shops in the area are essentially the workplace of localized community,

7. creating necessaryactivity in itself, however the participants are those of
no choice in such an environment, as aside from work, the site does not
provide anything to be pursued by the community, putting the level of
optional activity generally low. Motorists that do not heed the unenforced
restriction to motorcycle entry also make inhabiting the square dangerous.
Moving onto the other subjectof the case study, Khao San Road, the
similarities that can be observed is the localized culture of trading as the
main necessaryactivity, where business owners operate shops and stalls
as part of their livelihood. However, a distinct difference betweenthe two
sites is the nature of these businesses as well as their target markets,
where Khao San Road is run heavily by the local community to cater
towards the vast market of foreigntourists visiting the site as a vacation
destination, whilst the businessesat medan pasar have come to be heavily
monopolized by the localized foreigncommunity that has cemented their
livelihood in the heart of KL, catering mainly to the needs of their internal
community first, rather than the external communities.
Along the stretch of Khao San Road, the streetis lined with markets,
stores,stalls and hotels run by the local community, forming an arcade of
experiences as one travels through the street, patronizing massage
parlours, eating street food,touching the local fabrics in clothing shops.

8. The array of experiences of simply passing through slows one down to
absorb one’s surroundings, whilst opening possibilities from passive
contacts while journeying through the street, to chance contacts of
interacting at a food stall to meeting and making new acquaintances at one
of the multitude of bars along the street.
Thus, the street becomes more than simply a transitional path, rather
becoming a focalspine for a variety of local necessary and optional
activities, culminating into social activities for work and play in the same
place simultaneously. The collective of Khao San Road manifests itself
into a series of intensified contact points that offera wide range of
possibilities insocial engagement.

9. Another comparisonto a contact point of Medan Pasar is the Wat Chana
Songkram temple sitting at the west end of Khao San Road, which acts as
a main religious necessaryactivity, where many locals from within the
vicinity, involving the inhabitants of Khao San Road, go to pay respects and
pray. This necessitygenerally leads to a moderate intensity of contact
throughout the daytime, ranging from passive contacts of locals and
tourists flowing in and out of the temple grounds, to acquaintances visiting
the temple together. From the perspective of foreigners,the temple
becomes mainly optional activity, being a main sightseeing landmark to

10. appreciate the historical architecture and heritage, as well as to witness
local culture. The existence of the necessary and optional activities open to
social interaction between locals and foreigners,ranging from initiating
conversation about the temple, taking photos together and asking for
directions. Similarly, close to Medan Pasar is Masjid Jamek, also an iconic
local religious center that is visited by tourists and locals alike, for religious
purposes as well as for sightseeing.Whilst for the Muslim community
visiting the mosque is a necessary activity, the necessary may well
transition into optional activity, with the existence of a canopy outside the
mosque that accommodates locals and tourists on their way to the River of
Life that flows along towards the direction of Medan Pasar, the Sultan
Abdul Samad building and Central Market. The meeting of necessary
activities and optional activities in the same place as such activates the
surrounding vicinity of Medan Pasar as nodes for chance contacts,
potentially opening up to greater social interactivity.

11. Another comparisonthat I would like to make is the placemaking element
of the Khao San Night market. Both Medan Pasar and Khao San Road are
synonymous with their public markets, with Medan Pasar hosting the
occasionalcommunity event and market, whilst the closest permanent
market street being Kasturi Walk, a small public market beside Pasar Seni,
a stone’s throw away from the square. However, the main difference is the
presence of the market in relation to the site. Enveloping the whole street,
Khao San Road’s night market is a fully immersive experience,and has
become apermanent public realm market that invites tourists and locals
alike to participate in a variety of casual voluntary activities nightly.
Emerging from the existing setting of bars, restaurants and clubs, the
market is based on an already comfortable setting of actual public realms,
equipped with seating areas, tables and shelter, opening to the possibility
of a plentitude of social activities to occur. The Khao San night market
takes the necessarylocal trading activities of the day and manifests it into
an upscaled social event, inviting more intimate contact of locals and
tourists, resultantly leading to greater chance contacts due to the increased
intensity of interaction in the same public place. With Medan Pasar
however, aside from the occasional event held at the square, the
businesses surrounding the square mainly revolve around banking, money
changing, and travel agencies catering to the localized foreigncommunity,
with the only real attraction for optional activity (for tourists) being the
heritage setting of the colonial buildings. While Kasturi Walk with its daily
market open until late does serve as a neighbouring node for Medan Pasar,

12. it does not invite visitors to stay, with the nature of the market being touch
and go.

14. Conclusion
Social patterns of an urban realm are greatly shaped by the spaces that
exist within it, and should the formation and curation of these spaces allow
it to become a legible contact point, then the relationship of the presence of
the space and the presence of its inhabitants will establish the image of a
place. As can be seen in the essay, what differentiates Khao San road from
Medan Pasar is not the economic or political value of the trading activities,
rather is it the social engagementand participation of the community within
the urban fabric itself that is moulded by the urban built pattern. Medan
pasar has maintained itself as a historical landmark that still occasionally
serves as a public congregationalplace, but it is evident that the spaces
within and around are still somewhat segmented into the necessary and the
optional, with the square mainly characterized by necessaryactivities, only
being supplementedby the nodes around it. Therefore,Medan Pasar can
never fully flourish as it is void from the social participation of the localized
community. Only with the investment and cooperationof the localized
community can the square even begin to reestablishitself as a true heart of
the city.