Until now, around these towers, some sensitivity has been shown to making people feel happy wandering amongst them. But mostly, in Malaysia as in most of South East Asia, little thought is given to how human beings actually can get near these places, or move around safely and logically.
The car is the new-crowned king in South East Asia. Other modes of traffic take a back seat. So a friend who was asked to plan a “heritage walking trail” in KL discovered it was impossible to get around without taking your life in your hands. And, still, railway stations are built within 200 metres of each other, but without being joined-up. Cronyism may be a factor… A third company might get a contract to built a connecting pedestrian bridge between the two, across the dual carriageway - complete with expensive air conditioning. |
rail and bus stations and taxi ranks often connect inside shopping centres.
London still gets things wrong too, of course.
Opposite my old workplace, BBC Television Centre, Europe’s (then) biggest urban shopping mall, Westfield, was built alongside one new train station, a second refurbished station, and a third which was left unchanged...
But none of these were integrated into the massive emporium -
you have to walk and (often) get wet, to enter from the trains and buses.
And so to my photographs, which show the route to another record-breaking retail space… 1 Utama is (for a short while, no doubt) South East Asia’s largest shopping centre. There’s a bus station integrated into the mall, a massive car park, but no trains - and an obstacle course for pedestrians. | |
| It’s a short half mile from the charming TTDI (Taman Tun Dr Ismail) neighbourhood. But disregard for pedestrians is typical here. Clear pathways and pavements ending abruptly in the middle of rushing traffic, or in plain dead-ends. In the heat, humidity and pollution of KL, it’s probably a good idea to take a car to travel around, if you can afford it, and you don’t worry about adding to the city’s smog. But how about giving pedestrians a chance, when you’re building something so new? |