Functional uses of space in public place Case Study: Taman Bungkul Surabaya

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1 Functional uses of space in public place Case Study: Taman Bungkul Surabaya Himasari Hanan, Rakryan Khrisnaramya Department of Architecture, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung, Indonesia ABSTRACT This paper is an attempt to identify the way people do activities and organize themselves in using space in public place. The study is intended to see how different people use and value urban open space in Taman Bungkul Surabaya. The study found significant functional differences in the use of open space. Children come to the place with their mothers, but each of them has their own pattern in using the space. Young people come to the place for their own sake and take advantage of the live performances being offered. On the other hand, street vendors see social qualities of the place as the most liked asset. All of these users did not put much value to the aesthetic qualities of the place its landscaping and design elements. According to the interview with users, Taman Bungkul is an ideal place for an active enjoyment, relaxation, meeting friends and doing business. This paper will describe the implication of functional uses to spatial design in public place, in which seating and business concerns are important factors. Keywords: social space, open market, Surabaya, public place. INTRODUCTION In the last decade, the government of Surabaya has succeeded improving its city appearance by revitalizing urban open spaces into green areas and public spaces. The city of Surabaya got numerous recognitions for its effort providing best public places and facilitating public activities in open spaces. Taman Bungkul is one of the first generation of revitalization program of public places in Surabaya. It is launched in 2007 and up to now has become the most popular and well-functioned urban open space in the region. Taman Bungkul, with an area of approximately 900 m2, is located at Raya Darmo Boulevard in the historical colonial residential district of Surabaya. It can be accessed from any directions because the place is like an island surrounded by roads, and is open for 24 hours of use. Some public furnitures such as an amphitheater, a jogging track, a children playground, and a historical situs of mbah Bungkul (a religious scholar in 15 th century) burial ground are there on site. Food stalls are to be found next to the open space, and hot spots of wifi connection are provided by the operator. On weekends people perform live music. Many people visit the place during the day and at night, and, at present, it becomes a recreation park and urban oasis for the people to get rid of the heat, the crowd of the traffic and stresses of work. This paper is written based on the field survey in the period of 5 months in this year, in time interval of morning, afternoon and evening, on weekdays and weekends. All data collected during the survey are then plotted on grid map to identify spatial uses taking place. The behaviors of visitors are observed and some people are interviewed to apprehend preferences of the people to be in the public place. The study is intended to investigate how different age groups utilize the space and how activities and physical setting are interrelated in the functioning of a public place. 1

2 PHYSICAL SETTING Figure 1. Division of area in the public place Taman Bungkul has a theme of Sport, Education and Entertainment for the design. Its spatial layout is organized to accommodate several activities simultaneously in one place, in that the public area is divided as follows: 1. The Plaza, a large open space in a circle form, which is usually used for children playing around and for people sitting around and watching other people. The edge is bordered by benches for people to sit on. Live performances and other entertainment activities are taking place in this area on a temporary stage. Water features are set up at the periphery of the plaza. 2. Children playground area, where play equipments and public furnitures are installed. A gazebo stands out as the rest place for visitors, in particular for the parents of the children playing over there. 3. Sports area, where tracks are provided for sport activities, which is mostly used for skateboard and BMX activities. 4. Food stalls (PKL), a confined area designated for eating and shopping activities, where table and stools are provided under a light construction. Many food stalls are open for 24 hours. 5. Green area, where flowers and greenery are planted as soft landscape of the public place. This area is not accessible for visitors. The place is named in honor of the religious scholar Bungkul, who is called as Sunan Bungkul by local people, because he had spread out Islam in Surabaya. Designed around the burial ground of Sunan Bungkul, the place exemplifies the best uses of open space and provides a striking green space to its busy neighborhood. Screened from the major boulevard Raya Darmo, 2

3 with the most vehicular traffic, and Taman Bungkul Street by vegetation, the place provides a green oasis in the middle of the city. The greenery and children playground are the most important elements in creating an atmosphere of relaxation and retreat. Both features provide visual contrast and cooling experience on hot days. The greenery softens the hard surface of the plaza as well as the children playground. The variety of spaces, where each of which has a distinctly different character, allows the place to accommodate a wide range of activities and experiences for children to seniors. Although the burial ground originates the existence, it is less influential in characterizing the place. It did not have an impact of symbolic significance of the place. Historically, a burial ground has been linked with a meaningful place for a pilgrimage visit. Today, the place is entirely used for mundane activities involving from children play, sport events to hard rock music performances. Taman Bungkul is clearly designed to fulfill the needs for everyday life of the urban people of today rather than supporting its historical background and symbolic significance. RANGE OF ACTIVITIES Figure 2. The plaza as a center of activity attracts crowd of people on weekends On Sunday morning, Taman Bungkul is the center of the car free day event in Surabaya. The plaza has attracted many people to come for sport activities and to have fun with others. Sport activities are regularly organized by PT Telkom starting at 7.00 am and mostly participated by women. Men and children are sitting around at the periphery watching the activities. The women feel engaged in public scene through attending the sports while the men through watching people and activities. After the sport activities are finished, the children use the plaza for biking around which is encouraged by the street vendors who are renting the vehicles. 3

Besides that, the circular form of its physical setting is very supportive for a constantly changing mix of users and uses.

4 The uses of plaza for large gathering have developed without deliberate planning by repeated use in informal way. The large space of pavement has provided a proper space for large crowd engagement and informal gatherings. Besides that, the circular form of its physical setting is very supportive for a constantly changing mix of users and uses. The plaza accommodates a variety of purposes and becomes, over time, a place which people rely on for meeting people and having an active recreation. Over the years, the unplanned place has evolved into a popular public place that attracts many different kinds of users and uses. Figure 3. (a) Sport activities and (b) music performance on the plaza On Saturday night the plaza transforms itself into a kind of festival market. The pedestrian paths surrounding the open space are fully occupied by street vendors selling all kind of merchandise: food, beverages, clothing, accessories, portray painting and tattoo design. The jogging tracks are changed into seating places where young people sitting on ground in groups to amuse themselves. Most of them stay there until late night to experience the atmosphere of liveliness. On the periphery benches, a lot of people in couples sit around enjoying the scene. On weekends, the number of visitor is high in Sunday morning for sport activities and in the Saturday evening for live performances. On the other hand, on weekdays, only a few number of people come to the plaza in the afternoon and evening for sitting and hanging around with friends. Figure 4. Number of visitors during the day Taman Bungkul provides international standard of children facilities for active recreation such as swings, slides, seesaws and benches on a hard surface. Children come to play usually starting from 2 pm in the afternoon after they finished their school until in the evening. Most children playing in Taman Bungkul are between 5 10 years old, and coming to the place accompanied by the parents. In the evening, the number of playing children increases and some parents play together with their children or sit around in gazebo and benches while waiting. In the morning there are no children at all playing at the place, but few young people in couples enjoying their private time. The active engagement of children in plaza is closely linked to the services offered 4

by street vendors. High intensity of spatial uses is promoted by trendy devices which introduce the image of modern lifestyle or replication of what being showed off in public media.

Teenagers playing skateboard and BMX come mostly in the afternoon, and on weekends they will dominate the uses of space until late evening.

5 by street vendors. High intensity of spatial uses is promoted by trendy devices which introduce the image of modern lifestyle or replication of what being showed off in public media. The number of street vendors offering vehicles for rent and selling toys increases in compliance with the number of visitors. Teenagers playing skateboard and BMX come mostly in the afternoon, and on weekends they will dominate the uses of space until late evening. Many other teenagers are also there watching the play and supporting their idols. They usually sit around setting up boundaries to the play arena. The various activities occurring in Taman Bungkul reflect the differences in the user s ages and in the spaces. The adults use the plaza as a place to sit and talk with other people and to take part of the busy urban life. Their regular visit claims certain spaces to be their territory. A group of people prefer to sit along the steps or benches in a linear position to watch what is happening at place, and other groups prefer to sit around in a cluster to talk with friends. Women prefer to sit and talk in the area of children playground because in the mean time they can watch their children. Visitors in couple seek quieter spots along the pathways to maintain a degree of privacy. Although the design s formality restricts more varied seating and the green areas are not intended to be used, the place accommodates diversity of uses and users. Figure 4. (a) Standard elements of playground (b) Rented vehicles offered by street vendors The specific reasons people come to public areas reflect many aspects of urban life and human needs. A visit to Taman Bungkul enables people to connect with others and to affiliate with other people. This occurs when visitors position themselves to watch the scene and other people. Sufficient seating area is the aspect of visitor s interest to stay in Taman Bungkul. People need to have something that persuades them to stay. Usually people look for visual attraction in their surrounding and for objects and events to which they can orientate themselves. The benches are accommodative to the needs of people, because their position is oriented toward the centre of activities, easy to access, and available for individual and groups uses. The spaces available also provide a wide variety of seating choices and arrangements: benches, chairs, banks, and steps, with distinctive character. Taman Bungkul has been densely furnished and had defined edges. The most attractive focal element is, yet, the plaza and various activities on it. 5

Figure 5. (a) Steps as seating (b) Seating arrangement toward the scene Figure 6.

talk with others. In the evening, people on the way back home visit the stalls to have dinner.

6 Figure 5. (a) Steps as seating (b) Seating arrangement toward the scene Figure 6. (a) spatial arrangement in seating (b) a distinct seating object The food stalls attract people to come over the place, which eventually attract more other people to come. There are only a few people sitting in food stalls in the morning, but at noon many people from the offices nearby come to have lunch and talk with others. In the evening, people on the way back home visit the stalls to have dinner. On weekends, temporary mobile food vendors take advantage of the crowd by positioning themselves on pedestrian pathways selling snacks, such as boiled corn and peanut or drinks. In particular on Sundays people enjoy having food at stalls after sport exercise, which in turn attract more people to stop by because of seeing the crowd. The food stalls are open for 24 hours, by which they provide an added element of comfort and safety in the place. CONCLUSION Because of its strategic location and lots of greenery, Taman Bungkul is heavily used and visited by people who live in the midst of many hard surfaces and who have no backyards. 6

7 There is no space for playing fields, but there is a multifunction plaza, a playground for children and benches and paths for talking, people watching and walking. The predominant factor of the public life in Taman Bungkul is the multipurpose space in which various social activities may take place. The next factor is the service of basic needs of society in obtaining food, and the selling of products for children, in particular. The desire for food and buying things supports the making of an open market place though it does not necessarily guarantee a public life or public place. Positively, it moves people to come, in which it contributes significantly to the emergence of public life and image of the city. The number of population and heterogeneity of the people affects the use of a public place. It is difficult to have a social life in public realm unless people are able to identify others with similar interests or backgrounds. The open market place serves a central role in public life of the local communities and this role will expand in the future and gives rise to the public life in the city. An open market place combines social and economic purposes, yet the attraction points serve an essential function that can draw people out for more than the commodities offered. Public life pronounced in Taman Bungkul is supported in great part by the warm-humid climate of Surabaya. People feel comfortable in outdoor activities in green open space and enjoy open air performances at the plaza. The enthusiasm for gymnastics, running, jogging, biking, and other sports have drawn people to public place to exercise. The strong interest in active sports combined with recreational needs of the people create new demands for open space. The most significant element in public place uses is the place to sit. Different people sit in different ways and seek out sitting place that best suited to them. People gather around on various elements of space such as benches, steps, and planting edges. The more articulated the edges are, the more they will be used. People tend to gather in places that are close to where other people are there or passing-by. People are also attracted to people s activities and greenery. Hence, a public place must provide many kinds of sitting and resting places to serve a variety of users and uses. REFERENCES 1) Marcus,C. C., & Francis, C. (1998). People Places. Design Guidelines for Urban Open Space. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. 2) Gehl, Jan. (1987). Life Between Buildings : Using Public Space. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. 3) Ostermann, Frank (2009). Modeling, Analyzing and Visualizing Human Space Appropriation. Dr.sc.nat. Universitaet Zurich. 7

LIFE BETWEEN BUILDINGS Using public spaces Jan Gehl

LIFE BETWEEN BUILDINGS Using public spaces Jan Gehl Outdoor activities create the public scene life DEPENDING ON : Physical environment - Weather - Quality of space Types of outdoors activities - recurring