urbanreport.

Crossing Jalan Besar: An Urban Study of the “Big Road”

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Frederick Low A0085902A AR2223

Points of Study: Understand the make up of Jalan Besar as a road On a Macro-level: to understand how JBR, an important linkway, begin to divide the given site.

On a Micro-level: to understand how JBR in itself is fragmented and locally divisive in nature.

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JALAN BESAR ROAD

FOCH ROAD

PETAIN ROAD

KITCHENER ROAD

The Site

Jalan Besar Road

Conservation Plan SYED ALWI ROAD

The Jalan Besar Distict is the chosen site for the urban analysis. The area is characterised by its numerous clan associations, eating houses, places of worship, automobile workshops, construction warehouses, hostels and small offices. Rich in cultural history, the shophouse typology is commonplace in the area. The site also has its fair share of more ‘modern’ buildings and that which is interesting is the juxtaposition of the old and the new.

The chosen road for this urban study is Jalan Besar road. Jalan Besar (or “big road” in Malay) started as a track through a betel nut and fruit orchard opened by the Norris Brothers in the 1830s. In the 1880s and 1890s, the Municipality expanded the road and aptly named it Jalan Besar.

Jalan Besar is a street of shophouses. Lined with some two hundred and thirty-five shophouses, the street gives a sense of what Singapore was like in the past. Built between the 1880s and 1960s, the evolution of Jalan Besar as a road is encrypted into the changes in the formal language of the shophouses.

Bordered in red is where the chosen road sits within the larger urban fabric. Almost dividing the area into two halves and being a one-way road, Jalan Besar Road can be seen as an edge/threshold.

With differing functions and nodal points located on both halves, the divisive nature of the road is emphasized and crossing Jalan Besar has become a phenomenon in its own right.

Jalan Besar is now a 4-lane road travelling in a single direction. An extension, which was introduced in the mid 1900s (highlighted in yellow), Foch Road, is a 2-lane road receiving traffic from both Lavender Street and u-turning traffic from Jalan Besar Road. Despite looking as though it should be part of the same road (with its linear continuation as opposed to the present kink), the character of both streets are strikingly different in terms of land use pattern and street dynamics.

The coloured overlay on this map indicates the conservation of the traditional shophouse typology that now serves various functions. As the direction that the shophouse front face is indcative of road importance at the time of its construction, it is safe to conclude that Jalan Besar road is purposefully emphasized during early stages of ribbon-developments. The map also speaks of several other important roads that run perpendicular to Jalan Besar, namely, Petain Road, Kitchener Road and Syed Alwi Road, all of which are severed by “the Big Road”.

It is interesting to note that the kink in the road is attributed to a very large estate that negotiated a diversion.

With this understanding, this study will look into the characteristics of Jalan Besar as a road and explore the indicators that suggest the road to be a cut in a pie.

Highlighted in blue are key landmarks on each half, namely the Jalan Besar Stadium and Mustafa Shopping Centre.

Aerial Perspective Zooming out at a macro-scale, one can easily notice how Jalan Besar can be seen as a cut through the area. Towards the left of Jalan Besar Road, one takes notice to the cluster of high-rise residential buildings (HDB flats) and a singular open space in the middle (Jalan Besar Stadium and the PA), This is in contrast to the buildings on the right that consists of high-rise condominiums, several pockets of open spaces and a higher percentage of shophouses is visually registered.

Generally, the area on the left appears to be much quieter as compared to the area on the right – with Mustafa Centre and other newer developments such as City Square Mall and condominiums, attracting the crowd.

The dynamic and vibrant nature of the site can also be attributed to the differences between the two halves giving rise to interesting human movement across and along the road during different times of the week and day. e.g. the generall crossing from the left to the right on the weekends vs the presense of large crowds on the left during a foorball match

While it is strangely comforting to analyse the road within the larger scheme of things, the study will also attempt to zoom into a micro-level to understand the nuances that takes place along the road itself and even between Jalan Besar Road and Foch Road.

It would be of great value if one discovers a microcsm of the entire site along Jalan Besar Road.

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SERANGOON ROAD

ROCHOR ROAD (LAVENDER STREET)

SERANGOON ROAD

LAVENDER STREET

SERANGOON ROAD

LAVENDER STREET FOCH ROAD

VEGETABLE GARDEN OLD RUBBER FACTORY

BRICKERIES NEW WORLD AMUSEMENT PARK

ALLENBY HOUSE

JALAN BESAR STADIUM MANGROVE SWAMP

VICTORIA SCHOOL

JALAN BESAR ROAD

late-1800s

JALAN BESAR ROAD

JALAN BESAR ROAD

present

1920s

The Evolution of Jalan Besar Road

Frontage Changes – Evolution of the Shophouse

Through a series of maps, past and present, it is evident that Jalan Besar Road has gone through its fair share of change and evolution. With the growing importance of the area as a whole, the facilitation of infrastructure enhancement was necessary. Jalan Besar Road was widened a decade after the road was constructed to allow for smooth traffic for carriages and bullock carts.

Other than the physical widening and lengthening of the Jalan Besar Road, there is also a change in building typology along the road. As said earlier, a large portion of the site is currently under conservation. The protection of the these shophouses creates an interested elevation as shophouses that are not conserved are replaced by newer buildings, some of which has embraced elements of the traditional shophouse typology while others are in stark contrast. The sketches below show a selection of developments that has recorded this change along Jalan Besar Road.

From its initial form, where the road was conceptualised as an important link way from the city to the industry areas, the divisive nature of Jalan Besar was cultivated, perhaps, unintentionally. In the earliest map that could be found, the road can be seen as a cut that separates the swamp from early agriculture activities. The large swamp area is plotted right beside octogonal blocks and strips that cater to farming purposes.

As industry grew, as due in the framework of urbanisation, ribbon developments took place. The development of a comprehensive drainage and waterway system was then seen to be necessary in order to sustain the development.

This hidden system on site has supplemented the research for this report. The schism that Jalan Besar Road has caused is reflected in the treatment of the open drains today. This will be explored later.

The two maps on the right further illustrates the transition from an almost wild landscape to a grided urban fabric in just a short span of 30 years. Bolded blocks represent buildings and housing. It is clear that as a result of urbanisation, unplanned scattered housing gave way for houses planned in an octogonal fashion. This is the advent of the shophouse typology along Jalan Besar

1969

210-226 Jalan Besar

The building in the sketch has been offset from the original road boundary to accomodate private parking space in front of the shophouse for the owners and customers. While it still maintains the essence of a shophouse (where shops are on the first level with residential spaces above), the large frontage and unadorned facade clearly illustrates the fact that this is a design from a different time.

Jalan Besar Plaza (sketch above) was originally a row of 9-shophouses owned by the Jalan Besar Land Investment Co. As the ownership was retained, the transformation came collectively and the row of shop houses became an entire shopping centre. With a variety of shops within the complex, Jalan Besar Plaza can be considered a node which in turn, on a larger scale, becomes a reason for pedestrians to cross Jalan Besar Road.

Constructed right beside conserved shophouses, a discontinued 5-foot walkway creates an edge, locally, and fragments the once homogenous row of shophouses.

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Other interesting buildings along the road includes the Allenby House and the International house, both of which possess a curved frontage.

Street Level Activity

Enterainment and Eateries vs. Offices

Shophouses are typically used for commercial purposes after conservation and they form the predominant activity in the urban land use mapping. Apart from street parking along Jalan Besar and Foch Road, two open carparks are also situated in the area.

Eateries, pubs and bars are situated mostly along Foch Road (the newer extension) while the office, retail and workshop spaces are situtated along the main road.

Quite evident on site is the triangular plot of land wedged between Foch and Jalan Besar Road. Three buildings currently stand on that plot of land, Eminent Plaza, Lavender Food Square and Hoa Nam Building.. This can be considered a nodal point with the presense of a bus stop and a hawker centre. Functional spaces seem to be arranged around the open car-park which serves as a node where office workers and people who frequent eateries, pubs or bars congregate and subsequently disperse from.

The predominent use of the buildings along Jalan Besar is commercial. The road branches out into less busy roads where landuse change is almost immediate, from commercial to residential and places of worship etc.

Through the analysis of landuse, we will be able to find out on a very basic level what negotiates human movement. e.g. getting from the carpark to the

Foch road is also noted to be a two-way, two-land road with road side parking on both sides.

Commercial Use

Retail & Services (offices, hotels, shops etc.)

Community Building

Eateries, Pubs & Bars

Residential

Workshops

Carpark

Others

Human Density Mapping (Day) Human Density Mapping – Day

Human density in the day is greatly influenced by the types of shops and time of day. Whilst the carpark will always remain a nodal point with constant flow of vehicular and human traffic, the general human density distribution is quite evenly spread out with small clusters around eateries and bus stops. It is also noteworthy to point out that not all eateries along the road open in the day, perhaps the areas with the highest density in the day go to Lavender Food Square and Jalan Besar Plaza.

Human Density Mapping – Night

By night, more definite clusters take form. The vibrancy of nightlight, pubs and bars take over. The carpark still remains highly dense. As regular shops, services and offices are closed at night, the distribution of human density is less even and must more fragmented. Syed Alwi Road, right at the bottom of the map begin to fill up as workers return to their housing units.

Human density mapping highlights key difference in land use and the implications of time. This study will help us understand how the time of day affect the human movement from one side of Jalan Besar to the other.

Retail & Services (offices, hotels, shops etc.)

Retail & Services (offices, hotels, shops etc.)

Eateries, Pubs & Bars

Eateries, Pubs & Bars

Workshops

Workshops

Others Human Density

Human Density

Others

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Activities on Ground Floor The mapping is done by determining the ground floor activity. However on deeper inspection, many of these shophouses have different levels of activities within itself. Therefore, with an overlay of other level uses, could help support the hypothesis

Overlay of shophouses with different activities within the same unit By comparing the two mappings, there is indication that a significant number of shophouses cater to different activities on different levels within the same unit. Along Jalan Besar Road, most upper level uses are attributed to residential space with several others specified as offices and healthcare services.

Residential spots and any kind of lodging are often referenced to be ‘final’ destination points – where a pattern of commute and move can be established due to the frequency of the movement. With that in mind, residential spots induces the need for road crossing, e.g. from the bus stop to home or from sports complex to home.

Retail & Services (offices, hotels, shops etc.)

Retail & Services (offices, hotels, shops etc.)

Eateries, Pubs & Bars

Eateries, Pubs & Bars

Workshops

Workshops

Others

Others Different activities within a shophouse

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Foch Road & Jalan Besar Road

In this sketch, one is able to make out the stretch of roadside parking along Foch Road. The dominant feature along Foch Road is hotel 81.

The presense of Hoa Nam Building shields Foch Road from the main thoroughfare, this contributes to the different characteristics

The character of Jalan Besar Road and Foch Road are greatly dissimilar. For one, the nature of shops along both roads are different – with reference to the mapping of urban land use, Jalan Besar houses mostly retail, services and workshops whilst Foch Road is dominated by eateries, bars and pubs. Based purely on the activites that happen on the streets, a vastly contasting street character is expected (JBR would perhaps be more sedate in the night time as compared to Foch Road).

With the presence of parking spaces at the wedge with food places and eateries surrounding it, human traffic along Foch Road can be said to be at its peak human traffic during meal times and at night (with the numerous pubs and bars in the area).

In the case of Jalan Besar Road, the nature of it being a one way road contributes to the biasness of movement, as bus stops are all located on the same side. During the weekends, especially in the late evening, throngs of people cross the road from the bus stop over on the left to the right.

VIEW 1

Mostly of Indian decent, the movement of these people wcan be attributed to the desire to get to the Mustafa Centre or the heart of the little India district.

HOTEL 81

HOA NAM BUILDING

TURN INTO BEATTY LANE ROADSIDE PARKING VIEW 1

VIEW 3 EMINENT PLAZA

The main aspect of this sketch is to higlight the vehicular transition from Foch Road onto Jalan Besar Road.

LAVENDER FOOD SQUARE

OPEN CARPARK HOA NAM BUILDING

VIEW 4 HDB FLATS

HOTEL 81

JALAN BESAR ROAD

VIEW 5 VIEW 2

Y JUNCTION FOCH ROAD VIEW 2

General flow of pedestrians crossing the road is sedate at any other time of the week. Even so, the act of crossing Jalan Besar Road remains almost a phenomenon. In the following page, I will look at several key landmarks and nodal points that could possibly influence human movement patterns across Jalan Besar Road.

This side of the wedge has minimal human traffic. Human density on the wedge is highly concentrated at Lavender Foor Square and the carpark.

EMINENT PLAZA FACING JBR

In this light, movement across Foch Road can be said to be more straight forward but no doubt a microcosm of Jalan BesarRoad.

In this sketch, one is able to make out the stretch of roadside parking along Foch Road. The dominant feature along Foch Road is hotel 81.

The presense of Hoa Nam Building shields Foch Road from the main thoroughfare. This could have, perhaps, contributed to the contrast in street character

OPEN SPACE WITH LANDSCAPING

VIEW 3

HOA NAM BUILDING FACING FOCH ROAD

SHOPHOUSE FRONT ROW OF BARS/PUBS

LAVENDER FOOD SQUARE

U-TURN LANE FROM JBR

OPEN CARPARK

LANDSCAPE FOCH ROAD OUT TOWARDS JBR

VIEW 5

VIEW 4

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Key landmarks + Nodes along Jalan Besar Road and its vacinity Key nodal points and landmarks on site play an important role in determining human and traffic movement. Whilst it is easy to determine the flow of vehicular traffic, with the reading of road maps and understanding the physical characteristic of a road, human movement is harder to predict. Noted on this page are several draw factors for both halves of the site. The reason for attempting to understand key landmarks and nodes is so as to try to understand the decision of crossing a threshold.

While it is obvious that the act of crossing a threshold is often borne out of necessity and thus not particularly worth studying, the pattern that this study is trying to understand deals largely with how time influences human movement and how physical elements on site influence the manner of crossing Jalan Besar.

City Square Mall

Foch Road

Landmarks Public Transport (MRT & bus stops)

Jalan Besar Stadium

PA (old victoria school)

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At the Crossing

Jalan Besar Road, being a main thoroughfare, absorbs large amount of vehicular traffic.

With few designated pedestrian crossings, attempting to cross over to the other side requires careful time coordination. Momentarily after ever few minutes, the road will be empty enough, allowing pedestrians to cross.

Below is a map that focuses on a designated crossing at the junction of Petain Road and Jalan Besar Road.

JALAN

CH

BESA R

This view looks right into Petain Road – a much quieter road

FO

VIEW 1

RO AD

ROA D

VIEW 4

The wide four-lane road is depicted in the sketch on the left where an unusual curved road (Allenby Road) generates greater risk as the road seems to ‘widen’ even more. Allenby Road’s curvature gave rise to 2 buildings with curve frontages, the Allenby House and the International House. The road is the only one that leads vehicular traffic straight to Jalan Besar Stadium.

VIEW 4 VIEW 5 PE TA I

VIEW 2

VIEW 3 N

RO AD

VIEW 6 VIEW 1

VIEW 5

Y ALLENB

VIEW 2

JAL

AN

BE S

AR

RO AD

D ROA

Here, a vehicle is turning out from Petain Road onto Jalan Besar. Shophouses flank both sides of the road. Allenby House is seen on the left

KI TC H

PL U

The pedestrian crossing at Petain Road is one of three designated crossings along Jalan Besar Road within the given site boundary.

Direction of Vehicular Traffic ME R

RO AD

From this understanding, one can readily assume that the fastest way by foot to the stadium during a game night would be to cross just before Allenby Road.

Carparks Traffic Lights

EN

ER

Bus Stop RO AD

VIEW 6 VIEW 3

One of three junctions – Jalan Besar cutting Petain Road into half.

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Jalan Besar and the Waterways – Validating the Roads Divisive Nature

KITCHENER LINK

SOMME ROAD

PA VE

D

CA

NA

L

A

B

The results of evaluating the canal and waterway system validates the notion that Jalan Besar Road is in fact a road that divides as much as it links. The sketch on the left shows the open canal all paved up, along City Square Residences (illustrated in the background). The covered canal facilitates human traffic from Jalan Besar Road to Somme Road, straight down to Kitchner Link. Paved out of necessity and conveinence of the residence, the invisible blue print of the canal is now highlighted by human movement as road crossing now takes place where the canal once showed. Over on the other side of the road, the canal is still unpaved.

In this light, the bus stop can be seen to be a nodal point. Pedestrians crossing from A–B can be concluded to have a more definite movement pattern, whilst pedestrians crossing from B-A has a movement pattern that is more erratic and undetermined, fanning out rather than consolidating.

Overlay: historical canal construction and present day urban fabric

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O

JAL

N G

Jalan Besar Road – The Final Cut

SY

ED

AR RO AD BE S

LE

RO AD

AN

RW HI

TY

SA M

EN ER

RO AD

AL W IR O AD

JAL

CH

TT

RO AD

KI T

AN

BE S

RO AD

D ROA NBY ALLE

AR RO AD

PE TA IN

KIT

M AU D

E

CH E

N ER

RO AD

RO AD

The final point of analysis to determine the extent of Jalan Besar Road’s divisive nature lies how it meets other roads.

Jalan Besar Road can be said to be a cut right through 3 other main roads on site, namely, Syed Alwi Road, Kitchener Road and Petain Road. The change in shophouse frontage direction illustrates the importance of these roads during the time of construction. By comparing the two halves the same road, one can quickly see that Jalan Besar Road has indeed divided the area into two.

Kitchener Road: The typology of the shophouse remains relevant on the left side of JBR, while the right side is made up of complexes with Jalan Besar Plaza garnering most attention.

Petain Road: The same can be said for Petain Road. The character of the road on both halves are strikingly dissimilar. Shophouse frontage faces the road on the left side of JBR whilst the right has no facing frontages.

Allenby Road: This interesting curved slipped road was constructed to allow for direct access from JBR to the stadium parking. The lack of a continuity for Allenby Road across JBR substantiates the fact that the character of the 2 halves are anything but alike.

Syed Alwi Road: Even along Syed Alwi, the contrast between uses with the two halves is pretty evident. Mustafa Centre sits on the left with what seems to be a rank of shophouses being split by JBR and continuing downt he right. The second level of the right half shophouse consist of mainly housing for foreign workers. One can envisage a constant crossing of JBR along Syed Alwi Road as Mustafa Centre is a strong nodal point.

Aerial Perspective This aeriel perspective highlights the typology of the area. Jalan Besar runs right through the valley that is created by the general urban typology. On a micro-scale, Jalan Besar as a road has evolved tremendously since its humble beginnings as a dirt road. The age of modernism has somwhat resulted in a subtle fragmentation of what used to be a homogenous street elevation with the introduction of complexes and new buildings with modern facades and materials. On a Macro-scale, the road that was conceptualised to link the city to the industries has now created a divide. Nuanced or not, one cannot deny that Jalan Besar road has facilitated the germination of Foch Road’s unique street character (purely entertainment).

Jalan Besar is a biased road, a threshold and an edge. Crossing Jalan Besar will always be a precarious act as one is drawn towards the different landmarks that characterises the much differentiated two halves of the Jalan Besar District.

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