Southeast Asian Cities Research Articles

Projek SISI TV: A Basic Guide on Experimental Cinema Involving Media Arts Collectives in Southeast Asia

In every major city in Southeast Asia, especially Kuala Lumpur, where the populace is constantly exposed to sensational mainstream media that is entertainment, it is undoubtedly difficult to find support and acceptance for producing experimental cinema on your own (DIY). Most Malaysians find the phrase "Experimental Cinema" to sound "foreign". The question "What is it? What does any of that matter to me? What exactly are you doing? Therefore, the purpose of this writing is to provide some basic guides concerning experimental cinema. We are all aware that this diverse area of cinematic art defies easy categorization, and the DIY attitude of experimental art honors the humble personal opinion. The goal is to learn about the SISI TV Art Project, which consists of a number of collective experimental video works in Southeast Asia, specifically in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and to observe and hear from various viewpoints, collectives with various backgrounds, as they share the joy and bravery that experimental filmmaking has brought them. May it motivate us to share the fun with one another.

Green Campaign of Food Waste Handling: Communicating the Food Sustainability

Several cities in Southeast Asia are dealing with a variety of issues related to food waste management. The rapid growth of fast food retail in Jakarta, Manila, and Bangkok has resulted in a high level of food waste. This food waste, if not properly processed, will be harmful not only to individual health but also to the environment. Food waste management, which is primarily the responsibility of retail companies, requires the use of effective strategies and tactics. Some of the tactics that can be used include increasing consumer awareness, changing the behaviours of corporate agents, and adjusting stores and items. Another strategic approach is to lobby the government to enforce food waste management regulations. The purpose of this study is to determine which communication channels are effective in communicating the dangers and environmental awareness of the impact of food waste, based on public perception in the Southeast Asian community. How do Southeast Asians handle food waste, manage food waste, and become aware of the dangers of food waste? This study employs a quantitative approach, with questionnaires distributed at random via Google Form to 400 respondents, including 198 Indonesians, 105 Filipinos, 73 Thais, and 24 Singaporeans. According to the study’s findings, the majority of respondents were aware of the food waste problem and took measures to address it effectively. The remaining respondents were already aware of the dangers posed by food waste, but chose to disregard the gravity of the situation. Some respondents, however, are completely unaware of their food waste. Another finding is that Singaporeans have the highest level of awareness in Southeast Asia, with more than 65 percent of Singaporeans aware of the environmental dangers posed by food waste.

AN ANALYSIS OF PM2.5 USING THE DIRECTED ACYCLIC GRAPH: A CASE STUDY OF SOUTHEAST ASIA

In this study, we used the directed acyclic graph (DAG) to analyze a dataset of PM2.5 concentrationlevels in 11 cities in Southeastern Asian countries for the period of March 18 to April 11, 2021. Thisis the period that PM2.5 posted a major problem for several cities in Southeast Asia. We analyzedthe data to determine the effect of the PM2.5 concentration in each city on that of each of the othercities. The results show that the PM2.5 concentration in Yangon, Myanmar, had a direct effect onthe PM2.5 concentration in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and that the PM2.5 concentration in KualaLumpur, Malaysia, had a direct effect on the PM2.5 concentration in Singapore, Republic ofSingapore. Where one country has a direct effect on another, a reduction or increase of PM2.5 in theformer will reduce or increase, respectively, the PM2.5 concentration in those on which it has aneffect. Given this relationship, if the concentration of PM2.5 is to be reduced either overall or in anyspecific country is to be reduced, international cooperation will be essential. Our application ofDAG to this environmental issue exemplifies the viability of this technique for exploring andindicating solutions for real-world problems more generally.

Airborne Nanoparticles (PM0.1) in Southeast Asian Cities: A Review

PM0.1 (particles with a diameter ≤ 0.1 µm), nanoparticles (NPs), or ultrafine particles (UFPs) were interchangeably used in the scientific communities. PM0.1 originated from both natural and human sources; however, PM0.1 and its effects on the environment, visibility, and human health to understanding air pollution levels, sources, and impacts in Southeast Asia (SEA) countries continue to be challenging. The concentrations of PM0.1 in most SEA countries are much worse than in western countries’ environments. A further motivation of this reviewed article is to provide a critical synthesis of the current knowledge and study of ambient PM0.1 in SEA cities. The primary influence of characteristics of PM0.1 appears to be local sources, including biomass burning and motor vehicles. Continuous monitoring of PM0.1 in mass and number concentration should be further understood. A critical review is of great importance to facilitating air pollution control policies and predicting the behavior of PM0.1 in SEA.

One ocean one temple: Alternative Chinese temple networks in Southeast Asia

AbstractThe continuing expansion of the Belt and Road Initiative (formerly known as One Belt One Road) has attracted considerable commentary, but little attention has been given to the formation of alternative networks in Southeast Asia or to the earlier history of trade and trust networks centred in the temples and regional association offices of the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia. This paper examines the formation and continuing expansion of a horizontal network of Chinese temples dedicated to the tutelary god (Earth God) of the port cities of Southeast Asia. The World Dabogong Federation was founded in 2017 and is now 5 years old. It currently includes over 160 temples from over 100 port cities. This paper explores the nature of this network and its relation to earlier temple and trust networks as well as its engagement with new media and technologies.

Drivers’ attitudes to road safety in the South East Asian cities of Jakarta and Hanoi: Socio-economic and demographic characterisation by Multiple Correspondence Analysis

This study investigates drivers’ attitudes towards road safety in Jakarta and Hanoi. A comprehensive analysis of two datasets was achieved by multi-faceted analytical approaches of Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA), Cluster analysis (Hierarchical and Two-step) (CA), Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Multinomial Logistic Regression (MLR). MCA and CA were used to segment the drivers based on their sociodemographic characteristics and driving related information where three clusters were identified from each dataset. There were 60+ attitudinal statements in the datasets, therefore dimension reduction process was conducted using PCA. Five Principal Components were generated from each dataset, four of them common to Jakarta and Hanoi (“Safe driving practices and behaviour”, “Road safety enforcement and education”, “Driver behaviour at signalised junctions”, “Road infrastructure and roadside facilities”), the fifth component being unique to each city (“Road infrastructure design issues” for Hanoi and “Type of motorised vehicles” for Jakarta). Finally, MLR was used to investigate how the level of perception on the identified components varied across sociodemographic clusters in each city. Employed young adults in Jakarta perceive that “Driver behaviour at signalised junctions” directly influences road safety compared to teenage and young adults who are in education. The reverse is true for Hanoi. Employed young drivers in both cities are less likely to recognise the importance of “Road safety enforcement and education” compared to teenage and young drivers in education. The study shows that the perception of road safety among drivers varies based on various factors including their sociodemographic traits and driving experience.

“It’s Okay to be Slow:” Witnessing the Articulation of Connected Practices by Creative Collectives in Indonesia and Malaysia

This article focuses on the everyday responses of the local creatives in dealing with the problematic single narrative of creative cities. Aiming to understand the everyday creative and media practices of individuals in the creative collectives that are situated in emerging creative cities in Southeast Asia, the research specifically addresses key contemporary debates within the field of urban media and communication studies. The article gives priority to the voices of the city dwellers from a bottom-up approach, looking at the material and embodied practices in their everyday life. Empirically, this article seeks the alternative voices raised by the members of selected creative collectives - four collectives in Bandung, Indonesia, and four others in George Town, Malaysia - in articulating the meaning of creativity, the media practices involved within, and the organic ways of organizing urban collectives. Drawing insights from the notion of articulation and media practice, and by employing both ethnographic and visual methodology approaches, in particular the use of the photo-documentation method, there are three key thematic findings elaborated here. These themes are (1) social settings in media-related practices, (2) material objects and sensitive affection, and (3) the labor of love. The ways in which these are discussed, using a combination of ethnographic vignettes and photo collages, foreground the importance of cultural identity articulation practiced by the creative collectives in both cities. Thus, the interlinkage between mediated experiences, spatial practices, and visual contexts is also a key significant aspect in the analysis of these bottom-up, organic urban creativities.

A Visual Identity-Based Approach of Southeast Asian City Branding: A Netnography Analysis

Cities and places had been progressively being marketed as brands by using the concept of ‘City Branding', which is a unique idea. The scholars of ‘City Branding’ believed that the concept of branding helps the city in marketing activities. A city metaphorically could be seen as an entity given the advantage to display its visual characteristics to tourists, visitors, and residents. Unique visual identity such as iconic architecture and graphic design could make a city stands out from the others. Thus, the research examined the role of visual identity in city branding. Specifically, the aim was to contribute to better understanding of the concept of ‘visual identity’ in Southeast Asian cities. Netnography approach was employed to gain better understanding of the notion of visual identity of city branding and refine a conceptual framework that has been developed based on the existing literature. Elements such as iconic structure and graphic design (logo and slogan) of four cities in Southeastern Asia were emphasized. The research concludes that the components of the visual identity of the cities need to be reshaped to be aligned with their visual characteristics in order to boost their competitiveness among the global city brands.

Re-evaluating the ‘good city’ from (post)pandemic Southeast Asia

Arising from a keynote presentation given at the third Sustainable Design for Liveable Cities (SUDLiC) conference on “Sustainable Cities for All” in 2021, this short commentary considers some implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for urban futures. In particular, we take responses to the pandemic in cities in Southeast Asia as a set of resources for re-evaluating prevailing conceptions of the “good city” – now, and into the future. While initial responses understandably focused on the management of public health and safety, it has been recognised that pandemic times more widely have provided an opportunity for planning priorities to be “reset” (Martinez and Short, 2021). What has that meant across a region as diverse as Southeast Asia in terms of both governmental capacity and levels of economic development? What roles have been played during the pandemic by experts/authorities on the one hand, and “ordinary” city inhabitants on the other? And what do varied performances of these roles over the past two years tell us about possibilities for the post-pandemic city? These are among the key questions that guide our deliberation of future urban prospects in and beyond (post-)pandemic Southeast Asia.

How do disparate urbanization and climate change imprint on urban thermal variations? A comparison between two dynamic cities in Southeast Asia

This study assessed the combined influences of climate change and urbanization on land surface temperature (LST) and surface urban heat island (SUHI) in the Bangkok metropolitan region (BKK) and Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area (HCM) during 1990–2020. We found climate change evidence from trends and variations of temperature extremes in both cities throughout the past three decades, especially for the significant upward trends of nighttime temperature in HCM (0.23 – 0.3 °C/decade). These cities have been undergoing rapid urbanization, in which HCM has a higher urbanization rate with an annual growth rate of 8.03%/year against BKK (4.26%/year). Landscape metrics have rapidly shifted towards urban aggregation and green space fragmentation along with urbanization. A peer comparison shows that BKK holds a greater urban size and LST intensity, while HCM leads in urban growth and SUHI magnitude. These changes jointly contribute to climbing SUHI intensity, especially the dramatic influence of surface changes. Yet, temperature extremes also play an indispensable role in regulating SUHI magnitude, in which the impact in HCM is considerable compared to the effect in BKK. The research findings provide crucial information for both cities – where incorporation of climate change resilience strategies and SUHI mitigation into the master plans for livable cities are recommended.

Five-footways: the generator of public realm in Malaysian historical urban centre

PurposeFive-footways are an important feature in historical urban centres of tropical South East Asian cities. These colonnades along the rows of commercial shop houses provide comfortable pedestrian walkways. In spite of the decline of the liveability in many historical urban centres, the “kaki-lima” or five-footways in Klang Valley Malaysia are bustling and alive. Many studies have been done on kaki-lima, however it focuses mostly on historical and cultural context. There is lack of understanding on how the physical attributes of kaki-lima facilitate the liveliness of urban life. The paper aims to investigate the five-footway as the generator of public realm and to analyse the physical attributes of the five-footways that contribute to the “stickiness” of the public space.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilized behaviour mapping to identify the sticky activity, then subsequently used Roger Barker's theory of Behaviour Settings to observe different stationary activities along the five-footways of the historical centres of Kuala Lumpur and Klang.FindingsThe findings show that all the identified behaviour settings along the five-footways are strongly characterised by tropical climate and local diverse culture. Additionally, the small architectural detail provides an important physical setting for informal activities to take a place in the five-footways.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited only to two urban heritage districts in Malaysia, namely Kuala Lumpur and Klang.Practical implicationsThe findings have the implication for the public space policy of the local municipalities, specifically for urban design policy of the five-footways. Firstly, the inclusion of five-footways should be encouraged in any new shophouse development and secondly, the policy maker should consider to retain certain physical features of the five-footways that support not only the informal economy activities but also the creation of third places in the neighbourhoods.Originality/valueThis study will contribute to the discourse of urbanism, especially in understanding the public realm in South East Asian cities. Additionally, the outcomes will assist the local municipality in developing urban design policy of the five-footways.

Beyond Mall Christianity: Megachurches Navigating Southeast Asian Urbanism

The global spread of Pentecostalism has been facilitated by a combination of transnational impulses and indigenizing interests. In the case of independent Pentecostal megachurches, their growth in urban centres is reflected in both Western and Asian societies. Megachurches in America and Southeast Asia have flourished because of their unique blend of middle- class congregants, appeal to consumerist and popular culture, as well as their compatibility with the urban lifestyle patterns of their congregants. However, it would be a mistake to assume that the drivers of growth and the conditions behind the common features of these megachurches are the same. Examining Jakarta, Surabaya, Kuala Lumpur, and Manila, we show that megachurches are not located in shopping malls and commercial complexes merely for growth purposes or to align with the consumerism ethos of capitalism. Deeply local concerns, such as hostile neighbourhoods dominated by Muslim or Catholic majorities, have led to the camouflaging of Christian symbols in urban settings. The purposeful targeting of youth also reveals the Southeast Asian megachurch engaging with the new urban mobilities triggered by rapid economic development. We conclude that the Southeast Asian city's structure and layout are being repurposed by Christian innovation and reinterpretation. Christianity in the Southeast Asian city is hidden in plain sight.

Nursing students' and faculty members' experiences of online education during COVID-19 across Southeast Asia: A Photovoice study

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has caused extraordinary disruptions to education systems globally, forcing a rapid switch from conventional to online education. Although some qualitative studies have been carried out exploring the online education experiences of nursing students and faculty members during the COVID-19 pandemic, to our knowledge, no study has used the Photovoice approach. ObjectivesTo explore the experiences of nursing students and faculty members as related to online education during the COVID-19 pandemic. DesignA descriptive qualitative design using Photovoice was adopted. SettingThe study took place across five countries and one city in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Hong Kong). ParticipantsFifty-two nursing students and twenty-eight nursing faculty members who participated in online education during the COVID-19 pandemic. MethodsEach participant submitted one photo substantiated with written reflections. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Ethical approval was obtained from institution-specific ethics boards. ResultsThree themes and eleven sub-themes emerged from the data. The three main themes were: 1) Psychological roadblocks to online education; 2) Developing resilience despite adversities; and 3) Online education: What worked and what did not. ConclusionThrough Photovoice, the reflections revealed that nursing students and faculty members were generally overwhelmed with the online education experience. At the same time, participants were satisfied with the flexibility and convenience, opportunities for professional and personal development and safety afforded by online education. However, concerns over academic integrity, practical skills and clinical competencies, engagement and participation, the duality of technology and social isolation out-shadowed the advantages. It is worthwhile to explore the concerns raised to enhance online education across the nursing curriculum.

How many sparrows are there in a city of million people? Understanding the population of sympatric sparrows in the urban gradient of a tropical city in Southeast Asia

How many sparrows are there in a city of million people? Understanding the population of sympatric sparrows in the urban gradient of a tropical city in Southeast Asia

Creating glazed facades performance map based on energy and thermal comfort perspective for office building design strategies in Asian hot-humid climate zone

Glazed facades are broadly applied in modern architecture especially office buildings. However, glass enables massive heat transmitted into buildings that leads to thermal discomfort and energy profligacy particularly in hot-humid climate zone. Considering the strategies of energy use and thermal comfort at initial design process is beneficial for building performance, while there is shortage of approachable method to easily involve in building energy modeling or thermal comfort assessment. To enhance the connection of architecture design and building environment, this study proposed a guide map to provide visualized information from the aspects of energy use and thermal comfort through simulating the performance of different composition of glazed facade parameters. Specifically, cases with various facade configurations located in Southeast Asia cities are set to demonstrate the cooling load and long-term thermal comfort evaluation, including Environmental Quality Index (EQI), Spatial Thermal Comfort Availability (sTCA), and Temporal Thermal Comfort Usability (tTCU). Furthermore, a comprehensive thermal parameter called facade solar aperture is suggested to describe the performance of solar gains from facade; eventually, correlation among facade parameters, energy use, thermal comfort, and geographic location is disclosed. The results also indicated that to eliminate the discomfort for maintaining the condition of PMV = 0.5, the setting temperature of air-conditioning needs to be decreased by 2 °C ∼ 3 °C which corresponding to the increasing cooling load of 142.5 MJ/m2 to 215.0 MJ/m2. Comprehensively, through the proposed method, architects can obtain optimal schemes of different parameters, then balance the energy conservation and thermal comfort through better glazed facade design strategies.

How Do Local Governments cope with COVID-19? Comparative Experiences in Three Southeast Asian Cities

This paper is aimed to investigate strategies of Southeast Asian local governments in addressing the COVID-19 situation by applying the framework of good governance principles and, in turn, to figure out the determinant factor of the successful strategy in each country. It is qualitative research by applying multiple cases of three cities in Southeast Asian countries, i.e., Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. For data gathering, it takes relevant sources of News channels, whether in English or local languages of those countries. The finding demonstrates that Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand can adopt all principles of good governance in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Nevertheless, each country has its determinant factor of the successful strategy in handling a such situation. Indonesia is more excellent in the implementation of transparency, Malaysia has a well performance in the operation of participation, while Thailand is more successful in the application of accountability. These depict that each state has a typical strategy in coping with this global pandemic situation.

Assessment of long-term ground subsidence and groundwater depletion in Hanoi, Vietnam

Rapid urbanization and population growth in Hanoi city raise the demand for groundwater and the risk of land subsidence. This study is the first to conduct a long-term interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) analysis with different SAR sensors including ALOS, COSMO-SkyMed and Sentinel-1 to evaluate the spatiotemporal evolution of subsidence in Hanoi between 2007 and 2018. The results show that subsidence in Central Hanoi had been diminishing during these 12 years, while the southern and western outskirts (Ha Dong and Hoai Duc district) had become hot spots with peak rates of ~50 mm/yr. We further model the subsidence time-series with 22 years of piezometric records to estimate hydrogeological properties in the area. The modeling yields a mean consolidation coefficient of 0.56 m2/yr, a value typical for aquitards composed of >90% fine-grain materials. The model also predicts another 0.5–1.3 m of subsidence in Ha Dong by the end of this century. Based on these results, we propose zoning for subsidence susceptibility as the basis for future groundwater management in Hanoi. From a regional perspective, Hanoi is relatively less affected by land subsidence compared to other South East Asian cities due to geotechnical factors including small consolidation coefficients, as well as social factors such as lower population density.

Uncertainty quantification in intensity-duration-frequency curves under climate change: Implications for flood-prone tropical cities

Updating the existing intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) curves (focusing on 1-24 h) to reduce the global warming risks are typically based on regional climate models (RCMs). However, uncertainties are known to be present in such updating and need quantifying, especially whether bias correction (BC) methods should be used or not is less understood. Furthermore, the updating is still challenging for flood-prone cities in Southeast Asia due to a lack of sub-daily gauge-based observations. Therefore, in this study, firstly, we investigate the uncertainties related to the use of the BC, and the choices of different RCMs, RCP scenarios, parameter estimation methods by using the ‘analysis of variance’ method. Secondly, we propose a framework for developing and updating IDF curves in the data-scarce city (with only daily gauge observations) in Cambodia (Phnom Penh City (PPC)) by utilizing the rainfall information from the nearby cities (Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and Can Tho City (CTC) in Vietnam), based on the scaling property of rainfall duration versus intensity. A comparison between the RCMs with and without BC reveals that BC can efficiently remove the model bias, and the changes of rainfall intensity with BC are consistent with the underlying physical mechanisms (i.e., where atmospheric circulation tends to drive a larger increase in rarer rainfall events than less rare ones), supporting the application of BC before developing IDF curves. Further quantification of different uncertainty sources reveals that RCMs account for the largest share of the total variance (41.0% and 47.9% in HCMC and CTC, respectively). It is followed by the BC, with 39.4% and 29.7% in the two cities, respectively. RCP scenarios and parameter estimation methods provide the comparable and lowest uncertainty. The projected IDF curves in PPC, developed based on the integrated rainfall information (i.e., daily rainfall in PPC and scaling properties in nearby cities), reveal an apparent upshift (e.g., 33.6–43.7% increase in 20–year rainfall intensity in the near future (2026–2045) under RCP 4.5) of the IDF curves compared with the curves in the historical period (1986–2005). However, the deep uncertainty in such projection requires us to adopt a dynamic adaption strategy that can be iteratively updated based on new information. The current framework on quantifying different uncertainty sources and updating the IDF curves for data-scarce cities can provide suggestions for similar studies in other regions globally.

Ride-Hailing Service Adoption and Local Context in Motorcycle-Based Societies: Case Study in Hanoi, Vietnam

The ride-hailing service (RHS) has emerged as a major form of daily travel in many Southeast Asian cities where motorcycles are extensively used. This study aims to analyze the local context in motorcycle-based societies, which may affect the establishment of travelers’ choice set after the appearance of RHSs. In particular, it empirically compares three types of choice-set structures in the context of urban travel mode choice by estimating standard logit and nested logit models to test six hypotheses on the associations of RHS adoption with its determinants. Revealed preference data of 449 trips from both RHS users and non-RHS users were collected through a face-to-face interview-based questionnaire survey in Hanoi, Vietnam, in December 2020. The results of model estimations revealed: (1) a substitutional effect for two-wheelers but not for four-wheelers, (2) a significant positive influence of car ownership on car RHS adoption but not on motorcycle RHS adoption, (3) significantly high sensitivity to travel time of motorcycle RHS but not of car RHS, (4) a significant negative effect of traffic congestion on car RHS adoption but an insignificant one on motorcycle RHS adoption, and (5) a significant positive association of an individual’s experience in using a smartphone with car RHSs but insignificant association with motorcycle RHSs. Our findings suggest that transportation policies of RHS motorcycles should be different from those of RHS cars because of the heterogeneity in travel behaviors of RHS users between them. They also indicate that the transition from motorcycles to cars as well as the difference in service availability among different types of RHSs should be incorporated into the development of transportation policies in Southeast Asian cities.

Managing the Urban Environment of Bangkok, Thailand

This article brings the contemporary thinking and practice of Urban Environmental Management (UEM) to the solution of current environmental problems in Bangkok, Thailand. With a fast-growing population of 17 million, Bangkok is the political, economic and commercial capital, as well as the largest city, of Thailand. It is also one of the most important and polluted cities in Southeast Asia. Such cities face more immediate problems than those in the developed world and have fewer resources to deal with them. The article first considers the context of Bangkok, and then reviews issues of poverty alleviation, industry, transportation, energy, water, sewage and sanitation, and finance. Finally, it proposes a 5-year plan to help alleviate the urban environmental problems of this fascinating city utilizing a real-world database and a limited budget.