The Continuity of the Historic Corridor in Bandung, Indonesia: The Relationship between Public Spaces and Urban Frontages

The early development of Bandung was influenced by colonialism. The city's center was established when the Dutch colonial government built the Great Post Road, a distribution and defense route on the island of Java. Due to its linear pattern, this road became a strategic location for the construction of colonial government offices and private businesses. The strong colonial economy led to the creation of buildings with distinctive Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Indisch, and Indo-European styles around the city. After Indonesia's independence, the completeness of the central city corridor infrastructure was important when Bandung was chosen to host the Asian-African Non-Aligned Movement Conference, based on the spirit of nations that had just been freed from colonialism. The objective of this study is to explain how historical corridors maintain their distinctive characteristics and what factors influence their continuity, despite ongoing urban development and the demands of commercialization of tourism. This study uses the urban frontages approach to explain the relationship between building facades and corridors as public spaces. It provides an overview of corridors that remain continuous and represent a synergy between physical characteristics and community activities within them. This study uses qualitative methods with case studies to obtain in-depth research results on historical phenomena and current changes. The study found that the continuity of historic corridors is influenced by architecture and public spaces, through the maintenance of spatial and visual structures. Spatial continuity can be achieved by maintaining the area's morphological structure, consistency in land use, and the rhythm and mass of buildings. Visual continuity, meanwhile, is evident in uniform façade appearance, continuous lines of sight, and vegetation patterns in the corridor. The study also reveals that corridors initially intended for public and formal spaces have developed into public spaces due to their new function as tourist areas.