PENANG: the title is inspired by the infamous Bermuda Triangle, a zone which covers the Straits of Florida, the Bahamas and Caribbean islands and the Atlantic east of the Azores where boats and planes disappear, never to be seen again. It is a legendary black hole on earth, mysterious and inexplicable.

In my previous article, I wrote: “Penang won’t work if you don’t fix the mainland and make it of equal and sterling stature with the island”. The key to moving Penang up the value chain is to transform the mainland, which lacks character, cohesion and a cultural heart, and the glue in this catalytic concept is the space in between the South Channel.

The top vertex of the triangle is where George Town is joined to Butterworth by ferry. The second bridge forms the base of the triangle. The first bridge traverses the water body through its midpoint. These transport links, together with the primary roads leading to them, form two connector loops.

Five spaces operating in tandem will make the Blue Triangle a winning concept:

i) The Blue Space: the sea and its edges on both sides of the channel viewed as a single space with a common identity;

ii) The Orange Space: the heritage space and its cultural values radiating outwards from the World Heritage Site;

iii) The White Space: the electronic industrial zone in Bayan Lepas reinvented to become an urban laboratory;

iv) The Green Space: the eco-city of the future in Batu Kawan;

v) The Red Space: Butterworth as the new commercial business district of Penang, centred round the transport and harbour hubs.

A blueprint for the Blue Space must be prepared to address how the water’s edge should be treated, including the setting of limits to land reclamation.

It should articulate values that are different from all other conventional and copycat approaches. For example, the usual marina for rich men’s yachts or recreational hard-edged waterfronts accessible only to owners of buildings within a gated community.

I picture a natural public space for the first 100 metres from the water’s edge consisting of different natural ecologies, with man-made pavilions where strategically required within mangrove forests, open wetlands and secondary forest parks. Urban development would happen only after the green belt.

The Orange Space, so named to connote the historical colours of terracotta and brick, is already in place. Restoration and renewal of the collective cultural landscape is in full swing, thanks to the efforts of all the heritage advocates who have made it a reality.

The challenge now is to take it to the next level where the heritage environment of Penang outside the city core is protected and not sacrificed on the altar of real estate economic expediencies.

The White Space, so named because of the invisible, electronic space the industrial park serves, should be reinvented to become an urban laboratory zone, with enhanced R&D clusters organised as multi-use, multi-faceted villages or neighbourhoods which are energy self-sufficient, utilising cutting-edge or experimental technology.

The intention is to inject a spirit of place into a mono-cultural environment. This development could also include the idea of shifting incompatible industries and the airport out to Seberang Perai.

The Green Space, comprising Batu Kawan and the adjacent properties around it up to the southern border of Penang, should be planned as a single eco-region.

Key green principles should be established and, as in the earlier industrial parks created during the late Tun Lim Chong Eu’s reign, the government lays down the energy grids and the parameters for urban architectural and planning interventions where developers that follow plug into those green grids and pathways. Eco-engineering should be taken to new heights.

However, the physical planning paradigm that has failed to create desirable and world-class environments in Penang is being regurgitated once again.

Without wanting to sound ungenerous, the burning question that has to be asked in bold letters is: “Of the three major urban planning models created by planners and architects in the last 40 years, namely Komtar, Bayan Baru and Seberang Jaya, which one can be touted as a world-class landmark demonstrating innovative town planning that professionals will travel halfway around the world to visit and emulate?”

They are perfunctory and adequate without being exciting, but in my opinion, I am unable to shine the spotlight on any of them.

The same development agency responsible for the three urban projects is now overseeing Batu Kawan. Hopefully, the employees involved in the plans of the so-called Penang Hill car park “fiasco” are not coming anywhere near this development.

If there are industrial elements being proposed, it would be well-advised to examine the “Eco Industrial Park” model promoted by the United Nations Environmental Programme, where one factory’s waste becomes another factory’s resource, supported by an integrated green energy cycle.

Lastly, the Red Space, so named after the colour used by the post office and flags in the region, comprises Penang Sentral (where road, rail and sea routes meet) and all the adjacent harbour properties to the north and south. This could become the next commercial business district of Penang that links up with the region and the world.

It is imperative that a sustainable plan be prepared for this zone to pull together the disparate elements of a disjointed district, dissected by the Butterworth Outer Ring Road.

The integration of the five spaces is a long-term vision for Penang. The benchmark is that, once it is completed with all its parts in place, it would be worthy of inscription as a World Heritage Site in the manner of Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. Brasilia is not an ancient historic site. Its creation was based on a unique modern city plan, with incredible architecture by Oscar Niemeyer, the master architect.

It will be a difficult act to follow, but given the talent and funds we have in Malaysia it is achievable on condition the social conscience and political will are there to look beyond the imperatives of short-term election cycles.


Assoc Prof Laurence Loh, an architect by profession, has spent the past 26 years protecting, conserving, managing and sustaining the cultural heritage of Malaysia. He has garnered various Unesco awards for his work, the best-known of which is the restoration of the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion in Penang. Loh is also deputy president of Badan Warisan Malaysia. The article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on Monday, Jan 30, 2012