THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE & URBANISM

[ ARC 2224 ]

PROJECT 1 ( PART 2 )

THEORIZING ARCHITECTURE
ESSAY
Theorist

Jane Jacobs
Case Study

Parcel 4, Putrajaya ( 4G1, 4G2, 4G3 and 4G4 )

Surayyn Selvan
0309818

Tutor

Mr. Lam Shen Fei

1.0 INTRODUCTION TO THE THEORY

In her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs points out the
failures in modernist urban planning ideas by making careful observations on city life and
deduces suggestions to counter these failures. Focusing on the chapter The Peculiar Nature
of Cities, Jane Jacobs correlates the effectiveness of a city to the circulation of the people in
the city. In this chapter, she highlights three main ideas to create an effective city, which are
utilizing sidewalks to ensure the safety of the city and promote contact between the city
dwellers, using neighborhood parks to liven the city spaces and using city neighborhoods to
draw in people. For this case study, these following topics will be studied in an architectural
point of view to understand the effectiveness of Jane Jacobss theories: the effectiveness of a
continuous network of circulation and spaces, the implementation of diversified programmes to
promote cross circulation and finally, the importance of security and surveillance to ensure the
comfort of the city dwellers.
2.0 INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE STUDY

Picture 1: Map of Parcel 4 in Precinct 4, Putrajaya

Parcel 4 in Putrajaya consists of The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environments,

The Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Malaysia, Department of Fisheries
Malaysia and The Ministry of Youth and Sports. Designed by Veritas Architects Kuala Lumpur
for Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd, the towers are located at the end of the main axis of Precinct
4, Persiaran Perdana. According to the architects statement, the plan of the towers is formed
from the motif of four interlocking circles, in the tradition of geometric Islamic form. The four

towers consist of 18-storeys on a 6-storey podium and rank among the lowest 10% energy
consuming office buildings in Malaysia. Using this parcel, Jane Jacobs theories will be used to
measure the effectiveness of the planning of these towers in terms of its circulation,
programmes and security.
3.0 THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONTINUOUS NETWORK OF CIRCULATION AND SPACES
Jacobs (1961) states that sidewalks should be used to promote contact between
strangers. The city is full of strangers and the only way a city becomes non-obsolete would be
when these strangers form trust amongst each other over a sum of casual, public contact at a
local level. This basically meant that cities should have continuous networks of circulation and
spaces that would result in lively and interesting streets. In order to achieve this level of
contact, several factors come into place to encourage it: the diversity of programmes as well as
the safety and security of the city, which will be explained later on.
In a more architectural context, buildings should aid in promoting contact between
people. The Parcel 4 towers are located along Lebuh Setia which is a main link to Precinct 7
and Precinct 9, on the East-West Axis, along the North-South Axis, it is placed at the end of
Persiaran Perdana offering a gateway to the central boulevard through the symmetrical shape
of the four towers [ refer to Diagram 3.1 ]. Zonings as simple as allocated parking spaces also
play an important role in the meeting of strangers in the city. Despite having basement car
parks for the towers, there are allocated parking zones on the northern and southern ends of
the towers. It can be seen, however, that the northern end has a higher chance of promoting
contact as opposed to the southern end because there are several strategies that form nodes
along the sidewalks, which are the kiosks, bus stops and resting benches [ refer to Diagram 3.1
].
In spite of all these initiatives, it is apparent that a majority of these strategies are not
being put to full use due to the simple fact that the weather in Malaysia does not condone it.
People would rather spark conversations in air-conditioned areas instead of the outdoors
regardless of the presence of shade. So, features such as benches become redundant if not in
context with items such as bus stops or the kiosks. Despite all of this, one very strong strategy
would be the placement of the community surau located in Lot 4G3, where the tower for the
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environments is located [ refer to Diagram 3.2 ]. The surau
is a religious meeting space specifically to the Muslim community and offers a place to promote

contact between strangers. In the car park basements, underneath the sky lit atrium between
the tower and the podium, sunken gardens were designed [ refer to Diagram 3.3 ]. This is a
redundant space as car parks arent usually places for meeting or conversations. The idea of
the placement of gardens in spaces like these however could be implemented in a more public
setting to enhance its effectiveness. The users of the car park are limited to the office staff and
not so much to the general public. Similarly, along the eastern ends of the Ministry of Natural
Resources and Environments, there are sky gardens that provide a break from the internal
office spaces [ refer to Diagram 3.4 ]. However, it is not open to the public and therefore is only
limited to the users of the office. Interestingly, the concourse atriums were designed in a curved
manner offering an almost seamless transition from the boulevard to the building [ refer to
Diagram 3.2 ].
4.0 THE IMPORTANCE OF PROGRAMME DIVERSITY
Jacobs (1961) mentions that by diversifying programmes within a city, the amount of
contact between people would increase. Essentially, parks offer that form of diversity through a
public yard fashion, which meant that parks should be intricate through subtle expressions of
difference throughout the space, centering which she describes how parks usually have places
within them that is commonly understood to be the main focal point, sun and enclosure which
basically meant that these parks were usually bordered by buildings to offer a form of privacy
and in return a sense of security. However, this has to be supported by the fact that there is a
diversity of people to populate and enliven the neighborhood. Jane Jacobs stated that parks
that imposed a single and dominant usage with a limited schedule of users would often result in
the depopulation of a park. It is important for spaces like these to be placed strategically where
there is a mixture of classes that could optimize these public spaces.
Besides that, it is important to have programmes such as stores, bars and restaurants
as they promote the crisscrossing of paths. Jacobs mentions that these programmes give
reasons for people to use the sidewalks and could be used to draw people to places of noninterest. Substantially, activities generated by the users of these programmes will draw other
people into doing the same.
Unfortunately, this is where Parcel 4 is severely lacking. All four towers contain the
same spaces such as the 18-storey office tower, six-storey podium, the atrium and sky gardens
[ refer to Diagram 4.1 ]. Due to the monotony of the programmes, there is very little reason for

the office users to cross paths. Nonetheless, it can be seen that within its individual buildings,
Parcel 4 offers plenty of opportunities to form contact. This in turn means that there would be a
lack of promotion of contact between towers. Besides that, Putrajaya is the federal
administrative city and therefore a majority of the buildings are government buildings with set
schedules. The only time these spaces might be used is during the lunch hours and after office
hours. This suggests that the majority of the time, the public spaces provided would become
obsolete. For example, based on the circular plan of Parcel 4, a centralized space was
generated to function as a meeting ground for the four towers [ refer to Diagram 4.2 ]. This
supports Jane Jacobs idea of having a centralized space. However, the idea is ineffective in
this context due to the lack of diversity and routine work hours. This is beside the fact that the
space is located opposite the roads and have very little shading ground. All these factors,
deters users from occupying the space resulting in an unused public space. Contrasting her
idea of having subtle expressions of differences to encourage intricacy, Persiaran Perdana is a
long, flat stretch of street with no change in landscaping [ refer to Diagram 4.3 ]. Although, this
may be due to the fact that the main focus would be on the Prime Ministers office located on
the northern end of the axis, it creates a very uninteresting landscape for people to stop and
take in.
5.0 SECURITY AND SURVEILLANCE
It is the fundamental task of the city streets and the sidewalks to keep the city safe
( Jacobs, 1961, pg. 30). When the users of these streets feel safe, it promotes a more
comfortable environment for the users to experience. It is very important for a street and
sidewalk to be safe because it adds to the idea of forming trust within the city as mentioned
earlier in Topic 3.0. The main idea was that the more people there were, the higher the
surveillance of an area and this would directly affect the security of the space. The above
factors in Topic 3.0 and Topic 4.0 play a very important role in drawing in a crowd to ensure
spaces are utilized. She then deduces that there are several ideas to take into account to
establish a sense of security. Firstly, there must be a clear distinction between the public realms
and the private spaces. Secondly, there must be constant surveillance on the streets by those
whom are utilizing it a majority of the time. Finally, there must be regular movement on the
streets to add to the surveillance. All these points lead up to the idea that buildings must border
the spaces in order to provide a peace of mind when using the streets and sidewalks. Besides
that, Jane Jacobs also mentions that streets and sidewalks must be lit with bright streetlights to
offer assurance of their safety to the users.

It can be seen that the Parcel 4 towers border the main circulatory paths, Jalan Kemerdekaan
and Persiaran Perdana [ refer to Diagram 5.1 ]. Lebuh Setia would be considered the least safe
for pedestrians to maneuver due to the fact that the building only borders one side of the street
and the other side is a completely open space. Similarly, the southern and eastern end of the
Parcel would have a higher risk of suspicious acitivites occurring due to the fact that there is a
lack of public buildings but have services and ongoing construction, there is no pedestrian
movement and a majority of open spaces. Lot 4G1, The Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based
Industry Malaysia would be considered the safest border to utilize because all the sidewalks
are bordered by buildings that are utilized [ refer to Diagram 5.2 ]. In relation to the idea of
having regular movement on the streets, Persiaran Perdana would be considered risky as well
because there is little to no form of pedestrian movement. As mentioned before, this is due to
the fact that the accessibility of the space is disrupted by the distance between the buildings
and the fountain area [ refer to Diagram 5.3 ]. The sidewalks directly adjacent to the buildings
offer a safer path to maneuver on.
6.0 CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the main concept of Jane Jacobs is to promote contact within the city by
analyzing factors such as the diversity in programmes as well as security and surveillance to
measure the effectiveness of a city in relation to the circulation of the city. She places the
importance of having well circulated spaces to ensure the liveliness of the city. Parcel 4 in
Putrajaya has managed to support a majority of her ideas but in the Malaysian context, some of
Jane Jacobs theories are difficult to implement due to the differences in culture, weather and
building regulations. This can be seen especially in the idea of having a centralized space in a
public area to promote crowd attraction. This is not to say that Parcel 4 is wrong in its design
strategies and planning. Nevertheless, by using her theories, it can be seen that there are
many ways for architects and urban planners to take into account the success in building an
effective city.

7.0 REFERENCES
Jacobs, J. (1961). The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York:Random
House.
Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment Presentation Panels. (2010). Courtesy of
Architect. Geneva: Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
Tay, L., & Vin, L. (2007). VERITAS 1987-2007. Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan: Veritas
Management Sdn Bhd.
Wendt, M. (2009). The Importance of Death and Life of Great American Cities
(1961) by Jane Jacobs to the Profession of Urban Planning. Retrieved April 2, 2015
from http://www.sppa.udel.edu/sites/suapp.udel.edu/files/The Importance of Dealth and
Life.pdf.