Rhythmanalysis

On Friday the 2nd of March, we used the day to conduct a rhythmanalysis of chinatown. We took four points along the Zeedijk, and counted for half hour intervals, the number of people (asian or otherwise), cars, bikes, deliveries, drug dealers, and events. We did this at five different times during the day, starting at 10 in the morning until 1 o clock at night. We chose certain points to see chinatown's relation with other parts of the city - firstly at the top of the Zeedijk, near Central Station, which turned out to be the quitest area. Secondly, at the junction of the Wing Kee restaurant and the huge Toko Dun Yong. This point was the busiest, mainly because of people coming into the street from the Red light district, and also a big number of drug dealers. The third place was outside the temple, across from the famous Nam Kee restaurant. The last place was the end of the Zeedijk that meets the Nieuwmarkt. We could see a number of things from this rhythmanalysis. Firstly, chinatown gets its main influx of people coming from the red light district, through the small streets connecting them. Most people coming from central station were carrying bags, and were just passing through, on the way to their hotels. The rhythm during the day was very interesting. Our first reading in the morning was very quite, but at lunchtime, things had picked up a lot. The afternoon and evening were really busy, especially at the second point. As the evening wore on, chinatown itself became more of an extension of the red light district, as the shops closed. There was a big increase in the number of cars late in the evening, especially taxis.