CIRCUM-TRANSIT: New public transportation, risk ecologies and market economies in Surabaya, the second largest city in Indonesia, has the vision to modernize their public transport system with a north-south tram network, an east-west monorail line and new transit-oriented development. They are currently preparing a Medium Term Infrastructure Investment Program (MTIIP) which will prioritize investment along the two corridors.
This studio framed multiple narratives of transportation, cultural heritage preservation, commercial development, risk reduction and microclimate design in public space — each to be challenged, reinvented, and overlapped. Students staked out a position toward each issue through the literature and precedents while working to understand the rich urban context of Surabaya. One of the many challenges was integrating new transportation systems into an existing, dense and historical fabric — the challenge for transportation systems and nodes to both improve livability and most importantly, transform a larger urban public culture. While working with long-term strategic planning, it was important to include codes and urban design guidelines while also addressing the architectural scale of the particular nodes. In short, we designed the radiating impact of the new stations on urban development and the long-term futures of the city.