Back Drainage Space (BDS) is a 15-foot wide alleyway with surface drainage and underground sewage facilities built behind the building blocks in the Central Business District (CBD) of Yangon City, implemented by the British during the colonial period in the late 19th century. There are 188 BDSs in the CBD however the spaces above ground have been underutilized for decades. In 2017, a social enterprise called Doh Eain has attempted to revitalize BDS as a community space and transformed six BDSs from trash alley to garden alley via Alley Garden Project (AGP). Revitalizing BDS as a public space will benefit the citizens by improving the living environment and urban amenity and AGP demonstrated its potential. The authors investigated about historical background, residents’ preference, project process and outcome to understand how the use and perception of the space were changed by the project and what issues remain. This paper is based on a literature review and field surveys including semi-structured interviews, ocular survey, Focus Group Discussion and household surveys conducted from July 2017 to October 2018.
The survey findings are summarized in the following six themes. 1) History: residents used to use BDS as a social space in the past but they were closed around the 1988 uprising. 2) Usage: Some informal usage in and around the entrance of BDS have been observed. Such activities are not officially allowed but some of them are accepted by the community because it provides not only place for socializing but also pays for the alley maintenance and serves as a security post. The city government today allows their use for a public good like AGP. 3) Existing self-governing organization: the active participants of the AGP turned out to be the members of existing self-governing, volunteer community group which manages infrastructure-related issues within the ward. 4) Existing issues and needs: issues related to safety, security and sanitation were recognized before the AGP. In regards to accessibility, most residents do not have direct access to BDS from their unit. 5) Impact and changes brought by the project: the AGP increased the use of the BDS and improved people’s perception of it, while promoting communication among the stakeholders such as between residents and authority. 6) Future issues and residents’ preference: most residents think BDS can be open to the public but not for business like teashop.
In conclusion, AGP was a long-awaited intervention realized by strong initiative and executing ability by Doh Eain but the active local community also played a significant part. Remaining issues are 1) Safety due to a lack of accessibility; 2) Sanitation; 3) Amenity for creating more open space; 4) Security; 5) Sustainable maintenance system; and 6) Community participation. This study demonstrated the potential of the remaining 182 BDSs. The city and the community could take on the work of solving the related issues in the future, focusing on 1) disaster prevention countermeasures by improving the accessibility to BDS; 2) designating a community organization to carry out a sustainable management scheme; 3) utilizing both local power and external support; and 4) scaling up from the project to a program, with a possible transfer of authority from the government to the community group.
