The document provides a comparative analysis of the districts of Quiapo in Manila, Philippines and Jalan TAR in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Both areas are bustling marketplaces. The analysis finds similarities in the types of contact points between vendors and buyers in the markets. Frequent passive contacts also occur as people interact and observe each other. Differences are seen in the patterns of social activities, influenced by the Spanish and British urban planning styles in each city respectively. Quiapo's activities are concentrated in open plazas while Jalan TAR's activities occur linearly along streets. Varying degrees of contact intensity also differ, with Quiapo experiencing more close friendships due to religious and educational institutions nearby.

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ARC61303 Theories of Architecture and Urbanism
Project Part II: Comparative Analysis Essay
LIM JOE ONN
0318679
TUTOR: MR PRINCE FAVIS ISIP

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INTRODUCTION
For centuries, Southeast Asian kingdoms participated in international commercial relations with trades from
East and West. These interactions brought in religion, customs, together with construction techniques and
styles ofarchitecture to the region. Since the fifteenth century AD, advancementofmaritime trade and greed
for power pushed European empires to exploitthe riches ofunchartered lands, imposing cultural domination
over SoutheastAsian territories. This revolutionized the way people live and interactwith one another in the
lands they conquered, strongly influencing the design scheme ofSoutheastAsian cities. These cities include
two bustling metropolises compared in this article: Manila, Philippines, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Manila, the capital of the Philippines, is a financial and business center. Various Catholic churches and
Roman-style plazas punctuate the surface of this city, exhibiting signs of strong Spanish influence and
widespread Christianity. Quiapo, an urban district synonymous with marketplace bargain hunting, is
geographically situated at the very centre of Manila. Always bustling and crowded, it is the center of
merchandise and major religious events. Stalls mushroomed on wherever spaces available, selling all sorts
of goods ranging from amulets to textiles, cakes to video game consoles. In the heart of Quiapo lies the
Quiapo Church, the venue of the Black Nazarene feast attended by millions annually. Overwhelmed by the
huge crowd presence, stampedes often occur in Quiapo, making itunsafe for people especially during major
events. Therefore recently, the mayor of Manila, Lito Atienza initiated the Buhayin ang Maynila (Revitalize
Figure 1: Image of the district of Quiapo in the heart of Manila
City (Source: ChrisVillarin.com)
Figure 2: Image of shophouses along Jalan TAR in Kuala
Lumpur (Source: Lim Joe Onn)

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Manila) projectwhich greatly rehabilitated Quiapo and its vicinities,improving pedestriancomfort, safety,and
infrastructure in public spaces.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capitalcity, is a frenetic metropolis with a unique skyline dotted by minarets,domes,
and skyscrapers.The city started off as a tin mining settlementfrom the muddy confluence ofthe rivers Klang
and Gombak. Grand colonial buildings were erected since the British made itthe administrative capital in the
19th century. Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, formerly known as Jalan Batu and better known as Jalan TAR,
was the prime area of KL shopping before the popularity of modern shopping malls. Pre-war shops with
colourful, distinctive facades readapted to sustain retailing businesses fringe the stretch of road. These
buildings offer an assortment of textiles, fabrics, clothing, and various imported goods at bargain prices.
Lorong Tuanku Abdul Rahman, a lane running parallel to Jalan TAR is transformed to a market every night.
Local products and delicacies are sold in stalls along the alleys. Asides from small shophouses and market
stalls, Sogo Shopping Complex and Maju Junction Mall are situated here. The streetscape offers visitors a
submergence within a nostalgic cultural experience.

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ANALYSIS
The analysis conducted for this essay is based on the following criteria:
 Patterns of social activities
 Types of‘contact points’
 Varying degrees ofcontactintensity
According to Jan Gehl’s “Life Between Buildings”, outdoor social activities can be categorized into necessary
activities, optional activities and social activities. Necessary activities include those that are compulsory and
routine suchas running errands,going to schooland going to work.Optionalactivities are activities conducted
when outdoor conditions are favourable, catalyzing public participation even if such actions are merely
recreational and deemed unproductive. Examples of optional activities are strolling in a park and feeding
pigeons while sitting on a bench. Lastly, social activities are created from previous instances, relying on the
presence of others within public spaces. Referencing Gehl’s text (1996, p.14), “Social activities include
children at play, greetings and conversations, communal activities of various kinds and finally – as the most
widespread social activity – passive contacts, that is, simply seeing and hearing other people.”
Figure 3: Image of a scene in Plaza Miranda, Quiapo, Manila City where plenty of interactions between people can be observed
(Source: http://www.ourworldtravels.com/philippines/gallery3/plaza-miranda-quiapo-manila)

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Jan Gehl (1996, p.13) also theorized that physical environments with good quality offer great varieties of
optional activities for pedestrians to take part, and as a result, the occurrence of social activities increases
eventually (Figure 4). This is because social activities are results ofpeople being presentand interacting with
one another in the same spaces. These activities evolved from activities linked to other categories.
Contact points are possible moments or opportunities for interaction between people in a public scenario,
such as modest“see and hear contacts” and communication between acquaintances. These contact points
can be classified into varying degrees from the lowestto highestintensities (Figure 5)
Figure 4: Diagram showing relationship
between quality of physical environment
and occurrence of outdoor activities
(Source: Jan Gehl’s Life Between
Buildings, p.13)
Figure 5: Diagram showing contact points from lowest to highest
intensities (Source: Jan Gehl’s Life Between Buildings, p.17)

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SIMILARITIES
TYPE OF CONTACT POINTS – QUIAPO and JALAN TAR
-
As bustling market areas, both Jalan TAR and Quiapo have extremely high frequencies of chance contact,
specifically the interaction between vendors and buyers. Pedestrians traverse between the mushrooming
stalls, each selling an array of goods or scrumptious food that meets the demands of onlookers. People
search for the things they want to buy, get food to satisfy their appetites and buy drinks to quench their thirsts
under the scorching tropical heat (Figures 6 and 7). Vendors try to attract pedestrian attention, hoping for
their goods to be sold while buyers hope for a good bargain.
The similar supply and demand merchantmarketnature of both sites synchronizes the social activity pattern
ofbothplaces.Allbuyers ask sellers questions.These conversations may be regarding the price ofthe goods
sold or further details such as product origin and function of the goods. Frequently occurring interactions
Figure 7: Images of Jalan TAR’s market at day and night (Sources: thestaronline.com, Astro Awani)
Figure 6: Images of Quiapo’s market area (Sources: www.wazzuppilipinas.com/2014/06/market-tour-of-manila-discovering-
best.html)

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between buyer and seller parties that eventually becomes a deal or disagreementbecomes the zeitgeistof
both Quiapo and Jalan TAR.
Figure 8: Image indicating vendor and buyer interaction in Quiapo (Source: alamy.com)
Vendor and buyer interaction
Vendor and buyer interaction
Figure 9: Image indicating vendor and buyer interaction in Jalan TAR (Source: http://www.harrycath.com/2013/09/pasar-malam-jalan-
tar.html)

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Moreover at both sites, passive contacts occur very frequently. Both Quiapo and Jalan TAR offer the
opportunity to see and hear other people in a city (Gehl, 1996, p.23). This implies an offer of valuable
information aboutthe surrounding socialenvironmentin generaland aboutthe people one lives orworks with
in particular (Gehl, 1996, p.23).
Both sites are undeniably lively, full ofhuman activity. The overwhelming presence of humans is stimulating
to individuals visiting either of these two places as seeing and hearing other people provoke ideas for action
even when without engaging a conversation. People in both Quiapo and Jalan TAR do not always spark off
a random conversations with strangers they see butunintentional eye contacts often happen. Furthermore,
these sites provide conducive environments for people from diverse backgrounds and age groups to be
presenttogether in an undemanding manner despite thateach individual have their own tasks to accomplish
as Gehl (1996, p.19) suggested, “Being among others, seeing and hearing others, receiving impulses from
others, imply positive experiences, alternatives to being alone. One is not necessarily with a specific person,
but one is, nevertheless, with others”. Both public spaces form community cohesiveness as they provide a
sense ofcultural identity to the nationalities they represent. These identities include language, food and attire
and are conveyed to one another via passive contact.
Figure 10: Image indicating eye contact between strangers in Quiapo (Source: Mio Cade @ flickr.com)

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Figure 11: Image indicating eye contact between strangers in Jalan TAR (Source: Lim Joe Onn)
Figure 12: Image of a vendor at Jalan TAR wearing traditional Malay clothing and a cardinal in Quiapo
during a mass, both emit a sense of national identity, culture and local fashion (Sources: Astro Awani,
N.J. Viehland)

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Open areas are provided in both Quiapo and Jalan TAR, making them suitable for public music and art
performances that attract a sizable audience. These activities serve as an attraction that energizes the vibe
of public realms. They are described as magnets for passersby. However, primary seating including proper
benches are barely seen near to the area ofperformance. Pedestrians are forced to stand or sitatsidewalks,
steps and other sorts of supplementary seating when enjoying a visual or musical feat. This type of
environmentencourages creativity as people discover differentmethods for an optimum comfortable sitting
experience, further accentuating the tactile qualities of public spaces, offering a wealth of sensual variation
as diverse people are sattogether.
Figure 13: Musical performance at Quiapo (Source: Raymart Jespani)
Figure 14: Art and musical performance at Jalan TAR near SOGO Shopping Mall (Source: Lim Joe Onn)
Audiencesutilizing
supplementaryseating
Audiencesutilizing
supplementaryseating

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DIFFERENCES
PATTERN OF SOCIAL ACTIVITIES - QUIAPO
Public spaces designated for social activities in Quiapo are heavily influenced by the Spanish style ofurban
planning. This is shown by Metro Manila’s numerous cathedrals, wide plazas and meandering alleys that
traverse and connect between the plazas. As social activities are mainly focused within the perimeters ofa
plaza, activities are done in a concentric or scattered manner. Optional activities can be done anywhere.
Figure 15: Plan showing areas with higher occurrence of human activity in Plaza Miranda, Quiapo
Figure 16: Image of human activity arranged randomly in Plaza Miranda, Quiapo (Source: Google Street
View)

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Spanish styles ofurban planning have a stronger emphasis on the spiritual aspect, this contradicts with their
Northern European counterparts that focuses more on economic efficiency. Huge cathedrals were builtnext
to vast plazas, making plazas such as Plaza Miranda the center of social activity for the citizens of Quiapo
(Figures 15 and 16). Each plaza offers a clear vantage to the façade of a cathedral or church (Figure 17),
implementing the Spanish colonial power’s imposing effort on proclaiming religious and administrative
authority. The Filipino public responded behaviorally by making plazas the key node of outdoor social
activities. Plaza Miranda and Quiapo Church became the catalyst of most contact points between people,
strengthening the faith of the locals converted to Roman Catholicism as well as uniting the community under
one roof.
Plazas are wide open without any means of architectural segregation and specific classification of smaller
spaces. Hence, elements such as stalls, parked vehicles, children playing games and chairs are arranged
irregularly within the open space (Figure 16). Individual canopies are placed randomly without any order,
distinction between pedestrian and vehicular paths are blurred, creating a seemingly volatile and versatile
public dimension.
Quiapo is the manifestation ofan idea ofLatin culture forcefully putinto a SoutheastAsian context, impacting
the way people behave. It is designed for people to enjoy the pleasure of being laidback, casual and
spontaneous,evenwhenitcomes to earning a living. The varying and randomchanges ofvenue for activities
every day or every momentprovides seemingly endless elements ofsurprise. The pattern of social activities
goes with the romantic philosophy that even when without order, everything is predestined, God will take
care of the rest.
Figure 17: Quiapo Church and Plaza Miranda (Source:
http://churchguide.blogspot.my/2010/12/quiapo-church.html)
Figure 18: Diagram showing unclear zoning of urban spaces in
Quiapo
Jeepney Stalls
Pedestrians
Stalls

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PATTERNS OF SOCIAL ACTIVITIES – JALAN TAR
On the other hand, Jalan TAR’s public spaces are influenced by the British, which emphasizes more on clear
divisions ofspaces with specific functions. Instead of wide open plazas, the street serve as the main datum
and plazas are merely empty lots unsuitable for efficient construction and do not play major roles. Social
activities and stalls mushroomalong the streets and alleys that serve as an axis guideline forpublic functions.
Thus, social activities happen linearly according to the main roadways. Occurrence of optional activity
reduces ifthe lane is sandwiched on both sides by stalls (Figure 20).
Figure 19: Plan showing areas with higher occurrence of human activity at Jalan TAR
Figure 20: Image of human
activity that runs linearly
according to streets in Jalan
TAR (Source: Astro Awani)

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British styles ofurban planning tend to segregate the city into clear zones, each with their own functions and
are connected together via major vehicle routes. Therefore, Jalan TAR focuses on being the number one
textile and shopping street back in the days. Colonial administrative buildings and massive religious
structures are absentin this area with the mosque Masjid India the only exception. However, social activity
in Jalan TAR did notrevolve around Masjid India as how Quiapo’s pedestrians and businesses reacttowards
Quiapo Church. The mosque is erected next to an alley and is relatively insignificant towards the overall
layout ofhow businesses and activities are done throughoutJalan TAR (Figure 21).
Figure 21: Image of Masjid India (Source: Lim Joe Onn)
Figure 22: Diagram showing clear zoning between
circulation paths
Figure 23: Image of a street performer and
seats arranged in linear order according to
the street (Source: Lim Joe Onn)
The way people sit, how shops flank the street, how pedestrians walk around, how businesses are done,all are
arranged orderly with the street as a basis. Zones for vehicular lanes, pedestrian walkways, positioning ofstalls
and shops are clearly distinctand do notoverlap one another. Itis a reflection ofthe British idea ofurban space
quality, social order and meritocratic ideology thatkeeps society functioning healthily. Businesses compete and
attempt to outshine one another, keeping the urbanscape energetic.
Stalls Stalls
Pedestrians
Vehicles

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VARYING DEGREES OF CONTACT INTENSITY - QUIAPO
Compared to Jalan TAR, Quiapo’s streetscape has a higher frequency ofhigher intensity contacts between
people, namely the contacts classified as close friendships and friends. Churches and nearby institutions
such as the Manuel L. Quezon University and Church of Santa Cruz (Figures 24 and 25) contribute to this
phenomenon. Churches and schools are places where people meetup routinely and foster strong friendship
relations between individuals.
Figure 23: Image of Manuel L. Quezon University
(Source: mayniladailyphoto.blogspot.my)
Figure 24: Image of Santa Cruz Church (Source:
Google Street View)
As a result, people tend to attend religious ceremonies and go shopping in groups, accentuating the sense
ofcommunity in Quiapo. Quiapo serves as an optimum location for friends to meetup and hangouttogether
due to the site’s ease of access from various educational and religious amenities that play major roles in
people’s lives. Thus, itis fairly easy to observe young students or people with religious obligations (probably
wearing uniforms) walking in groups in Quiapo’s public spaces (Figures 25 and 26).
Figure 25: Image taken outside Quiapo Church during a
Wednesday morning (Source: www.wazzuppilipinas.com)
Figure 26: Image of Filipino university students (Source:
www.phildev.org/donate)

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VARYING DEGREES OF CONTACT INTENSITY – JALAN TAR
Educational institutes and places of worship are almost entirely absent in Jalan TAR as the whole site is
dedicated to mercantile and business purposes. Therefore, the occurrence ofhigh intensity contactbetween
people is lower. The overall ambience of Jalan TAR is more acute as the mission of businessmen and
immigrants presentis to survive in an unforgiving competitive environment. Groups ofclose friends can be
seen butat a lower frequency than Quiapo.
As the majority of people in Jalan TAR are Muslims, they attend Friday prayers at a mosque. Muslims may
choose to pray atdifferentmosques every week and there are other grander mosques in Kuala Lumpur. The
faith of Jalan TAR’s community centralizes on the personal spiritual connection with God on enduring daily
hardships rather than proactively encouraging group commitment and interaction. Massive religious
processions thatclog up public spaces are rarely heard of. People behave more individualistically.
Figure 27: Image of people walking either individually or in
small groups at Jalan TAR (Source: Lim Joe Onn)
Figure 28: Image of a group of Pakistani migrant workers
(Source: Lim Joe Onn)
Unlike Quiapo where a vast majority of the population are local Filipinos, Jalan TAR is tremendously diverse
with various immigrant communities of different ethnicities. These people tend to group up with others of
their linguistic likeness (Figure 28). Their relations with people outside their group usually end up being
acquaintances even if they share a similar religion. This is due to the fact that they sometimes stereotype
one another and view others with suspicion. High intensity contact is more frequent at night during a higher
presence of local Malays attending the market and street performances with their friends and family.

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Figure 29: Image of little children having fun in Quiapo (Source: cindy-red03.livejournal.com/19514.html)
Figure 30: Image of homeless men in Jalan TAR (Source: Lim Joe Onn)

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CONCLUSION
QUIAPO JALAN TAR
SIMILARITIES
TYPE OF CONTACT POINTS High occurrence of low intensity passive and chance contacts
DIFFERENCES
PATTERN OF SOCIAL
ACTIVITIES
 Concentric
 Plaza as main focus
 Overlapping zoning
 Linear
 Street oriented
 Distinct zoning
VARYING DEGREES OF
CONTACT INTENSITY
 Higher frequency ofhigh
intensity contact
 Lower frequency ofhigh
intensity contact
Both Quiapo and Jalan TAR are tropical Southeast Asian streetscapes with strong colonial influences from
their former powers. Both sites are also celebrations of their respective places’ intense diversity and rustic
social intrinsic values with flourishing activities. Historical differences and urban morphology play a vital part
in shaping the way people behave and interactwith one another in public spaces.
Figure 31: Table showing summary of essay

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REFERENCES
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market-church.html
Jespani, R. (2017, January 10) Sandugo Drum and Lyre in Quiapo. Retrieved July 4, 2017. from https://
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