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I
RECENTLY went on a trip to Kota Kinabalu and it was
there that I realized that the Philippines still has a
chance at being transformed into a progressive city.
Kota
Kinabalu, formerly known as Jesselton, is the capital of
Sabah, a state in Malaysia. With an estimated population
of 532,129 in the city and 700,000 in the urban area, it
is the largest urban center in Sabah and the sixth
largest in Malaysia.
Often
simply known as KK, Kota Kinabalu is known as a tourism
getaway and a major gateway into Sabah and Borneo. The
city is also one of the major industrial and commercial
centers in East Malaysia besides Kuching in Sarawak.
These two factors combine to make Kota Kinabalu one of
the fastest-growing cities in the country
But
has not always been like this. In the 1940s Kota
Kinabalu was little more than a few traditional bamboo
and timber houses, built on stilts over the shallow
water of the tranquil bay. During that time, it was not
even the capital of Sabah yet. During the Second World
War, Sabah was invaded by the Japanese, and the British
put up minimal resistance. Kota Kinabalu was virtually
flattened by Allied bombers.
It
was after the war that Kota Kinabalu was rebuilt into
the fairly modern city that it is today. Because the
government could not develop toward inland because of
the rough terrain, they decided to develop outward into
the sea. This was achieved through massive reclamation
projects that started in the 1960s and is still ongoing
until today. Currently, about two-thirds of the whole
land area of KK is reclaimed. But back then, the shores
of KK used to be filled with shanties on stilts where
migrants from different places squatted. There were even
Filipino settlements that originated from the southern
part of our country.
This
problem did not stop the government from developing KK
into the city its envisioned it to be. It knew that the
seafront property was one of the major assets of the
country and that relocating the shanties by the sea was
nonnegotiable. The government thus initially focused its
energy into relocation projects to the families who were
living in these stilt houses. Little by little, the
government was able to clear up the coastline of KK that
allowed for the expansion of the city outward into the
sea. Today about two-thirds of Kota Kinabalu is
reclaimed. These reclamation projects allowed KK to have
massive land areas where they created new attractions,
towns and urban spaces that make the city a global one.
One
such attraction is the Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort.
Belonging to the world-renowned Shangri-La group of
hotels, it is a deluxe-class hotel located 7 km from the
Kota Kinabalu International Airport. The hotel features
a one-stop service offering all the meeting facilities
and support for a productive and profitable event. Its
architecture reveals a hint of the place’s culture and
provides an ambiance of relaxation. Guests have several
options, including a spacious ballroom that seats 1,200
or 10 smaller functional rooms.
I
also visited the Sutera Harbour Resort, Marina and Golf
Club. It is located at the south end of the city and has
become a major tourist attraction. The complex makes
Kota Kinabalu an instant resort city: it comprises of
two five-star hotels, an international yacht club and an
award-winning golf course.
I was
also able to take a quick glimpse of the University of
Malaysia Sabah, which is the only university in Sabah.
Its main campus is located on a 999-acre piece of land,
on a hill facing the South China Sea at Sepanggar Bay,
about 10 km north of the city center. It is considered
to be one of the most beautiful universities in
Malaysia, probably because of the well-planned campus as
evident in the organization of buildings and the lush
landscaping.
There
are two mosques in the city. The first is the State
Mosque in Sembulan, the largest mosque in Sabah. Its
dome is embedded with real gold plates. The second one
is the City Mosque on Likas Bay, another significant
landmark in the city. They fondly call it the “Blue
Mosque” because of the color of its dome, or the “Water
Mosque,” since it is built in the middle of a large pool
of water.
There
is only one avante-garde building in KK, and that is the
Tun Mustapha Tower (formerly Sabah Foundation Building).
This 30-story glass building is supported by
high-tensile steel rods, one of only four buildings in
the world that are built with this method. Each floor
slab is cantilevered from the central core, allowing the
façade to have a continuous glass skin that is
uninterrupted by columns. At 122 meters, it is arguably
the tallest building on Borneo island. It also features
a revolving restaurant on the 18th floor.
Kota
Kinabalu could be a model of development for some of the
cities in our own country. Since one of the major
problems of our cities are the informal settlers that
create visually unattractive shanties as their houses,
maybe the efforts of the government should be to create
an extensive relocation program for them. It is actually
great that there are existing programs, such as Gawad
Kalinga and Habitat for Humanity, that help improve the
quality of life of squatters, but maybe our government
should commit its resources just a bit more on this
matter. Once our cities are clear of the ubiquitous
shanties, then maybe we can start to develop our urban
spaces in a world-class manner.
You
may e-mail the author at design@buensalidoarchitects.com
and visit his web site at www.buensalidoarchitects.com. |
