Sunday 14 August 2016

Assembly (2017) : The Rising Series

Activistar's first Assembly Series of 5 cities (2011-2016) features Hanoi, Iskandar Malaysia, Yangon, Manila and Jakarta. These are populous epicentres of commerce, of historical significance, hold political legacies and significant in their own period. 

The second Assembly Series of the next 5 cities begins with Phnom Penh (2017), and will offer all participants a fresh look of South East Asia.

The new Phnom Penh Masterplan (since 1954) presents much opportunity for commerce and economic revitalisation. Formerly the Paris of the East, the city has previously degenerated into the dark ages of civil war, political unrest and revolution, literally wiping out much of it's Indochina legacy. Nonetheless, there is a resurgence in optimism and enterprise, judging by the new gleaming and still climbing residential towers on Diamond Island, new airport terminal, road improvements and more. Phnom Penh still has it's fair share of bullet scarred art deco buildings, old markets and heritage districts.  Phnom Penh is not a sprawling metropolis, it is easy to orientate and has a compact low-rise/high-density urban plan. Somehow, it's intersections, roundabouts and arterial road system conjure up a tight urban fabric - creating a very balanced scale. It is a city to be experienced at the human scale, it is safer than western cities at night and it is definitely Rising!