THE ROLE OF HISTORICAL SETTLEMENT

IN GENERATING CITY'S IDENTITY

By

Widya Fransiska F Anwar1, Ismail Said2, Dilhsan Remaz Ossen3, Moh. Hisyam bin Rasyidi4

Email: widyafrans76@yahoo.com

Abstract

As an old historical city, Palembang has experienced some changes in its urban structure. Initially founded at Musi riverside, the founder built their places of living along the riverside. The community in Palembang consists of natives; the Malay Palembang and the non-natives: the Chinese and the Arabs. All of them developed their culture in daily life including the way they expressed their identity on their settlement. However, the modernization threatens these communities' relationship with their ethnic settlements. It leads to question on how these historical settlements are able to represent the ethnic's identity as a part of city identity in current context. The study is aimed (1) to investigate the people-place relationship at historical riverside settlement in Palembang, (2) to investigate the imageability of the old elements of these settlements based on residents' perception (3) in order to examine the role of historical settlement in rebuilding the city's identity. Regarding this, the study asked further on how these small elements in urban setting such as old settlement can be utilized in generating the city's identity. This is done by comparing the results of questionnaire from two surveys. There are three methods used for statistical analysis; frequency distribution, factor analysis and cross tabulations. The major finding suggests place attachment towards an old element along with its scale in an urban setting determines its ability in generating the distinctiveness of historical riverside settlement. Findings also suggest that in order to be recognized as a representative element for city identity, the old urban elements within the micro urban setting such as settlements must be existed and perceived as a unity within the neighbourhoods and city scale.

Keywords: riverside, settlements, Palembang, place attachment, city's identity

1. Background

1.1 City and its element

City is formed by its elements. The element represents the identity of the city as it

shows the city distinctiveness. An element of a city can be as an object located at a certain

place. Saleh (1998) coins that the identification of an object describes the uniqueness and the

individuality of a place. Later, it becomes the object's physical identity along with other

1

elements. Therefore it is a need to understand the urban elements in investigating the city's

identity.

Some scholars have defined the urban elements; physically and non-physically. They

mention the city elements are (1) buildings, plots and streets (Conzen, 1960), (2) paths,

edges, district, nodes and landmarks (Lynch, 1965), (3) land use, building mass and form,

circulation and parking area, open spaces, pedestrian path, activity support and Signage

(Shirvani, 1985), (4) squares, centre, streets and institutional buildings, people's economical

activities and capital entity (Kostof, 1995), (5) spatial configuration and people's movement

(Hillier, 2001) and (6) physical and wireless infrastructure (Fattahi and Kobayashi, 2009).

In details, some studies on Asian cities such as in Indonesia and China reveal that

urban structure is the life and functional activities of the people. Traditionally, the urban

structure of old cities such as Yogyakarta, Semarang, Kotagede and Suzhou is formed based

on the philosophy of life and culture that are accommodated by physical elements of the city

and patterned on a certain ordering system. Therefore, the formation of the old Asian cities

consists two main aspects; the key elements and the setting. The key elements consist of four

types of urban elements; (1) governmental building such as palace and administrative

buildings, (2) public amenities such as open space and commercial buildings, (3) religious

building such as mosques and (4) settlement (Wikantyoso, 1997; Ikaputra et.al, 2000; Pang,

2006. Zahnd, 2008). Usually, the first three ones are the urban center and have big in size

and service scale while the last one is the other way around. All of them are situated in urban

setting according to certain layout principle or ordering system such as axial and grid system

(Widyatasari, 2002; Handinoto, 1999).

1.2 Elements representing city's identity

2

The founder of the city had built the city in order to serve the community. Therefore,

the city consists of some elements that serve the people in different scale of service. The city

hall, religious centres, open spaces and major streets are some of elements that serve the city

community in a big scale of service, whilst the settlements accommodate the life of the

residents in a smaller one. Based on the climate, culture, social, economic and religious

factors, the founder designed the settlements as a unique urban form and structure (Saleh,

2004). In Palembang, the settlements along the Musi River included Chinese, Malay and

Arab communities. As native, Malay applied the philosophy of their life based on the cultural

value. As non-native, the Chinese and Arab brought their genuine socio-cultural value and

adapted to the nature of the social - culture of Palembang. Therefore, the ethnic settlement

along the Musi River reflects the multi ethnic adaptation. This adaptation is a kind of genius

solution that were sourced from the social routines of the residents and formed into the

physical and spatial structures of the villages. The reflection of the identity of Palembang as

an historical river city is shown by these ethnic settlements.

However, the life in riverside area is changed, demanded by modernization. It

threatens the ethnic's riverside settlement, physically and socially. The modern value

demands the new physical and spatial structure and tends to neglect the old value reflected by

the old structure. Then, the appreciation towards the old urban structure of riverside

settlements are decreasing. It eliminates the recognition of them as a part of Palembang's

identity. This leads to research question: to what extent the existence of the existing

buildings in the settlement contributes to represent the identity of each ethnic as well as the

city's identity in the modern context.

Place can represent the identity from its physical environment and social

categorization of its people (Relph, 1976). The physical environment is the reflection of the

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identity, whilst the social meaning of the place is the reflection of the categorization or

identity of people lived at the place physical and social aspects of its people.

The physical form of the elements of a place becomes the evidence of the

distinctiveness or uniqueness of a place that differentiate it from other places. In other words,

the existence of this evidence creates a specific character of a place known as place character.

Gospodini (2004) posits that physical elements both in forms of built heritage and avant

garde design are able to generate place identity. Furthermore, Lewicka (2008) suggests that

the physical elements can be an urban reminder that is a physical trace that describes a place

and influences people’s memory of the place. This also means that the physical elements

reflect the memory of place distinctiveness or identity. Identity of a place exists through the

continuous existence of the elements whereas disruption of the elements leads to its identity

loss (Ross and Uzzell, 1996). Dovey et.al (2008) posits that the term of place character is

related to place and people, and implied an identity of a certain authenticity or distinction.

Thus, as it represents a certain identity, the place character must be physically formed and

recognized well by the people.

Studies on people and identity of place are directly linked to the concept of place

attachment. Place attachment is a bonding of people and their environment (Altman and Low,

1992) resulting into memories and perceptions towards a place and its identity. As the times

goes by, the experience towards the place is continuing. It leads to stronger attachment to the

place (Smaldone, 2006). By having this situation, the people's memory and perception lead to

the creation of identity as these become generic in the society. In turn, this identity becomes a

part of city's identity and recognizes as one of assets for the city (Inn, 2004). From these two

studies, it implies that understanding how people being attached to their environment is

related to the recognition of identity. At the historical area, the people-place relationship has

been existed for a long time. Therefore, the recognition of its identity should be stronger that

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it was used to. However, this assumption is debatable. The modern life is preferred to be the

most suitable lifestyle in modern context. Meanwhile, the old settlements were based on the

old way of life, which to some extent is not appropriate in modern context. This condition

leads to the change on the physical spatial structure of the old settlement as well as the people

perception toward it. Here, the research gap is arisen.

This research investigates the role of historical settlement in contributing the

rebuilding of Palembang's identity. Considering the small scale units owned by the buildings

and open spaces in the settlements, it is expected that there will be an explanation in utilizing

the historical settlement for creating and rebuilding identity. In order to achieve the aim, we

developed three objectives: (1) to investigate the people general perception on the character

and identity of Palembang represented by the elements of the city, (2) to examine residents

attachment and perception toward the urban elements located at the riverside area of the city,

and (3) to identify residents appreciation towards the old city's elements that represent the

city's identity.

The study observed the physical and social aspects of six selected old settlements that

are located along the Musi River and occupied by three main ethnics, Malay, Chinese and

Arab, in Palembang. The first two villages to be observed were known as old Malay villages,

Sekanak and Suro Village. The second two were the old Chinese villages, Kapiten and

Klenteng. While the last two villages were old Arabian villages, Bahrak and Al Munawar.

In observing the physical aspects, this study investigated residents' perception on the

city elements that may consider as memorable ones. While for observing the social aspects,

this study examined the residents' sense of attachment towards their places in dealing with the

identity of the city. Moreover, the study compared the two aspects to obtain the pattern of the

general perception towards the Palembang historical elements. It is expected that the two

aspects will be similar in confirming the urban elements that represent the identity of the

5

Palembang. Finally, the extent of the historical settlement and its elements contributing to the

city's identity are defined.

2. Method

2.1 Study Site

Palembang is situated at the southern part of Sumatera Island, Indonesia. It is an old

city with a long history which was well known as the location of an international hub since

the era of Sriwijaya Empire. Musi River divides the city into two big areas, Ulu and Ilir

(Figure 1). Historically, Palembang was ruled by several eras of rulers1. Found as a river city,

Palembang's identity as river city can be traced as early as 1600s in the era of Palembang

Sultanate. For each era, Palembang experienced urban structure change as a result of different

urban policy that led to the change in urban structure. For example, in the era of Sultanate,

foreigners were prohibited to build their settlements on the land. Thus they stayed in floating

houses on the Musi River. During Dutch colonization, the foreigners were given the right to

build their settlements on the land. This led to the change of urban structure at Musi riverside.

1 Palembang was ruled Sriwijaya Empire from 700s until 1400s. In era of 1500s-1600s, Majapahit occupied Palembang but could not ruled it efficiently since it was occupied by the pirates for more than 200 years. Meanwhile, after the falling of Majapahit Empire, Palembang was impacted by the political succession in Demak Sultanate, the new power in Java Island. A group of the lose party, known as Demak refugee, went to Palembang and set up a new community named Palembang Darussalam Sultanate in 1600s. The glory of Palembang Sultanate started to stop after the coming of the Dutch in 1820s. in 1942, Palembang became a part of Japan's colonization. As Indonesia reached its independence in 1945, Palembang became a part of Republic of Indonesia.

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Figure 1: Map of Palembang illustrating the Musi River that divides city into Seberang Ilir

and Seberang Ulu

In the independence era, one of important policies affecting the urban structure was

the building of the Ampera Bridge as war compensation from the Japanese. The completion

of the bridge in 1965 connected the Ilir and Ulu. Topographically, Ilir is higher than Ulu and

it provides better physical advantages for accommodating the modern activities. It led to the

domination of physical development at Ilir. Before 1990s, the Ilir dominates the city

landscape more than Ulu as well as neglecting the riverside area. In the late 1990s, the local

authority of Palembang started to re-emerge the city historical potency by rehabilitating many

historical monumental buildings and the riverside settlements. Currently, the local authority

puts its effort to rebuild the unique character of river city of Palembang as a part of the city's

assets. The development includes the building of the promenade and rehabilitation of Kuto

Besak Palace area for tourism purpose.

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2.2. Pilot Study

2.2.1. Respondent

In order to see how people perceived the historical riverside area of Palembang, a

pilot study conducted in June 2010 using questionnaire with five main questions to 19

respondents. Respondents consisted of the university students; locals (42 %) and long stay

visitors (58 %), with the range of age from18 to 22 years old which represented the young

generation. Overall, the respondents knew the city well (Table 1).

Table 1: Respondent's profile for pilot studyDescription %

Age 18-22 years old 100

Occupation University's students 100

Length of stay 2-5 years 58

> 10 years 42

Place of stay Palembang 53

Surroundings Palembang 47

Type of residency Citizen 42

Long stay visitors 58

2.2.2. Instrument and Design

For the pilot study, we aimed to see the people perception, particularly the young

generation, on Palembang's identity represented by its urban elements. We designed a

questionnaire composed of five main questions. The questions are related to how people

perceived the city as follows:

What is the city's element that comes into your mind when hearing the word

Palembang?

What are the most memorable historical buildings and historical area in Palembang?

In your opinion, what is the landmark of Palembang?

Do you recognize the traditional riverside settlement?

What are urban elements in Palembang that you are most proud?

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The questionnaire was distributed in a university during the class and conducted in 20

minutes. The questionnaire was open ended questions so that the respondents could give

more than one answer for each question. Descriptive statistic was done to get the percentage

value for each mentioned urban element based on the frequency of responses and the total

responses to each question.

Table 2: The result of pilot study

Question Urban elements %The first city element come into mind when hear the word of Palembang

Sudirman Street 33Demang Lebar Daun Street 22Atmo Street 11A.Rivai Street 8Merdeka Street 8Talang Semut Street 8Veteran Street 5Great Mosque 2

The most memorable historical building(s)

Benteng Kuto Besak 55Ampera Bridge 20Museum Siput 10Monpera 5Kapiten Village 5Talang Semut 5

The most memorable historical area

Talang Semut 60Kemaro Island 26Siguntang 7BKB 7

City’s landmark Ampera Bridge 80BKB 5Fountain Bunderan 5Stadium GS 5Monpera 5

The most memorable traditional settlement

7 Ulu Village 60Arab Village (not specified) 33Sekanak Village 7

Pride for city's elements Ampera 88Stadium Gelora Sriwijaya 6Great Mosque 6

2.2.3. Result of pilot study

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As shown in Table 2, the largest percentage of respondents (33 %) perceived that the

main city corridor, the Sudirman Street, as the most memorable city element. The street was

known as Tengkuruk river canal that had been reclaimed by Dutch from 1900 to1920. On the

other hand, the largest percentage of respondents (80 %) recognized the Ampera Bridge as

the city’s landmark. Moreover, 60% of respondents recognized Talang Semut, a Dutch

settlement, as the most memorable historical area. It shows that they preferred land-historical

settlement area more than the riverside ones. They only acknowledged Benteng Kuto Besak

and Kemaro Island as historical areas leaving six other settlements. The result suggests that

the people of Palembang preferred land city element as memorable identity.

In addition, the result illustrates that the people perceived different ways to the

riverside area. Location and construction of the historical area become the important points

to determine people’s preference in memorizing and choosing the urban elements that

represent the city's identity. The people preferred urban structures which are constructed from

concrete and steel more than the traditional structures which are constructed from timber.

2.3 Field Survey

2.3.1 Respondent

As a continuation of the pilot study, a field study was conducted at the riverside to

investigate on how locals are attached to the physical setting. It was conducted at six study

villages: Kapiten, Klenteng, Bahrak, Al Munawar, Sekanak and Suro as well as at four other

villages located near to them. These four villages are chosen to complement the survey of

residents' attachment towards riverside living environment at a broader scale. The other

riverside areas were 5 Ulu, located next to Kapiten , 12 and 14 Ulu, located next to Al

Munawar, and Kuto, located at the opposite side of Al Munawar. As shown in Table 3, the

largest percentage (77 %) of respondent was residents.

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Table 3: The distribution of respondents (n = 144)Description Number of

respondents PercentVillage's name and locationKapiten 7 ulu 26 18.1Klenteng 9/10 ulu 17 11.8Bahrak 9/10 ulu 19 13.2Al Munawar 13 ulu 9 6.3Sekanak 26 Ilir 20 13.9Suro 30 Ilir 20 13.9Total percentage of residents of study site

12/14ulu

111

6

77

4.25 ulu 10 6.9Kuto 17 11.8Total respondent 144 100.0

Age<20years old 20 13.921-30 years old 55 38.231-50 years old 53 36.8> 50 years old 16 11.1

Length of stay<5 years 5 3.56-20 years 22 15.321-30 years 58 40.331-50 years 42 29.2>50 years 17 11.8

Eighty six percent of respondents were adults and the majority of them are more than

20 years old. More than 80 % of them stayed longer than 20 years at the site. This profile

suggests that the respondents are reliable sources to elicit their sense of attachment towards

the villages.

2.3.2 Instrument and Design

For the field study, we composed a questionnaire to measure the residents' attachment

towards their villages. The place attachment is used in this study to elaborate the people-place

relationships: place identity, place dependence and place value. These relationships are

known as the dimension of place attachment (William and Vaske, 2003; Gaspodini, 2004;

Brown and Raymond, 2007; and Raymond et al., 2010). Place identity item was measured to

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examine the extent of respondents categorized themselves in relation to their village. Place

dependence was elaborated to investigate the extent of resident appreciate the place in

relation to its ability to support their daily activities. Place value was assessed in relation to

the extent of residents in valuing their village assets. The questionnaire was distributed during

the free time of the residents at each village. There are 30 questions on the place attachment

towards their village, neighbourhood and city.

Factor analysis was conducted to gain the factor loading for each place attachment

dimension. By doing this, the analysis resulted in form of the scale of attachment of riverside

residents on their villages. Related to sample adequacy, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test was run

to measure the sample adequacy. The reliability of each place attachment dimension was

checked by using Conbrach's Alpha value.

In relation to the residents' attachment on the neighbourhood villages and city,

respondents had been asked to response on 22 historical urban elements that represent the

identity of Palembang. There were two analyses done. Firstly, a frequency distribution was

conducted to investigate the most memorable historical urban elements. Secondly, the cross

tabulation analysis is done to investigate the appreciation of residents towards the urban

elements located at their villages and the city. The results of cross tabulation made by using

the positive responses on the three place attachment dimension, namely strongly agree, agree

and neutral. These positive responses were cross tabbed with the responses to the question on

knowing the history of some selected urban elements. Using the statistic software, namely

PASW 18, the cross tabulation was calculated.

2.3.3. Results of field study

2.3.3.1. Residents' Attachment towards Riverside Villages

As shown in Table 4, the factor values of the three place attachment dimensions are

high for residents of the Musi riverside village. The highest is place identity followed by

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place dependence and lastly place value. The KMO's value is 0.908 which indicates that the

number of samples in this study is adequate. For three dimensions, the value of Conbrach

alpha is high, indicates that the data is reliable.

The results indicate that residents are strongly attached to their villages located along

the Musi River. They perceived their villages as a place that supports their daily and routine

activities. As such, after a period of residency they categorized themselves similar to the

place. The emotive aspects of the residents lead to the feeling of love to the place as the place

reflects themselves and describe their personalities. The village is the mirror that reflects the

resident’s identity in terms of behaviour, activities and values. In other words, if an urban

element such as a house is removed from the village, it significantly affects the place identity.

The village and the residents are embedded in one entity.

The result also shows how the villages accommodated the resident activities, socially

and culturally, that lead to their satisfaction to live and stay in the village. This place ability is

the key factor that makes the place is so meaningful and make residents put their high

dependency to the place as the best place to do their routine, and the unchangeable and

incomparable place to any other places.

Table 4: Exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis for place identity, place dependence and place value of Musi riverside residents.

Place attachment dimension Factors (n=144)Place identity I love this village very much 0.894 Living in this village says a lot about who I am 0.844 I feel this village is a part of me 0.819Conbranch's alpha for (Place Identity) 0.925Place dependence I would not move to any other place for doing the

things I do in this village 0.754

No other better place compares to this village 0.771 I fell more satisfied living in this village than any

other places in Palembang 0.786

Conbranch's alpha for (Place Dependence) 0.844Place value In my opinion, this village located at Musi

riverside has tourism potency as well as economic potency

0.877

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In my opinion, this village located at Musi riverside has a strong relationship with the history of Palembang

0.670

In my opinion, this village located at Musi riverside can be a place for recreational purpose

0.792

Conbranch's alpha for (Place Value) 0.767Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. 0.908

Furthermore, the residents realized the tourism and history value of their village. They

well understand that these values are potential to be recognized as intangible city's assets. In

turn, these values contribute the economic benefit to life or residents. Based on these, the

residents are attached positively with their own living environment, as a meaningful place for

living, working and returning back from other places.

Table 5: Residents' responses on knowing the village's history

Knowing the village's history Location Responses Level of memorabilityN Percent

History of BKB City center 118 10.2% HighHistory of Ampera Bridge City center 116 10.1% HighHistory of Great Mosque City center 112 9.7% HighHistory of 16 Ilir Market City center 78 6.8% ModerateHistory of Leideng Office City center 71 6.2% ModerateHistory of Kapiten Cina's House Kapiten Village 70 6.1% ModerateHistory of Al Munawar Complex Al Munawar

Village68 5.9% Moderate

History of Klenteng 9Ulu Klenteng Village 57 4.9% ModerateHistory of Bahrak Old Houses Bahrak Village 50 4.3% ModerateHistory of Rumah Kembar Al Munawar

Village48 4.2% Moderate

History of Kapiten's Square Kapiten Village 46 4.0% ModerateHistory of Rumah Batu at Munawar

Al Munawar Village

44 3.8% Moderate

History of Tanggo Raja Kapiten Village 43 3.7% ModerateHistory of Limas House At Suro Suro Village 41 3.6% ModerateHistory of Sekanak Warehouses Sekanak Village 39 3.4% LowHistory of Suro Moqsue Suro Village 34 2.9% LowHistory of Limas Of Hasyim Ning Sekanak Village 28 2.4% LowHistory of Sayangan City center 27 2.3% LowHistory of Tengkuruk Permai City center 27 2.3% LowHistory of Chinese Townhouses Klenteng Village 23 2.0% LowHistory of Gedung Bola City center 9 0.8% LowHistory of Beringin Janggut City center 4 0.3% LowTotal 1153 100.0%

In relation to the residents' attachment on the neighbourhood environment, the

statistics in Table.5 shows different perspective on resident's understanding on the history of

other villages located at riverside area. Counting the responses on the variable of "knowing

village history" towards 22 historical elements at riverside and city, the statistics show that

residents of a riverside village memorize and appreciate the other elements outside their own

village in different way. The percentage value in the table shows that resident's understanding

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on historical elements is classified into a three hierarchies of memorability; high, moderate

and low. The results demonstrate that most of residents appreciated the three elements;

Benteng Kuto Besak, Ampera Bridge and Great Mosque as the most memorable element of

Palembang. In contrast, the result shows that resident considered the historical elements at

the riverside villages as moderate memorable element in representing the Palembang. In

conclusion, the residents highly attached to the three most memorable elements, and less

attached to the overall riverside historical elements.

2.3.3.2. The Recognition of Historical Elements

To achieve the research objective 2, this study also investigated whether the resident's

perception towards memorable elements is influenced by their understanding on history and

attachment towards the place. In order to achieve this, study cross tabbed the respondent's

responses on the dimensions of place attachment dimension and the variables of

understanding on the historical place, as shown in Table 6.

The result in Table 6 shows that the pattern of resident's memory to the historical

places and their elements is in line with the place attachment. As such, the residents

recognized Benteng Kuto Besak, Ampera Bridge and Great Mosque as the landmark of the

city even though these elements are not located in their villages. Residents are well

understood about the history of the landmark of Palembang. This is parallel to the

governmental documents that people of Palembang recognized these elements as the

landmark of the city2.

In contrast, the recognition of urban elements in their own riverside villages is lower

than the landmark. Moreover, the residents recognized well the history of their village

elements but failed to know the history of other villages. For example, one urban element in

Sekanak Village, named Limas Hasyim Ning. It is a Palembang traditional house, named 2 Official website of Palembang municipality, www.palembang.go.id , 10th July2012

15

Limas house, that has genuine architecture style and detail. The results of cross tabulation on

responses on place identity and knowing the history show that the strongly agree response

towards Limas Hasyim Ning is the lowest one (131) compared to other urban elements.

Meanwhile, the strongly agree response towards Ampera Bridge is the highest one (622). It is

followed by the other two city landmark, Benteng Kuto Besak (586) and The Great Mosque

(579). Overall, based on the result, it means that the resident recognize only the name of the

historical elements at other villages, but do not understand well about the other village

history.

Table 6: Cross tabs place identity, place dependence and place value with knowing the historical elements

Responses

Knowing the History of Urban Elements

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Neutral Count 24 61 12 39 62 47 54 63 151 51 55 67 63 34 137 160 67 43

% within PI 12.5% 31.8% 6.3% 20.3% 32.3% 24.5% 28.1% 32.8% 78.6% 26.6% 28.6% 34.9% 32.8% 17.7% 71.4% 83.3% 34.9% 22.4%

Agree Count 144 197 52 175 176 101 90 114 403 43 89 219 117 104 349 317 204 243

% within PI 29.8% 40.7% 10.7% 36.2% 36.4% 20.9% 18.6% 23.6% 83.3% 8.9% 18.4% 45.2% 24.2% 21.5% 72.1% 65.5% 42.1% 50.2%

Strongly agree

Count 318 474 176 284 362 278 192 195 586 131 243 401 285 285 579 622 491 425

% within PI 46.1% 68.7% 25.5% 41.2% 52.5% 40.3% 27.8% 28.3% 84.9% 19.0% 35.2% 58.1% 41.3% 41.3% 83.9% 90.1% 71.2% 61.6%

Plac

e de

pend

ence

Neutral Count 52 141 12 61 86 68 89 100 284 68 103 130 76 60 270 270 159 118

% within PD

15.5% 42.1% 3.6% 18.2% 25.7% 20.3% 26.6% 29.9% 84.8% 20.3% 30.7% 38.8% 22.7% 17.9% 80.6% 80.6% 47.5% 35.2%

Agree Count 166 233 67 205 215 100 93 132 372 81 114 253 150 124 339 331 228 240

% within PD

35.9% 50.3% 14.5% 44.3% 46.4% 21.6% 20.1% 28.5% 80.3% 17.5% 24.6% 54.6% 32.4% 26.8% 73.2% 71.5% 49.2% 51.8%

Strongly agree

Count 248 323 133 219 265 238 145 135 396 73 142 269 210 215 396 432 342 308

% within PD

52.5% 68.4% 28.2% 46.4% 56.1% 50.4% 30.7% 28.6% 83.9% 15.5% 30.1% 57.0% 44.5% 45.6% 83.9% 91.5% 72.5% 65.3%

Plac

e V

alue

Neutral Count 7 38 0 22 14 14 11 25 48 17 19 37 28 25 45 47 30 12

% within PV

12.1% 65.5% .0% 37.9% 24.1% 24.1% 19.0% 43.1% 82.8% 29.3% 32.8% 63.8% 48.3% 43.1% 77.6% 81.0% 51.7% 20.7%

Agree Count 166 238 70 163 221 156 109 152 487 103 148 226 118 99 415 420 242 248

% within PV

28.6% 41.0% 12.1% 28.1% 38.1% 26.9% 18.8% 26.2% 84.0% 17.8% 25.5% 39.0% 20.3% 17.1% 71.6% 72.4% 41.7% 42.8%

Strongly agreed

Count 313 456 170 313 365 256 216 197 607 105 222 418 311 291 607 628 490 451

% within PV

43.2% 63.0% 23.5% 43.2% 50.4% 35.4% 29.8% 27.2% 83.8% 14.5% 30.7% 57.7% 43.0% 40.2% 83.8% 86.7% 67.7% 62.3%

2.4. Discussion

2.4.1. The People Perception towards Urban Elements

The investigation on people- place relationship at the riverside village of Musi River

indicates the pattern of how the residents of the historical area perceive their place in three

levels: city, neighbourhood and village. In the city scale, the residents were attached to the

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landmarks of the city and valued them as identity of the city even though they do not stay

near or at the same location with the landmarks. The residents were more concern and

remembered the non-riverside urban elements which are modern and are located inland, away

from the river. Meanwhile, in the neighbourhood scale, even though the residents knew well

the name of the old historical riverside village, but they gave less appreciation to the

historical villages. This is also in line with the pilot study results that respondents do not

recognize the riverside settlement as city's historical element but they are familiar with a few

names of Musi riverside settlements. The comparison of the two studies was complemented

each other and support the fact that both non-resident and resident of riverside villages have a

low attachment to the riverside villages in neighbourhood scale.

In village scale, the result of the field study indicates resident's strong attachment

towards their villages (see Table 4). The high factor value of place identity, place dependence

and place value was caused by the engagement and experience with the place since a long

time ago. For place identity, the high factor value means the reflection of one's self

categorization that is similar to the place. This is caused by the meaning of a place as the

family place, place of birth, and childhood memory. For place dependence, the high factor

value means the high dependency toward place since the place has ability to accommodate

people activities, for example in Klenteng Village where the market 9 Ulu is located. The

resident's occupation is dominated by small businessmen. Some of the residents are food

vendor. They make traditional food in their house and sell it at the market. The village

provides easiness for them to get the ingredients and sell their products at market. This

caused the satisfaction to conduct the activities in the village. In turn, it leads to the rejection

to move out or relocate from the village to another place.

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Meanwhile the factor value for place value indicates the resident's assessment towards

the potential value of their villages. In general, they were aware of the scenery and tourism

potentials of riverside area. In contrast, the low factor value of the historical value confirms

resident's low attachment towards the overall of riverside settlement in neighbourhood scale.

For example, the residents in Suro only understood that Al Munawar is one of the oldest

villages. That is, they knew the history of the old urban element at Suro, but failed to describe

the history of Al Munawar. This is caused by the strong attachment towards their own village

that focuses on their village only and lead to the neglecting to understand more on other

villages.

The findings different reaction to the three scales of environment is in line with

Hernandez et al. (2007). They studied the comparison between place attachment and place

identity in three different environments, island, city and neighbourhood. The study found that

the place attachment and place identity are the two bonds that tied people and the place. The

study found that the bonds were stronger with the city than with the neighbourhood

environment, while the bond with the island was stronger than with the two other

environments. These differences on place attachment lead to people's different way in

perceiving the elements. An element's setting in an environment influences its ability to

represent city's identity.

2.4.2 Place Attachment to Rebuild the Identity and Character of Riverside Villages

As a part of the urban structure of a city, old quarters or historical settlements have

contributed to city character. Unlike other urban elements which were recognized by their big

scale or sophisticated modern structure, these historical settlements consisted of some small

buildings, courtyards and narrow alleys. Along with the economic-socio-cultural life, they

formed physical -spatial structure, and in turn forming a unique character. The richness of

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social-cultural life in the settlements generated from the ethnicity character creating the

physiognomy of the place.

The Chinese villages, Klenteng and Kapiten, the life of people and their adaptation to

the riverside setting were reflected in the building form and the ordering system at the village.

For example, the room arrangement at the Palembang Chinese house follows the principle of

Siheyuan (Chinese traditional landed house) which are ordered symmetrically and centralized

to the two inner courts. As an adaptation to the Musi riverside environment, the Palembang

Chinese house use pillar construction. Then, the two inner courts are translated into a void at

the back side of the house and an open space in front of the house .

In Arabian settlement such Bahrak and Al Munawar, the open space in the village is

the central point and it is the determinant of building system order. The buildings were built

by orientating to the open space where the Arabian social -cultural activities were held. The

Arabian village system order obviously shows the family ties among the residents. Therefore,

the spatial and physical pattern as well as the atmosphere in the village is distinct and could

not find in any other Arabian settlement in any other part of Indonesia.

Related to rebuilding identity of a place, a study done by Gaspodini (2004) suggests

the interdependency between the attachment towards urban elements and the effort to

generate the identity of Bilbao, one of the European city. He posits that the built heritage and

avant garde design can generate the city's identity since people strongly ties with these two

types of elements. In turn, they became the high memorable urban element that represents the

identity of the city. Meanwhile this study elaborates the similar concept within the river city

context that has more smaller built heritage at riverside settlement than Bilbao. It investigated

the interdependency between place identity towards these small physical urban elements to

generate the identity of the river city.

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Like any other city, a river city could be seen as an organic system that is transformed

and developed continuously over a long period of time. This system consisted of some

elements of the city with various functions such as public building or spaces, government

offices, settlements etc. Each of urban elements is situated within a certain urban structure

and its setting contributes to the character of the city. If the city is seen as the comprehensive

storyline, then the urban structure of the story is composed by the main pattern (macro

structure) and the subsidiary pattern (micro structure) of the city.

The main pattern is the macro structure that formed the city based on the city's system

order (see 1.1). It is composed by the main artery of the city such as street or river and some

areas which are located by following the city's system order. The subsidiary pattern is the

micro structure applied in a certain area in the city. It consists of building, spaces, access line

that followed its own structure which is linked to the macro structure, such as a commercial

area, settlement area, center of governmental area, and religious area.

Until 1930s, the macro urban structure of old Palembang was composed by Benteng

Kuto Besak and City Hall (Leideng Office) as the centre of government area, Tengkuruk

canal (now Sudirman street) as main city corridor, 16 Ilir market, Sayangan and Beringin

Janggut as commercial area, The Great Mosque as religious center, and the riverside

settlements. The riverside settlements were seen as a micro urban structure. Each village has

its own micro urban structure that is composed of the buildings, open spaces and alleys. It is

also alive through its economic activities, social and cultural life of the residents that create

attachment towards the village. In turn it contributes to the identity of the place.

The findings reveal that the strong attachment towards the villages and its elements is

not adequate to generate the identity of the river city. Place attachment in micro urban setting,

especially for built heritage element, can generate the identity of its own area as one of sub

area in a city. In order to be utilized in generating the identity of the city, the place attachment

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towards the elements of micro urban structure must be not separated with the attachment on

the elements of macro urban structure. The study found that the attachment towards the

elements of riverside settlement is perceived differently from the three city landmarks.

Therefore, the old riverside settlement is appreciated lower than the landmarks. If the old

elements at riverside settlements want to be used in generating the identity of a city, their

existences must be promoted socially and physically. Socially, their historical value and its

relation to the landmarks must be communicated and promoted to the public continuously.

Physically, their existence in accommodating the social cultural activities must be sustained

and maintained. By having this, the unity between the landmarks and old elements at

riverside settlement is formed and this can strengthen the identity of Palembang as historical

river city.

2.5 Conclusion

To establish a recognizable identity of a place, the integration of two aspects; physical

evidences and social-emotional relationship between the people and place must be existed.

The place consisted of physical and spatial elements that are located in an urban setting. The

place has the ability to accommodate people's social-cultural activities. This creates a

continuous dependency towards the place. In turn, it strengthens the social-emotional

relationship and lead to the attachment, appreciation, and memory of the place. Therefore, the

two aspects must be integrated into macro and micro urban structure. If the elements are

configurable and united in macro urban setting, they will be representative in city scale.

Moreover, the strong attachment leads to recognition of an urban element to be perceived as

representative of the city's identity. The integration leads to the sustainability of the two

aspects. At the end, it leads to the solid identity of a place and successful city branding.

21

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