Thinking about the tropics

Long time, no blog...
It's been a long time, I've been busy thinking about tropical planning and the tropics. Since I'm writing my PhD on it, I guess that's a good thing.

I have written a contribution with Lisa Law to the Urban Design Forum UDF100 book on creating a body of knowledge and expertise on tropical urban design. A link will follow once it's published. We have been thinking about the idea of 'interface' being a key component of tropical living. I came up with a model, but I think it still needs some work:



(source: Anderson & Law, in press)

The idea is that the tropics are governed by wet and dry - it influences our lifestyle and how we interact with the natural physical place. I've thought about it some more since we came up with this. Understanding the current body of knowledge in terms of the natural environment and how we respond to it is just a part of the puzzle. It's also a product of how we think about the tropics, how we've always thought about them.

Some scholars suggest that the way the colonialists thought about the tropics; an 'untouched' place to be 'tamed' (Echtner & Prasad 2003); 'paradisiacal' and 'pestilential' in equal measure (Arnold 2000); persists to this day in decision making both for the tropics and within the tropics. There is compelling evidence to suggest that this is so - cyclone-proof buildings with no other climate responsive features (such as verandahs, large eaves, high ceilings, favourable orientation) are still given the green-light by council and developers. This shows a need to 'conquer' the pestilential cyclones, rather than work with the environment in a responsive way, as well as a hint of 'temperate imperialism', where we all get the same designs as the homes in temperate places because it is cheaper to use existing designs. And with climate control, we feel that we can control our own personal climate, which we need to, if we are to live in homes designed to trap and keep heat (like from temperate places), rather than cool nautrally with breezes and shade.

There is plenty more to think about, but I have a PhD to write. I am presenting at the Asia Pacific Tourism Association (APTA) Conference in Bangkok on my research into urban design and its relationship with tourism in the tropics. I am also currently working on an article for the Journal of Urban Design. Some of these thoughts will no doubt end up within the pages of this blog!

Till next time....
TP

References

Arnold, D 2000, '"Illusory riches": representations of the tropical world, 1840-1950', Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 6-18.

Echtner, CM & Prasad, P 2003, 'The context of third world tourism marketing', Annals of Tourism Research, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 660-82.