The roles of cultural spaces characterising the identity of historic towns in Malaysia

Abstract

Culture is the widespread substances to delineate people?s thinking, performing, and the practice of way of life, custom, event and festival inherit from one generation to another. Consequently, people interactions within the spatial entity by accomplish cultural activity to establish the cultural space. Cultural spaces are constituted by the physical and social attributes to amalgamate with individual perceptual in perceiving the cultural phenomenon and the place?s meanings to express the identity of a place. However, the alteration of space significant, function, and the physical transformation in the historic town ultimately caused to the lost of identity or „placelesness?. Thus, this research examined and assessed the roles of cultural spaces that characterising the identity of historic towns in Malaysia. Case study method is selected by the supporting of literature reviews, site inventory, site observation and the questionnaire survey (n=60) to investigate the main physical and social attributes and peoples? viewpoints of the cultural spaces in Kuala Dungun and Taiping. Both historic towns are selected accordance to the rich historical backgrounds, significance of socio cultural and economic vitalities. The main findings revealed the cultural spaces are depend on site historical background, socio-cultural activity, spatial pattern, legibility on visual and accessibility, the architectural form and historical structures to create the varieties of cultural spaces in historic towns. Subsequently, the study has identified interpreted of cultural spaces with the prominent socio-cultural and socio economic factors impetus to the placemaking for trading, social interactions, recreational and workplace which to enliven communal lifestyles and fulfil people needs. Eventually, the indication of the most significant cultural spaces in Kuala Dungun and Taiping embraced the marketplaces, waterfronts, and Lake Gardens are imposed by the sense of place, space characters and activity experiences in assigning the identity to each historic town. In sum, the cultural spaces are important for people to conduct the way of life as well as to strengthen the urban fabrics, heritage and cultural identities of historic towns.