Preserving the Characteristics of Urban Heritage: An insight into the concept of Malaysian Royal Towns

Authors

  • Noor Aimran Samsudin Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia
  • Muhamad Solehin Fitry Rosley Landscape Department, the University of Sheffield, S10 2TN Sheffield, United Kingdom
  • Raja Nafida Raja Shahminan Centre for the Study of Built Environment in the Malay World (KALAM), Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia
  • Sapura Mohamad Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v3i7.1227

Abstract

Royal towns in Malaysia are the finest examples of traditional Malay towns, which are strongly associated with the long history of Malay Sultanates in Malaysia. This study aims to identify the significant characteristics that perhaps homogenously shared by the Malaysian Royal Towns to be inferred as the symbol and identity of the place. The study begins with thorough literature reviews of historical Malay manuscripts for some insights into how the traditional Malay towns were during the early 14th to the 19th century. From this, the study managed to identify three prominent characteristics that shaped the whole physical images of Malaysian Royal Towns. These characteristics are known as the king’s palace, traditional Malay settlements known as kampongs and lastly, traditional Malay fortification system. Nevertheless, these characteristics are being threatened due to improper planning and modernisation of the Royal Towns. A conventional conservation approach, however, seems insufficient to address the whole idea of a Malaysian Royal Town. These identified characteristics, in this case, are interrelated and thus required in-depth study of each Royal Town to investigate the traditional knowledge lies within the culture and a new comprehensive in-depth method of conservation and preservation in order to sustain the image of the place as a cradle of the Malay civilisation. 

References

Adam, R. (2016). Pemerintahan Beraja di Alam Melayu Merentas Zaman. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Adil, B. (1973). Sejarah Melaka dalam zaman kerajaan Melayu (1st ed.). Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Ahmad, A. (1984). Sejarah Melayu (1st ed.). Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Arbi, E. (1985). Petempatan Serta Bandar-bandar Awal di Tanah Semenanjung. Fakulti Alam Bina, UTM. Unpublished.

Dilshan Remaz, O., Zul Azri, A. Z. and Syed Zainol Abidin, I. (2010). The Islamic Traditional Towns, Learning Through the Attributes Special Emphasis on Johor Bahru, Malaysia. 1st International Conference for Urban & Architecture Heritage in Islamic Countries: It’s Role in Cultural and Economic Development, 23-28 May 2010 organised by The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities in Cooperation with Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA).

Hamid, I. (1985). Peradaban Melayu dan Islam. Petaling Jaya: Fajar Bakti.Sdn. Bhd.

Harun, N.Z. & Jalil, RAJ 2012, ‘The morphological history of the Malaysian urban form’, Proceedings of the International Economics Development and Research, International Economics Development and Research Centre, vol. 48, no. 24, pp. 111 – 116.

Harun, N.Z. Fairuz D.N. and Nordin, N. A. (2015). The Roles of Urban Heritage in Determining the Image of the Royal Town of Sri Menanti, Negeri Sembilan. Planning Malaysia, 13, 85-100.

Kathirithamby-Wells, J. (1993). Hulu-hilir Unity and Conflict: Malay Statecraft in East Sumatra before the Mid-Nineteenth Century. Archipel, 45(1), 77-96. http://dx.doi.org/10.3406/arch.1993.2894

Lynch, K. (1960). The Image of the City. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Matheson, V. (1989). Pulau Penyengat: Nineteenth-Century Islamic Centre of Riau. Archipel, 37(1), 153-172. http://dx.doi.org/10.3406/arch.1989.2567

Muslim, N., Wan Hassan, W. Z. & Umar, A. (2013). The Role of the Malay Royal Institutions According to the Constitution on Safeguarding Malay Position from the Higher Education Perspective. Educational Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 3(13), 267-272.

Nasir, A.H. (1993). Kota-kota Melayu. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Noone, R.O. (1948). Notes on the Kampong, Compounds, and Houses of the Patani Malay Village of Banggul Ara, in the Mukim of Batu Kurau, Northern Perak. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 21(1), 124-14

PLANMalaysia. (2016). 2nd National Urbanisation Policy. Kuala Lumpur: Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government.

Rahmat, H. (2008). Portraits of a Nation, the British Legacy for Malay Settlements in Singapore, Indonesia and the Malay World. Indonesia and The Malay World, 36(106), 359-374. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13639810802513634

Royal City Comprehensive Plan (2009). Draft city of Royal City Comprehensive Plan-2009 update. Ellenburg, Washington: Plan IT Consulting.

Shaharudin, I., Abdul Samad, H. and Abdul Hadi, H.S. (2010). Dayahuni Bandar: Hubungkaitan Bentuk Fizikal Bandar dan Dayahuni Setempat. Journal of Southeast Asia Social Sciences and Humanities, 79 (1), 19-42.

Syed Zainol Abidin, I. (1995). Pemeliharaan Warisan Rupa Bandar. Kuala Lumpur: Badan Warisan Malaysia.

Tajudeen, I. (2005). Reading the Traditional City of Maritime Southeast Asia: Reconstructing the 19th century Port Town at Gelam-Rochor-Kallang, Singapore. Journal of Southeast Asian Architecture, 8.

Widodo, J. (2012). Urban Environment and Human Behaviour: Learning from History and Local Wisdom. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 42, 6-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.04.161

Wiryomartono, B. (2013). Urbanism, place and culture in the Malay world: The politics of domain from pre-colonial to post colonial era. City, Culture and Society, 4(4), 217-227. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ccs.2013.05.004

Downloads

Published

2018-03-02

How to Cite

Samsudin, N. A., Rosley, M. S. F., Raja Shahminan, R. N., & Mohamad, S. (2018). Preserving the Characteristics of Urban Heritage: An insight into the concept of Malaysian Royal Towns. Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal, 3(7), 277–283. https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v3i7.1227

Issue

Section

Local Cultural / Heritage Environment (Food included)