The Life Of Songkhla Old Town
"Mapping makes culture more visible so that it can be utilised in new ways – exchanged, linked and further developed." – Greg Young, Cultural Mapping in the Global World
As part of the on-going Annual Built Heritage Field School 2016 in Songkhla, fourteen out of the twenty-nine student participants from University of Malaya, National University of Singapore, and various Thai Universities are currently involved in community mapping of the five main roads of Songkhla Old Town - Nakorn Nork Road, Nakorn Nai Road, Kao Hong Nang-Ngam Road, Saiburi Road and Bann Bon Road in order to understand ‘the life of the Songkhla Old Town.’
Prior to embarking on the community mapping process - a tool for a community to understand their assets and possibilities for building a better community, the participants were divided into five groups to closely interact with the locals in order to understand the relationship between spaces and people. The three-day intensive mapping process helped the participants to gain an understanding and identify the workings of the old town. The groups identified(with the help of various locals) several nodes with the aim to study the various layers of the old town and explore what makes them work (or not) in a particular pattern.
Several visits during different day and times to the identified nodes revealed deeper interactions and communication between the spaces and the locals. The locals shared several stories of their neighborhood with the participants as they come to know each other well. The locals also spoke about their concerns, hopes and anxieties for possible future developments in the old town area. During the entire process, the participants learnt about the common/shared values (or knowledge) of the community. Subsequently, they proceed to map their findings and represent the rich and varied information into several layers categorized into social, cultural, economic and environmental factors.
"Mapping our cultures in all their 360 degrees and in their depth, keeping our diverse stories and multiple histories interrogating and renewing each other, is a key cultural function of our time." – Greg Young, Cultural Mapping in the Global World
From this entire cultural mapping process the participants gained an understanding of the relationship between the five roads and the shared history and concerns in cultural, social, environmental and economic fields. In short, it highlighted the relationship between spaces in Songkhla Old Town and the people.
Plan view of Songkhla Old Town. From the left: Nakorn Nork Road, Nakorn Nai Road, Kao Hong Nang Ngam Road, Saiburi Road. Bottom: Bann Bon Road. (Photo from www.shkt.org)
Uncle Som Bwoon shares what it's like to be on Bann Bon Road for 20 years. (Photo credits: Lim Si Min from University of Malaya)
Ms Kreawan shares her concerns for possible future developments in the Old Town area. (Photo credits: Aditya Rosli from National University of Singapore)
Visiting the local’s house. (Photo credits: Dr Nikhil Joshi from National University of Singapore)
Residents sharesing about the neighbourhood on Bann Bon Road. (Photo credits: Dr Nikhil Joshi from National University of Singapore)
Discussion in group. (Photo credits: Dr Nikhil Joshi from National University of Singapore)
Presentation on an initial mapping of Nakorn Nai Road. (Photo credits: Dr Nikhil Joshi from National University of Singapore)
Findings on Nakorn Nork Road. (Photo credits: Dr Nikhil Joshi from National University of Singapore)
Identifying significant nodes based on site surveys. (Photo credits: Tee Guat Teng from University of Malaya)
Mapping in progress. (Photo credits: Tee Guat Teng from University of Malaya)
Moon Tee
Moon believes that smiling is the universal language that brings people closer