ARC 2224 Theories of Architecture and Urbanism

Project One Part One

Reflective Text

Tan Jia- Qi

0310107

Theories of Architecture and Urbanism

Part 1 : Reflective Text
Analyzing Setia Alam through the eyes of Jane Jacobs

First of all, the chosen area for this analysis is Setia Alam, a 2,500-acre mixed development by
SP Setia Berhad Group. Strategically located in Shah Alam, Selangor, the area is accessible via
highways such as the Setia Alam highway, New Klang Valley Expressway and Federal Highway.
Setia Alam is mainly comprised of gated and guarded residential areas or apartments, with variety of
amenities such as schools, hospital and commercial shop offices around. Besides that, landmarks
and buildings such as Setia City Mall, Setia City Park, and the convention centre which are located in
Setia City is only 5 minutes drive away from Setia Alam.
To analyze Setia Alam as an area, Ive decided to study about some of the perspectives and
theories by Jane Jacobs. One of her published books, The Death and Life of Great American Cities
discussed a few principles for creating healthy cities. Ive selected her theories to analyze Setia Alam
as the key points are relevant and applicable to the area, such as the need for mixed primary uses,
sufficient concentration of people and the significance of sidewalks to encourage walking and
interaction.
One of the points that Jane Jacobs stressed on was the importance of the integration of
different building types and uses. According to the theory, a district should serve more than one
primary function, to ensure the presence of people at different times of the day. By doing so, not only
that the liveliness of a district can be improved, it also avoids the buildings to be underused which can
lead to possibility of safety issues. In Setia Alam, this can be observed at some of the schools such
as the badminton academy, which offers training lessons during the day and court rental during the
night. Other than that, a night market opens every Saturday on the street in front of the shop lots,
which is a perfect example of how the street is kept busy with the presence of people that also
unintentionally provides safety. However this phenomenon does not happen in all the areas, for
example the parks in the middle of residential areas remain unused during the night, probably due to
the lack of activities and also safety issues.
Besides that, even though Jane Jacobs acknowledges the necessity of vehicles, she thinks
that diverse neighborhoods should also ease traffic congestion by encouraging people to walk. In
Setia Alam, it can be noticed that the zoning and locations of the amenities are not ideal for all
residential areas. Moreover, one thing that could be observed from Setia Alam is the wide roads and
narrow sidewalks which are not helpful in encouraging people to walk. Jane Jacobs saw that the
usage of cars are somehow affected and caused by the streets as people will have to drive when
everything becomes spread out due to the wide roads. Inefficient location, wide streets and narrow
sidewalks are the issue of Setia Alam, which explains why the people in the area drive instead of walk.

Tan Jia-Qi
0310107

Reference List
1. Jacobs, J. (1961), The Death and Life of Great American Cities, New York: Vintage Books.
2. WNYC. (2012). Jane Jacobs Defends Urbanism in 1960s New York City Planning. Retrieved
19 April 2015, from http://www.wnyc.org/story/192689-jane-jacobs/