Revitalizing the Unused Urban Space:

Case Study - Lhokseumawe, Aceh, Indonesia

Bambang Karsono

, Julaihi Wahid

, Dona Rose Amer Koesmeri

and Shineristy Eka Indriannisa

Lecturer and Researcher, Architecture Programme, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia

Professor, Architecture Programme, Ajman University, Al Jurf, Ajman, UAE/ Adjunct Professor Architecture Programme,

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia

Final Year Student, Architecture Programme, Universitas Malikussaleh, Aceh, Indonesia

Keywords: deindustrialization, urban decline phenomena, place-making, urban linkage, urban space, revitalization,

activity as generator, enhancing urban space.

Abstract: The phenomenon of urban decline in the highly industrialized nation is now slowly taking place in the

developing world. Deindustrialization defined as a decline in the manufacturing sectors led to the changes in

social, economic and subsequently a shift in urban activities. By taking Lhokseumawe, Aceh, Republic of

Indonesia as an example, this paper attempts to uncover the possibilities and opportunities in identifying the

causes and implications of its decline. PT Arun LNG (private limited company), was an industrial plant

operated since 1974 and grew up rapidly and Lhokseumawe, Aceh was nicknamed “Petrodollar City”.

Lokeseumawe, was a well-known industrial region outside Java Island has attracted thousands of workers

from northern Sumatera and the nearby regions. The trickle effect of the activities from the petrodollar

business led to a few settlements popping up at the periphery resulted of urban sprawl from Lhokseumawe,

however, the glory of the economic growth outlived within a short period. After the downturn of the economy

and the change in activities, the city slowly showed a decline. Scholars has estimated that one in six of the

cities around the world that relied on oil and gas related-activities will suffer from this phenomenological

impact. This was resulted from the production of PT Arun NGL had dropped dramatically in the 2000s and

suddenly closed the operation in October 2014. From these perspectives, this paper attempts to investigate the

impact of deindustrialization within the urban space and activity in Lhokseumawe have consequences to urban

declining phenomena. By taking one of the revitalized urban space formerly known as Cunda Plaza (CP) as a

case study area, the paper will apply synoptic method through observation, space mapping and interview

techniques for gathering and examining the data. The findings indicate that Cunda Plaza is a magnet as a

central hub of urban activities which can be integrated with other thriving activities from urban conurbation

of academic related activities within the city.

1 INTRODUCTION

Geographically, Lhokseumawe - Aceh situated at 4 °

54 '- 5 ° 18' North Latitude and 96 ° 20 '- 97 ° 21' East

Longitude is located at the east coast of Sumatra

Island, Indonesia. It has a total area of approximately

181.06 km2 with a population of around 180,000

people. Lhokseumawe was a well-known industrial

region outside Java Island, and has attracted

thousands workers from Northern Sumatera and the

neighbouring regions. A petro gas company of PT

(private limited company) Arun LNG generated the

city, since then it grew into a rapid growing city

nicknamed - “Petrodollar City”. The trickle effect of

the activities from the Petrodollar City led to an

outgrowth of few settlements sprawling within the

periphery of Lhokseumawe, however, the glory

outlived within a short period. This was due to the

decline of oil and gas production of PT Arun NGL in

the year 2000 and intermittently closed operation in

October 2014. After the downturn of the economy

and the change in urban activity, there was a decline

in the usage of space in the city. From a similar

observation the scholars have estimated that one sixth

of the cities around the world that relied on oil and

gas activities will suffer from these similar impact.

As that of Lhokseumawe, these consequences affect

the greatest part of the urban space. Tracing back

from the early 1990’s, Cunda Plaza located in the city

Karsono, B., Wahid, J., Amer Koesmeri, D. and Indr iannisa, S.

Revitalizing the Unused Urban Space: Case Study - Lhokseumawe, Aceh, Indonesia.

DOI: 10.5220/0010039001010107

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference of Computer, Environment, Agriculture, Social Science, Health Science, Engineering and Technology (ICEST 2018), pages 101-107

ISBN: 978-989-758-496-1

101

was a popular shopping center, equipped with

children's playground and the latest entertainment

establishment in the city. The presence of Cunda

Plaza encourages the construction of several other

establishments such as Sultan Malikussaleh Airport,

Bank of Indonesia office and other similar building

types in Lhokseumawe. The physical development

ensued from petrodollar giving shape to modern

buildings and the urban landscape of Lhokseumawe.

It became the capital of North Aceh District. The

growth of the city increased the pace of urbanization

and the lifestyles of people changed from an agrarian

to a consumer society. With the existence of Cunda

Plaza, it became the center of favorite places for the

youngsters and public at large. Along the western

part of Cunda Plaza there are rows of retail shops

outlets providing various services and businesses.

Thus, Cunda Plaza is a well-known modern shopping

center at that time. However, in 1998, the political

reformation that took place in Indonesia sparked the

beginning of unsafe and internal conflicts both

politically and commercially. The new political

movement affects the production activities in PT

Arun NGL declined tremendously. The decline in the

production also led to the laid off the staffs and

general workers and led to the displacement of the

people. The shift of activities slowly taking place.

The declining of the activities suddenly turned some

areas into an unutilized and abandoned urban space

until late 2010’s.

The death of “petrodollar city” did not destroy the

features of Lhokseumawe completely. In the year

2001 Malikussaleh University was established by the

government to cater for academic pursuit of the locals

in the northern region of Aceh. The location of

Malikussaleh as a higher institution in the region

became the anchor activities of the city of

Lhokseumawe again. The enrolment of the student at

the university is reaching 12,000 students and

suddenly, it became the hub of neighborhood regional

development center. Once again, the campus

activities emerged as a continuous economic

attraction to the region. From there, the businesses

started to flourish again. The phenomenon of campus

activities in Lhokseumawe has become the lifeline to

generate a life in the city. The outset of this research

is focusing on the revitalizing of unutilized urban

space of Lhokseumawe including the Cunda Plaza

area for enhancing the city life.

2 LITERATURE

The process of revitalization in an area or part of the

city includes improving the physical and economic

aspects of buildings and urban spaces. Physical

revitalization is a short-term strategy intended to

encourage long-term economic growth. Physical

revitalization believed to improve the physical

condition (including public spaces) of the city, but not

in a long-term process. It is necessary to improve an

economy by considering the social, cultural and

environmental aspects of the locality (Danisworo and

Martokusumo, 2000).

A city is a complex organism and the activities are

complex as well, thus, economic revitalization do not

solely depend entirely on physical aspects alone,

several other aspects need to be addressed as follows

(Danisworo and Martokusumo 2000):

 Physical intervention - helps to initiate the

physical activities of revitalization to be carried

out in stages, including the development and

improvement of the quality and physical

condition of buildings, green open space,

connecting the urban systems, and street

furniture.

 Economic rehabilitation - physical

improvement of places including the areas that

are targeted for short-term economic

development as well as the informal and formal

economic activities either local or international

economic development for value aided services

of the city. In the vitality context of

revitalization it needs to be developed into

multi-functional activities that include physical,

economic, and social activities..

 Social / institutional revitalization - The success

of revitalizing an area will be measurable if the

elements used to create an interesting

environment is tangible and transparent and not

solely on creating a beautiful place. These

activities should have a positive impact that

helps to improve the dynamics and social life of

the community.

As explained in the above descriptions, the efforts

to increase the vitality of the region can be managed

through an arrangement of elements of attraction and

activities that is accessible with a strong linkage for

comfort and image representations. The attraction

element is a region generator expected by the urban

governance to generate vitality. The element can

inculcate a place or a sense of place. The place must

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be recognizable and have a character as well as an

identity of its own. In order to achieve this identity -

the components must consist of a well-received

physical features, tasteful appearance, continuous

observed activities, functional and can communicate

meaning and symbols through the physical and social

linkage. Accessibility as a linkage system is very

important for connecting the elements of attraction

through pedestrians’ pathways, linear open spaces or

physical elements associated with the urban fabrics.

The accessibility to all areas can be achieved by

reducing traffic congestions and the continuous

physical networks within the urban systems.

Comfort and image are the two major elements to

protrude the clarity of space structure within the area

by determining the hierarchy of space and regularity

of connection in an urban network. Aesthetic and

environmental qualities are required to provide

comfort through the arrangement of urban elements

regarding proportion, scale and size, rhythm,

sequence, pattern and texture, continuity, dominance

and volume (Rubenstein 1978). Environmental

quality includes conditions of high and low

implications on the urban ecosystems. Thus, this

paper limits itself on the revitalization strategy in

unutilized urban space by strengthening or giving the

attraction element of activity as the catalyst for urban

vitality.

3 METHODOLOGY

This research uses a synoptic method of collecting

and analyzing data which is often referred to as

rational methods. Systematic design in this method

consists of several steps depending on the complexity

of the case (Shirvani, 1989). This method prioritizes

the structured steps in problem solving by integrating

several alternatives to reach the conclusion with

respect to suggested motions. This approach helps to

determine clarify of sequential details of the findings

in order to extract the accepted suggestion in the

discussions. The best solution seen from the quality

or value that has the possibilities to give a better

impact on the study. The steps are summarizing as

follows:

 Primary and secondary data collection, includes:

o Observations at Cunda Plaza by

describing, sketching, and photographing

the existing condition of the building and

its context in relation to the urban context.

Observations are made on weekdays,

weekends, holidays and other peak hours

according to the cultural pattern of the

community. Physical data will be

presented in the form of maps,

photographs and pictures

o Literature studies on the urban related

phenomenon in the published materials are

significant secondary data to enhance and

support the argument related to the

findings and discussions in the paper.

o Formal and informal interviews with the

government officers and urbanites vital to

enrich the information.

 During the urban reconnaissance, several

problems on site through observations is done

according to the elements of urban design

principle as propagated by Shirvani, (1989)

covering land use and buildings, public and

social activities, street and pedestrian ways, as

well as activity support

 The integration of the prospect of the region is

done according to the four elements of urban

space are which include accessibility and

linkage; comfort and image; uses and activities

and sociability in order to find the factors related

to the new activity as regional generator.

4 SETTING

Generally, the problem of the study area is identified

and explained in the techniques of data collection.

The findings of the study can be summarized in three

categories such as:

 low activities in the open space,

 inaccessible circulation to the area, and,

 degradation of physical quality of the buildings

and open space.

These findings evoke degradation of image of the

place, such as:

4.1 Land Use and Buildings (Figure 1)

 Land use of the area is dominated by

commercial, and residential zoning which

strongly identified the functions

 The main commercial function is traditional

market that takes place on the east side of

Cunda Plaza.

 The architectural contribution is not positive

where the present of buildings around the area

that served as commercial, offices and

residential are in bad shape and deteriorating

facades.

Revitalizing the Unused Urban Space: Case Study - Lhokseumawe, Aceh, Indonesia

103

Figure 1: Land use and buildings.

Figure 2: Activity mapping

CP area

Office

Commercial

Housing

Urban facilities

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4.2 Public and Social Facilities

 Although Cunda Plaza has public amenities

that contribute to the city infrastructure,

nonetheless, the conditions are poor and

deteriorating.

 Besides traditional markets, the majority of

the social facilities of this region are

dominated by educational related activities

such as: the branch Campus (B) of the

University of Al-Muslim, Mushola Al-

Umaidah, Pasar Cunda, MIN Peukan Cunda

and SDN 1 Muara Dua. Hence, the pattern of

activities will signify the elements and

features of the urban spaces.

4.3 Street and Pedestrian Ways

 There are three (3) types of road system

available as an access to the Cunda Plaza

namely -Merdeka Barat and Merdeka Timur

Street which act as a main artery while Station

Street, T. Syiek Muhammad Said Street and

H.Ibrahim Jabarrahmah Street served as local

and neighboring road that connect to the

Cunda Plaza. It observed that there is no

continuity and conflicting pedestrian

walkways caused the people to access the

definite places or reaching the objective of

destination by walking.

4.4 Activity Support (Figure 2):

 Actually the duration of activities around

Cunda Plaza estimated to take place round the

clock (24 hours).

 The activities are various according to

different time of the day.

 The peak time for the activities between 6 am

to 6 pm, which is dominated commercial

transactions and educational related activities.

 Additionally, the remaining time are

concentrated inside several spots of the

building where food stalls and coffee shops are

located.

5 ANALYSIS AND

RECOMMENDATION

It is advised that the weakness, strength and potentials

of Cunda Plaza can be identified through the present

of new activities that act as a generator and magnet to

this place. The result of the analysis shows that Cunda

Plaza has a successful location as an urban center.

The existing traditional market and other activity

supports around the area compliments the existing

activity inside the mall and the surrounding retail

areas. The integration of the activities suggested that

the place is strategically suitable to pull the crowd

although architecturally it is not appropriate. It is

noted that the Cunda Plaza gave its own character as

an urban contributor for the community. It developed

a sense of place when asked on place identity as a

reference. The potential of Cunda Plaza as an urban

center offer various goods and services to the

community not found in the traditional markets and

vice versa, indirectly it complimenting the nature of

business within the Central Business District of

Lhokseumawe. Cunda Plaza. On the other hand, it

can be integrated with its surrounding areas as a

commercial hub that supports and enhances the

economic activities of the region. However, the

problems of the physical imbalance between land use

and buildings function (commercial function and

housing function) need to be scrutinized. In addition,

other problems related to pedestrians’ inaccessibility

due to disconnected pathways and degradation of

building façades needed to be given attention too. The

area has a good prospect as a mixed-function activity

such as a center of commerce, housing, as well as city

recreational hub. The following table summarize the

analysis. (Table 1).

Table 1: Analysis of Weakness, Strength and Potential

Findings : Access & Linkage

Weakness

 Poor pedestrian ways

 There is no public transportation passing

through Cunda Plaza.

 There is no bus stop available.

 Lack of universal design facilities

Strength

 Clear urban structure.

 Moderate integration between buildings

and urban spaces.

Potentials

 Develop as an integrated commercial zone

contributed by the present of traditional

markets for the society with variety of

goods.

 Develop as an important axis with the

construction of new networks parallel to H.

Ibrahim Jabarrahmah Street which can be

used by all types of vehicles. The

development of connectivity of pedestrian

paths connecting West Merdeka Street and

East Merdeka Street will give access to the

disable

Revitalizing the Unused Urban Space: Case Study - Lhokseumawe, Aceh, Indonesia

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Findings : Comfort & Image

Weakness

 Unauthorized housing within the area will

give a bad image to the urban settings

 The present of slum settlements

 Lack of soft-scape for urban ecosystem

 Lack of street furniture

 Lack of security and safety especially at

night

 Unmanaged garbage around the area

Strength

 Focus for a new development as there are

plenty of unused urban space.

 Cunda River can be integrated as an urban

oasis with the present of the river.

Potentials

 An attractive river-scape area through

improving the access and quality of river

corridor as a regional attraction.

 River as a natural source to integrate the

natural and built environment to sustain the

urban eco-system

 The development will strengthen the image

and harmonized with the activities within

the urban space

 It helps to create a new image of the region.

 Development of open spaces into urban

green lung of the city that gives shady and

comfortable environment with the quality

and quantity of local vegetation and trees.

Findings : Uses & Activities

Weakness

 Unorganized slum settlements

 Unused urban space does not have any

activity.

 No city facilities to connect with other

activities.

 Issues on Cund Plaza that is not managed

anymore (abandoned).



Strength

 Household activities

 Commercial activities

 Various age groups involve in the area

 Temporary children activities in open space

Potentials

 Create image ability in an area by

integrating traditional market activity with

new activity of trading in modern goods

and commerce.

 Characteristics of the region need to

maintain and preserve the identity of the

place by giving the diversity of trading

activities and products.

 Giving an opportunity to add new

attractions besides commercial activities as

a regional activity generator.

Findings : Sociability

Weakness

 Issue of insecure especially at night

 Negative attitude towards the people

outside Aceh

 Lack of cultural diversity

 The non-civic attitude of the local towards

the environment

Strength

 High level in society relationships and

social attachment

 The maintenance of social space.

Potentials

 Become an urban space that can be utilized

as a social interaction for society in

commercial activities as a catalyst.

 Become a urban space that has a distinctive

identity and character for the people.

 New attractions can be added as catalysts

to strengthen the relationship and social

attachment among the community.

The strategies applied to revitalize the urban

space at Cunda Plaza may consists of economic,

recreational and physical elements that act as a

magnet to the area. These strategies establish vitality

and well integrated with the context of the area. From

here, it is connected with the re-arrangement of the

open space to establish accessibilities between

physical and non-physical elements. The

arrangement of the visual aspect within the open

space can be expanded literally as explained below:

 Determination of the networking gives some

potential elements as a power of attraction and

function of an activity in the area. The planning

of the potential elements focussing on activity’s

determination, natural environment and

artificial elements may contribute to the existing

features of the area. The activity’s planning in

the open space is based on human needs in the

public space such as: comfort, relaxation,

passive and active engagement with

environment and elements of surprise in the

physical settings. Activity’s planning as a

generator is categorized into two groups such as:

daytime and nighttime. On the contrary an

artificial element is planned to support these

activities

 Accessibility on the arrangement of circulation

directed to the area for pedestrians, and

vehicular movement need to be safe and

comfortable. So far there are two potential direct

access to the area by vehicles and pedestrians

where Merdeka Barat and Merdeka Timur road

both from the north and south direction. These

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roads have problems in term of quality of

walkways and re alignment for the comfort of

the pedestrian.

 Visual linkage through a clear identification of

space hierarchy helps to establish experiences in

the open space with respect to human scale.

Enhancing the orientation towards the river and

open space corresponding with the orientation

of an axis and visual perception of the user. The

application of the design principles enables to

connect some various space elements in order to

establish a visual orientation of the aesthetic

physical elements of the space. The introduction

of local vegetation and tasteful planting design

will enhance the formal and informal pattern of

the open space, streetscape and river corridor to

create an interesting visual effect and image.

 The concept of urban space distribution signifies

by its function that help to support the basic

activities such as human interaction, movement,

communication and recreation.

6 CONCLUSION

After analysing the findings based on the theory and

analysis, it is concluded that the revitalization of an

unutilized urban space can be achieved through

several efforts such as developing a new functional-

activities and elements that contribute to a new

vitality in conjunction with its appearance as an urban

magnet and generator in the area. Throughout our

observation and analysis, the Cunda Plaza area is a

consequences of a continuous internal and external

spatial relationship in the urban design theory and the

uninterrupted urban linkage as propagated by Trancik

(1986) in place theory. Given the strategies to

revitalize unutilized urban space proven by the new

functions and activity based upon daily local

activities help to establish and enliven the time-frame

usage of the urban areas. The urban continuity

through the pathways as mentioned by Lynch (1969)

defined through the elements in the case study.

Besides, creating the linkage between various

functions that exist in the study area exploits several

elements that already exist around the traditional

market and the daily life of the local culture of the

people within the city.

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