Understanding the transitions of social life in public spaces in Indonesian cities. A comparative study on the ‘urban inversion’ of the Integrated Retail Centres of Surabaya.

Abstract

The rapid numerical and dimensional growth of malls in Indonesian urban areas is having a deep impact on the social life of urban communities, providing new public spaces rich in amenities, safe and climatically comfortable. The success of these structures also relies on their effective provision of very attractive modern environments with clean, organized and controlled environments that offer an alternative to the traditional public open spaces of larger Indonesian cities, which have serious problems of air quality, acoustic pollution, walkability and thermal comfort. In the city of Surabaya – the second largest Indonesian conurbation – the construction of 28 large mall complexes during the last 10 years has profoundly changed the life of its main urban units: the kampongs. The new developments have also benefited from the support of both local and central authorities, through programmes like the ‘Surabaya Shopping Festival,’ an annual event organised by the Tourism Promotion Board of Surabaya. Investigating the urban condition of Surabaya, this paper seeks to understand the continuing transition of social life occurring in urban public space. It foregrounds the substantial shift of people’s everyday practices from traditional publicly owned urban places of social aggregation (streets, open spaces, markets halls) to privately owned places of consumption (mall and entertainment complexes). The paper reports on the first phases of the research; the literature review and the preliminary analysis on the condition and development of malls in Surabaya. The analysis is a comparative research on a selected sample of malls that focuses on two aspects; the structural organization and spatial configuration. The investigation of structural organization of the selected malls is based on empirical research and speculates on the effects of the ‘introversion’ of the public space operated by the mall system. It considers structural factors like size, articulation and number of commercial and non-commercial activities, and availability of public services. The study of spatial configuration explores the morphological aspects of the urban inversion operated by the malls, elaborating information on the structure and syntax of the spaces of the selected complexes in relation to the city. In the final discussion, the paper proposes a critical interpretation of the occurring transition in the social life of public spaces, highlighting the most critical aspects emerging in the new architecture of ‘enclosures.’