George Town Conservation and Development Corporation - GTCDC

ARMENIAN/ACHEH NEIGHBOURHOOD SITE SERIES: Armenian Backlane Project

The transformation of the upgrade is shown in the side by side comparison.

What you can see is how pedestrians would benefit significantly from the intervention; what you can't see is that it also makes a dramatic difference to the drainage system with porous materials used amongst other solutions.

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ARMENIAN/ACHEH NEIGHBOURHOOD SITE SERIES: Armenian Backlane Project Before and After

A bitesize history on backlanes:
1) Chong H.K.(1992) states that back lanes were not part of the original shophouse design.​

2) Back lanes were introduced based on W.J. Simpson’s suggestion as a measure to address health and sanitary issues as a result of the high density in the city.

3) The design of the original shophouses did not have a back door and could only be accessed from the front only.

4) Back lanes began to be used extensively when shophouse owners started using them as an alternative passage for the loading and unloading of goods. Back lanes are also used for domestic activities. 


5) Generally a shophouse owner who was access to a back lane will place his personal belongings there to mark the space as theirs.

Excerpts from TRP Report, Little India Neighbourhood Courtyards by WAA 2013.

Image: Transformation as a result of the Armenian Backlane Project

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