Insights

Trade in skilled craft products shaped Southeast Asia’s cities, and with careful nourishment may yet shape their future

A spate of adaptive reuse projects in Indonesia show how to revitalise urban spaces with sensitivity to commercial and cultural elements

A partnership of grassroots activists and the expertise of a small architecture firm has provided a way forward for public housing and its many residents in Victoria

Historically, Southeast Asia’s kampongs have quietly turned art into economic power. Today, this creative economic model thrives anew

The practice of co-designing with the community has started to take hold in the UK. Three projects demonstrate different approaches, but all have resulted in greater engagement with the resulting spaces, with flow-on societal benefits

An increasing number of artists are using their work to tell stories about the environment, with many drawing on their Asian roots

The trend is only growing, particularly on the Chinese mainland. What drives it, and how can planners and designers interpret it?

Heritage preservation must encompass more than the physical environment. The case of Dakota Crescent in Singapore provides a strong example of how stakeholders can work to preserve tangible and intangible heritage while allowing space for development

Long before skyscrapers rose, kampongs — maritime trade and cultural hubs — formed the original urban networks of Southeast Asia, shaping the region's cities in ways still felt today

The End of an Era: Reliving the Demolition Process and the Legacy Left Behind by Kowloon Walled City

From its awe-inspiring Terracotta Warriors to its Grand Tang Dynasty Ever-bright City, Xian offers a captivating journey of cultural tourism and showcases a plethora of exceptional elements that define a sustainable cultural hub.

Blue House, the conserved building serves as a community space and encourages the engagements of public and business sectors, non-profit organisations, and the neighbourhood in the process of cultural and heritage conservation.

Sentul Depot was transformed by making use of place-making to bring together communities and giving it a new social identity by retaining its historic and cultural characteristics.

Patrick Geddes is regarded by many as the father of citizen participation, and is renowned for his theories based on the “autonomous community” and “bottom-up” planning. He pioneered the place-making approach, was founder of the urban conservation movement and originated the phrase, “Think Global, Act Local”.

Conservation has the potential to redefine what we traditionally regard as Architecture, and drive socio-political progress in contemporary society.

What truly makes He Fan respectable as a photographic magician is his foresight about the mentality of the contemporary urban dweller, who desires a black-and-white type of the “local” which could well be a figment of imagination in the eye of the beholder.

The demolition of Queen’s Pier was a pivotal moment that jolted Hong Kongers to the fact that it was giving away its architectural heritage with barely a whimper. Yet not everything old should be saved—and certainly not pickled.

The most successfully cohesive urban regeneration projects understand that community development is as much if not more about the people than the real estate.