Intercultural Design

Intercultural Design

Student ID：0379395
Name：He Ke Hua

        Intercultural Design – Task 1 Journey

Designing Urban Futures: Pedestrian Safety in Kuala Lumpur

Module Kick-off (Week 1)

The module began with an introduction to Intercultural Design, where we were briefed about our first group assignment (30%). The task required us to propose a design intervention under the theme Designing Urban Futures and present it by Week 3.

After forming our team of six members, we understood that this project would require both contextual research and practical design thinking. The challenge was not just to imagine something futuristic, but to propose something realistic and meaningful.

Concept Development & Re-direction (Week 2)

During Week 2, we attended an online lecture discussing:

  • Impact vs Decoration

  • Strong vs Weak design examples

  • Empathy Mapping

This session changed our perspective significantly. We realized that impactful design must respond to human needs rather than being purely aesthetic.

Initial Direction

Our first idea focused on improving pedestrian connectivity by:

  • Constructing a new bridge

  • Widening sidewalks

However, feedback from our lecturer highlighted a critical limitation:We were not allowed to propose new constructions.This pushed us to rethink our strategy.

Refining the Focus: Pedestrian Safety

Instead of building new structures, we shifted our attention to enhancing existing sidewalks.

Our new focus became:
How can we improve pedestrian safety without major construction?

We developed three design interventions:

1. Clear Pedestrian Identity

  • Add visible “Pedestrian Only” symbols

  • Prevent motorcycles from parking on sidewalks

2. Accessibility Enhancement

  • Install tactile paving for visually impaired users

  • Add handrails to support elderly and disabled pedestrians

3.Night Visibility Improvement

  • Use reflective fabric strips to clearly distinguish pedestrian areas from roads

  • Improve visibility during nighttime

Site Selection: Why TRX?

Our supervisor advised us to specify a precise location to validate the relevance of our ideas.

Two team members conducted a site visit and documented real conditions. After observation, we selected TRX (Tun Razak Exchange), Kuala Lumpur as our focus site.

We identified key issues:

  • Sidewalks are too narrow

  • No tactile paving available

  • Spatial conflict between pedestrians and vehicles

This on-site validation strengthened our proposal and ensured it was grounded in reality.

Task 1 Submission Components (Week 3)

Our final submission included:

  • Proposal PDF

  • 200-word project summary

  • 3 ideation sketches

  • Site evidence photos

  • Reference list & picture credits

  • Recorded presentation

What We Learned

This project taught us that urban challenges are layered and complex. Pedestrian safety is not only about infrastructure but also about behavior, visibility, and inclusivity.

We learned that:

  • Small interventions can create meaningful impact

  • Specific site context matters more than general assumptions

  • Urban design must prioritize vulnerable users

  • Feedback is essential in refining ideas

Most importantly, we understood that designing urban futures does not always mean creating something new. Sometimes, it means improving what already exists in thoughtful and human-centered ways.

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