Urban design strategy of central Malang, East Java, Indonesia

The rapid growth modern cities since the industrial revolution, has brought many problems including: ‚Äö the disappearance of biological and psychological equilibrium within the cities. ‚Äö an imbalance between the 'new' centres and their surounding regions, particularly so in developing countries. There are many factors which influence these problems such as policies (political, economical and spatial), dependency upon automobiles, recent attitude towards planning, urban design and architecture. The City of Malang, in East Java is typical of modern cities world wide in suffering these problems of rapid urban growth. The deterioration, to some extent, has changed the physical performance of the city. Unprecedented built developments and neglect of pedestrian comfort are significant causes which can lead to the loss of identity of city. This paper will emphasize the role of urban design and architecture, within the 'umbrella' of planning, in tackling these typical problems. The principal hypotheses are that, firstly, 'Place' theory is the most relevant method which means 'places' matter more than individual components of the urban environment, secondly, that an understanding of the past (history and culture) is a useful tool to manage new and innovative environments, and finally, a well structured framework within the planning system is a key factor to transform plans on paper to structures on the ground. The City of Malang will be examined according to these principles. The examination of the city concentrates on the built form (spaces and buildings) and the enviroment as they are the main contponents within 'places' . The analysis of these two components will be used to formulate a design strategy with some practical guidelines to resolve the existing problems and to anticipate the future.