Heritage Street and Contemporary Use of Old Buildings in Johor

Abstract

This paper concerns the use of the buildings along a heritage street in Johor Bahru city centre in Malaysia. The fabrics of Johor Bahru city are in the phase of changing, similar to the other cities in the world. Parts of the city were already torn down and replaced by new buildings to meet the demands of the modern society. Some sections of the city were accepted as heritage area by the local authority. This includes a street known as Tan Hiok Nee Street. Both sides of the street are lined partly with rows of shop houses built in the early 20th century. A preliminary study on the street indicated that it was not popular with the general public during the daytime. It is often emphasized by scholars that the current and future uses of old buildings are crucial to their survival. The usefulness of the existing buildings along the street was thus questionable. The research was then conducted to examine the current situation of the street, especially in the use and condition of the buildings. The intention was also to probe into the reasons why the street was not lively. The data was collected from site observation, literature review and interviews with the tenants, owners as well as visitors. The analysis was based on these data from which the conclusions were drawn. It was found that part of the street was rather quiet with some of the shops hardly survived to meet ends. Some of the buildings were not in use and their condition revealed poor maintenance. The external area was already upgraded by the local authority. However, the condition of the area showed a lack of maintenance. The other reasons include the shifting of the residents, the lack of strong interest for visitors, the lack of strong connectivity to the major nodes and the high rent. It is inevitable that the whole area needs constant supervision. It also suggests that some of the buildings do not meet the current demands of the users. This may result in the removal of the buildings in the near future. Some strategies need to be devised in order to retain the heritage street for the benefit of future generations.