urban village

In the ever-changing urban fabric, few vernacular typologies can outlast the encroaching tide of urban development. However, an introspective look into the fundamentals of village living can be represented within an urban setting. Therefore, this urban village design proposal titled Kampung Seberang seeks to capture the familiar sensibilities of how a village operates while providing its residents with modern comforts and considerations for further developments, all the while attempting to maintain the economic opportunities and sustainability of a majority Sarawakian Malay settlement.

However, this endeavour is not without its caveats. For starters, the site is located far from any land-based crossing points, does not have adequate road width to support heavy vehicles or any other high-capacity transports, and few (if any) new housing proposals would likely be wholeheartedly accepted by the displaced residents on site. These issues plague most revitalisation projects around the Sarawak River area, such as the 5 Villages Revitalisation Project that is being done downstream along the riverbank. Not only could this issue potentially delay many aspects of this project, but it could further raise the ire of the displaced communities who had settled the north bank of the Sarawak River for generations.

Thankfully, the proposal poses several solutions to rectify these issues. Firstly, our inquiries into the future development of the greater Kuching area indicates that the motorways leading into and around the North Kuching area would receive significant upgrades such as widening of roads and addition of pathways and public transport infrastructure. Therefore, the designed proposal would pre-emptively consider this aspect during initial planning. Secondly, the issue of transporting materials can be solved through requisition of material barges delivering construction materials along the river as needed. As of writing this report, construction barges are busily planting sheet piles in anticipation of the construction of a new waterfront promenade on the North Bank, which means a temporary structure for offloading materials could be considered within the timeframe of this proposal’s construction. Lastly, the concerns of displaced residents should be heard as early as the pre-planning phase, as their input could hasten the acceptance of the designed proposal within the whole community.