Walkability and Gentrification
gen·tri·fi·ca·tion
/ˌjentrəfəˈkāSH(ə)n/
noun
the process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process.
In West Borneo, although urban planning has been about pedestrians, in reality, the implementation is little to none to be seen. It is also related to its sparse places within urban area and the lack of public transportation. Even in the capital city, Pontianak, it is not very common to get on the bus to go from one place to another.
Let’s try to compare walkability within regions in Indonesia. in Bali, we might see that walkability slightly increases for there are tourism area. Tourists want to explore more about Bali as a living space, as a journey, not only about a destination. Perhaps, it should be brought up in the next writing.
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In West Borneo, Singkawang is the tourist’s destination. Although, it’s not common for people to take public transport there, some still try to embrace the ambience of the city. It does not have extra wide pedestrian area but it somehow creates the sense of security to walk on foot.
As that comes to mind of local government’s, tourism is one of the vital things of Singkawang identity. Therefore, much development is pushed towards tourism. It is seen from the eye-setting street furnitures. How it should have people take pictures and keep them as memories.
With that point of view, there’s also development towards street food vendors to somehow be in line with the macro design. It apparently increases the potential walkability of the space. In Indonesia we find the term ‘wisata kuliner’ (wisata: tourism; kuliner: culinary), or literally it is translated as culinary tourism, which is one of Singkawang’s highest point. Rujak Thai Phui Ji is one of the culinary tourism destinations.
It is said that it’s changed in terms of its dining space size. However we can see that it is basically located in the small alley which is turned into dining space. The walls and the floor are turned into certain atmosphere. The old style of Malay (or in Indonesian, Melayu) windows are also highlighted as decoration signature.
Can all these transformations be called gentrification? Does the space serve the same function as it did back in the day?
West Borneo, 2020
As written on commondani.tumblr.com
