Placemaking, redefining a space
Written by Hani Fauzia Ramadhani | Read in Indonesian
In the last decade, the term “placemaking” has become more widely known in Indonesia. This term refers to the rearrangement or redevelopment of public spaces to be better synergised with the surrounding community. The idea of placemaking actually existed long before its recent peak in popularity. As an architectural and spatial concept, placemaking has been discussed since the 1960s by urban planning researchers and activists, such as Jane Jacobs and William H. Whyte, who started the discourse of urban development for humans, not vehicles and shopping centres.
In many cities, placemaking is widely implemented in the construction of city parks, revitalisation of an area, or revamping traditional markets. All of those with one goal; to improve the quality of life for the local communities of these spaces. But of course, there is no one-size-fits-all formula for success that can be applied to all placemaking projects since the characteristics and needs of each place and community are different.
Creating an inclusive space
TFR digs into the point of view of those who enjoy visiting places with placemaking concepts. Byantara Mandala, or Byan for short, is one of them. He is a young man from Palembang who has been travelling around Indonesia for the last two years and has documented interesting stories through his Instagram content. Throughout his journey, Byan always makes time to stop by cool places to hang out in various cities. He admitted that placemaking does create a special attraction for a place. “Because hanging out is not only about us knowing a place, but also knowing and being known by the people in that place. Placemaking for me is creating an inclusive space where various groups interact,” he said.
For Byan, placemaking gives places their own characteristics which are difficult to compare. He pointed out, The Hallway Space and Gudang Selatan have a strong vibe of “barudak Bandung” identity, very different from M Bloc Space or Santa market, for example. “There is also the Papringan market in Temanggung, which has a very unique character. They have an open-air concept, utilising the land in nature, and the sellers there are local villagers," he said.
When TFR asked about his favourite, Byan chose Cihapit market in Bandung. “I prefer the concept which, even without an official institution, is still very much alive. The combination of traditional markets with young artisan businesses and the creative scene blends seamlessly. The young artisans who sell their stuff there also buy raw materials from the market. The atmosphere is not intimidating for the traditional market’s sellers and customers to interact. This opens up space for learning from each other," Byan explained.
Great potential to meet market needs
Seeing the trend, placemaking can be predicted to continue to grow. It’s safe to say that the presence of hangout places that adopt the principle of placemaking could cater to today's young people who are increasingly woke, or in other words, more literate about social issues. This group tends to choose places to hang out that support local businesses, promote sustainable values and show positive commitments which represent a healthy, ethical lifestyle.
So far, placemaking projects have also been initiated by the government in various regions. However, not all of them are successful as there seems to be a missing link between the concepts and the actual needs of the public. This can be seen through the many city parks and other public spaces that have been beautified in such a way but ended up abandoned. Maybe, apart from involving local communities in the government’s revitalisation projects, providing support is also needed for communities and individuals who want to work on their placemaking projects independently.
Faizal Budiman – who prefers to be called Bob – one of the founders of The Hallway Space, agreed. “Ideally, the government should provide full support for young placemakers to work on old, abandoned spaces so that they are more useful for many people. Or at least, simplify the bureaucracy for those who have ideas and are ready to develop these spaces,” he said.
The Hallway Space is a creative centre for young people in the city of Bandung. The space, which was originally an empty area above a traditional market, has been transformed into a one-stop destination for young people who are looking for places to hang out, eat, shop and engage in cultural activities. Thanks to its strategic location which is familiar to Bandung residents, as well as the comfortable design of the space and well-curated collection of tenants, The Hallway Space automatically attracts the public’s attention.
It takes creativity and collectivity
Bob told us the story of how The Hallway Space was founded, which turned out to be quite a lot of ups and downs. “It started in 2018 when my partner, Robby, needed a space for his business and coincidentally, I also needed a warehouse to store products of my brand, Wearbobe. We ended up renting a shop at Kosambi market,” said Bob.
Soon enough, Bob and Robby saw the great potential of the Kosambi market building. The traditional market at that time had only the first floor fully operating, while floors two to six had been empty for 15 years. "We started to get interested and thought we could build something on the second floor, then we decided to chip in and work on The Hallway Space in 2019. We also invited two other friends to build the first seven stores. But three months after that, the market caught fire and we were quite affected too. We had to wait a few months to make sure the building is still okay for us to use," explained the man, who is also known by his TikTok persona as a Bandung hidden gem spiller.
In November 2019, it was confirmed that the construction of The Hallway Space could continue. But Bob and his friends' capital had run low since their products and part of the market they had built were also burned down. They then invited two other people to invest in the expansion from seven to 20 shops. “In February 2020, when the rebuilding had started, we were affected by the pandemic. Finally, we were able to have a soft launch in October 2020," he added.
Creativity is indeed the main key to realising Bob and friends' vision for The Hallway Space; from building a concept to growing a business. But the collective effort also plays a big role here. If it weren't for fellow business people, artists and young people in Bandung in general, it would have been impossible for this place to grow as fast as it is now. Today, there are around 140 outlets at The Hallway Space and various activities are held one after another, ranging from music performances to art exhibitions.
From a business perspective, the development of The Hallway Space is also quite significant. Bob said, “In the past, our revenue was only from tenant rentals, but now we get income from organising events, branding and other things too. We now have a team with various divisions that focus on taking care of specific things. Apart from that, we are also starting to improve and renovate the public facilities; from roads and toilets to seating areas.”
What makes a place great?
The number of places that are adopting the concept of placemaking is increasing, but not all of them are paying attention to the right things. In the midst of the viral marketing era like today, aesthetics does have a big role in shaping the character of a place. No wonder many places are revamped and polished in such a way that people want to come, create content and tempt more people to stop by and do the same – to keep the viral cycle going; which is fine, but unfortunately, aesthetics does not determine the success of placemaking – which is supposed to improve the quality of a space and benefit the community.
The Project for Public Spaces (PPS), a non-profit organisation whose members are public space activists with various disciplinary backgrounds, describes in its publication that there are four things that can be used to assess the quality of a space. First, access and linkage; a great space is easy to get to, easy to enter and easy to navigate. If a place is difficult to reach by public transportation and not disabled-friendly, it is certain that in this aspect, the score is low.
Second, comfort and image; a great space has a good image and high comfort level, thus inviting people to do activities there. This element is not only the responsibility of those who develop and manage the place, but also the users. Third, uses and activities; of course, a place must have a clear function that works properly, not just gimmicks. The last and crucial one but often overlooked; sociability. A good space should be able to encourage interaction between its users.
