Showing papers in "PLANNING MALAYSIA JOURNAL in 2016"

Main criteria in the development of smart cities determined using analytical method

Abstract: A smart city is one that is highly developed, innovative, environment-friendly, and incorporates relevant aspects of the economy, technology, mobility, quality of life and other aspects that contribute to the well-being of its residents. To achieve the status of a smart city, several requirements, criteria or indicators need to be considered. Strategic decisions by planners of a smart city play an important role in determining how the city uses resources and opportunities through the harnessing of modern technology to build a framework of innovation that nurtures a healthy society in an economy that is dynamic and environment-conscious. Smart cities focus on various elements of humanity, learning, the environment, technological infrastructure, social development, and urban growth. The aim of this study is to examine these requisites of a smart city, and to use the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology in assigning weightage to each element that is considered essential to its development. Smart environment and smart mobility were found to be the top two important factors in the successful building of a smart city. The actual values that shape smart cities are based on a balance of factors such as smart environmental practices, smart governance, smart living, smart mobility, smart people, and smart economy. These principal key elements work together to exploit the technologies that help bring about the realization of a smart city.

Factor analysis of motorcycle crashes in malaysia

Abstract: This research paper focused on factor analysis of motorcycle crashes in Malaysia. Statistics have shown that Malaysia has the highest road fatality risk (per 100,000 populations) among the ASEAN countries and more than 50% of the road accident fatalities involve motorcyclists. The research literature has shown that key factors that significantly involve in the motorcycles crashes are human factors, road and vehicle conditions and environment factors. The purpose of this research is to analyse the driving attitude, behaviour and habits of Malaysian motorcyclists especially the young students. For this purpose, a research survey (N=210) has been conducted in University Technology Malaysia (UTM) in order to perceive road user perception on key factors that contribute to motorcycle crashes in Malaysia among the young students. The results show that the highest factor that contributes to the motorcycle crashes in Malaysia is the human behavior factor, follow by road and vehicle and lastly the environment factor. Human attitude on the road is the main factor that causes a motorcycle crash. Impatience, careless, selfish and dangerous driving make driver involve an accident. Evidence recommendations are suggested to reduce the number motorcycle crash in Malaysia. Implementation of these recommendations can be helpful to reduce the number of accidents and changing the attitude of young driver.

Identifying factors influencing urban spatial growth for the george town conurbation

Abstract: Urban growth, which caused spatial land use and land cover changes has affected various physical environment, social, and economic activities. Thus, in order to understand the dynamic process of urban spatial growth, researchers throughout the world have implemented diverse approaches, where spatial models have been developed to predict and simulate future urban growth. Those models were developed based on the driving forces that stimulate urban spatial growth. Therefore, in ensuring reliable models to be developed will be able to forecast future changes and their potential environmental effects, the driving forces must be identified. The objective of this paper is to identify possible driving forces that promote urban spatial growth of the George Town Conurbation. The study was conducted based on reviewing recent publications in journals and an on-line survey. An on-line survey was generated and distributed to academicians and urban planners to identify factors influencing urban spatial growth and their weights. The findings indicated that distance to public amenities, cheap housing price, and distance to the workplace are among factors that are important determinants of urban development. The results provide valuable insights in modelling urban growth in future research.

What brings youth to recreational parks

Abstract: Locations of recreational parks are said to have a direct influence on youth physical activities. However, there is still a lack of studies on youth activities at recreational parks. Thus, this study examines the relationship between reasons and habit of youth going to recreational parks through a questionnaire survey. Variables that are measured include enjoying the outdoors, use a particular facility at the park, play sports, picnic and general activities, walk or ride a bicycle for exercise and meeting friends. Logistic regression analysis reveals youths are most likely to visit the park for playing sports, walking or riding a bicycle, provided the facilities and amenities are available. Hence, planning, implementation and maintenance of recreational park play a significant role in promoting outdoor activities and active lifestyle among the youth.

The challenge of labour shortage for sustainable construction

Abstract: In line with the principle of sustainable development, construction projects ought to be developed to bring benefits across all aspects, namely economic, social, and environmental. One the other hand, being a complex, fragmented and schedule driven industry, construction projects are frequently subject to problems that constrain their execution. Since construction is a labour intensive industry, the shortage of labour has become the crucial risks that hindering the construction project in achieving sustainability. This paper, in reviewing the concept of sustainable construction, also addresses the influential factors concerning the labour shortages in the construction industry and discusses how these challenges can be managed in producing sustainable construction labours.

Mapping poverty hot spots in Peninsular Malaysia using spatial autocorrelation analysis

Abstract: In September 2000 The Millennium Summit adopted the UN Millennium Declaration, committing nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty with a deadline of 2015. Eight Millennium Development Goals were formulated of which the eradication of poverty given top priority. However, Malaysia's participation with the UN in dealing with poverty, precede this when it committed itself with the United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006) programme, which was then reinforced when the Millennium Declaration was made in 2000. Nationally, poverty eradication as well as bridging the inequality gap among the major ethnic groups and states has been the main development goal in Malaysia's development agenda since independence. In this regards, the principle of “growth with equity has been the central theme in all Malaysia's development policies and efforts since independence. Although Malaysia has made significant achievements in reducing the incidence of aggregate poverty across the country from 8.9% in 1995 down to 1.7% in 2012, there still exist pockets of poverty in the rural areas, in certain states/regions and among ethnic groups, as well as in some urban areas. This shows that formulating planning and policy implementation to eradicate poverty now needs to be more spatially focused for the implementation to be more effective. Recognising the incidence of poverty through standard statistical data tables alone is no longer adequate in formulating planning and policy implementation. Through spatial autocorrelation analysis the pattern of distribution of poverty in space over a period of time can easily be visualised and hotspots of incidence of poverty identified. This paper attempts to show how this analysis can assist in focusing efforts to eradicate poverty in Malaysia.

Campus walkability in malaysian public universities: a case-study of universiti malaya

Abstract: Universities are important innovation hubs for sustainable development. As universities worldwide are striving to provide conducive living and learning environments for their students and staff, the mobility of campus users is one of the challenges that have to be overcome immediately. In order to understand the issues of campus mobility, this study was conducted to evaluate a component of mobility, i.e. its walkability features and potential. The location of this study was in Universiti Malaya. We divided the study in two stages: 1. Students’ surveys to find out their perceptions on the features, potential and policy on walkability. 2. Direct observations and measurements of the existing walkability conditions (vehicular and pedestrian circulation and the street elements that constitute a walkable environment). The main findings were as follows: Most students perceived the overall walkability environment at UM did not give them a positive walking experience on campus. Street elements that are user-friendly were found to be lacking although there existed some positive ones, e.g. traffic calming devices especially at pedestrian crossing area. Although this is a case study of UM, we feel that the issues are of general interest to other university campuses, especially those located in major cities and having the same organizational structure. We would therefore recommend university management to conduct periodical campus walkability evaluation and to take the user’s perceptions seriously so as to provide better adaptation solutions to their campus sustainability projects.

Neighbourhood satisfaction and qoul in middle-income housing in kuala lumpur city, malaysia

Abstract: This paper is based on the subjective perception of the residents about the neighbourhood environment and their quality of urban life. The neighbourhood satisfaction provides a generalized view into the well-being of the residents, and it has been viewed as a significant aspect of the quality of urban life (QOUL). As a contributor to life satisfaction, neighbourhood satisfaction is influenced by individual and household socio-economic variables, along with the neighbourhood characteristics. However, there is limited understanding of how neighbourhood environments influence neighbourhood satisfaction and the quality of urban life. This paper intends to examine the relationship between residents’ neighbourhood satisfaction and their quality of urban life in a middle-income housing area in Kuala Lumpur City, Malaysia, by using 100 sample respondents that fulfilled a confidence level of 90% of the population. The findings of the study indicate that the residents are satisfied with their existing QOUL, but if no actions are taken it will deteriorate. Therefore, several recommendations are made for improving the residents’ QOUL.

Prevention of aedes breeding habitats for urban high-rise building in malaysia

Abstract: Dengue is endemic in Malaysia; it is found mainly in the urban and suburban areas. Aedes Aegypti and Aedes Albopictus have been incriminated in the transmission of dengue virus in many urban areas of South-East Asia, including Malaysia. Dengue cases that have been reported worldwide were related with high rise buildings especially in residential buildings such as apartments and condominiums. This study aims to identify the breeding habitats resulted from building designs in high-rise apartments in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Inspections were conducted at three dengue-hotspots residential buildings located in Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur. The selection criteria of the study sites were based on the most frequent reports on dengue cases from these three localities. The building elements that Aedes breeding were spotted created semi-permanent areas for Aedes breeding. Findings show the buildings were designed with unreachable rain gutters, making checking and cleaning for mosquito breeding in clogged gutters impossible for local residents. Poor drainage and piping system has found to be the Aedes habitats, too. Of these, surprisingly, uneven surface of the concrete rooftops and floors has also become one of the breeding spots, resulting to water stagnation and liveable areas for Aedes to breed. Correlating this findings not only helps target areas to be identified and focused in community search and destroy programs, but most importantly it contributes to high-rise building design and construction features in Malaysia by taking into considerations long-lasting measures for a holistic sustainable environment.

Managing urbanisation and urban sprawl in malaysia by using remote sensing and gis applications

Abstract: In the global era, more than half of the world population live in urban area. With rapid urbanisation growth where the highest percentage concentrates in Asia, a relevant approach is needed to eliminate the possible threat that occurs after urbanisation took place; the urban sprawl. Urban sprawl is a popular term in academic discourse and has a long history but until these days, the concrete definition of this term is not yet configured. Many studies of sprawl have rooted back in non-Asian countries making the solution for sprawl is not suitable to be implemented in term of theories and practice. This research attempts to study the measurement of sprawl by using these geospatial indexes with Remote Sensing and GIS approach. The SPOT-5 images with 2.5 meters resolution were used to analyse the growth of sprawl in Kuala Lumpur metropolitan due to its high urbanisation rate. The findings show that Kuala Lumpur is a sprawling city. It is anticipated that this research will provide a new direction in urban sprawl studies and represent a robust analytic approach for characterizing urban development on the city scale at once as well as promoting a city via Remote Sensing and GIS technology.

Sustainable well-being: an empirical exploration on human needs and human interdependency

Abstract: This study is a part of an ongoing research to discover subjective indicators of sustainable well-being for Malaysia. Initial findings recognized two important notions of subjective measures of sustainable well-being. The first notion suggested that sustainable well-being manifested in human interdependency. The second notion suggested that human interdependency is attained when human needs are fulfilled. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs was adopted to indicate the stages and examples of each needs. There were eight stages of human needs which were adapted into 24 common human needs substituted under eight components of three human needs dimensions. The dimensions were (i) basic necessities, (ii) complimentary needs, and (iii) desired opportunities. It was hypothesized that human needs influence the level of human interdependency. This paper delivers an empirical analysis testing the effects of human needs on human interdependency. The study intends to determine the influence of human needs on human interdependency. Questionnaire survey was conducted and 894 reliable samples were gathered. 192 Independent Sample T-Tests were conducted to determine statistical difference in levels of eight components of human interdependency, between respondents who claimed difficult and respondents who claimed easy to attain 24 human needs in the past year. There were statistically significant differences in most of the components of human interdependency between groups of 24 human needs. The empirical study conducted in the central regions of a developing and multicultural country, Malaysia, is a useful reference to subjective well-being studies piloted in areas of similar characteristics.

Elderly and community health care facilities: a spatial analysis

Abstract: The trend of ageing at home which is preferred option by the elderly in Australia is to be supported with good community facilities such as community health care facilities. The proximity of these facilities to their homes plays a significant role in their everyday life activity. Thus, this study examines the spatial relationship between elderly’s population distribution and also the spatial distribution of community health care. Digital boundaries and population census 2011 data were retrieved from the Australian Bureau Statistics (ABS). Data on community health care facilities, on the other hand, were obtained from the National Health Services Directory (NHSD). Both data were analysed using Local Indicator Spatial Association technique (LISA). Results show there is a mismatch between the placement of community health care facilities and where the elderly reside. This mismatch will later create accessibility problems to the elderly if not tackle properly. They may be required to travel quite a distance to receive treatment and medications. Facilities are to be provided with projections of elderly population distribution in mind. This condition would minimize accessibility issue in the future.

From trade routes to streets cultures an overview of the significance and characteristics of southeast asian traditional streets

Abstract: The uniqueness of the Southeast Asian Traditional streets requires careful investigation in the context of its existence. In this regard, the study focuses on examining what factors contribute to the significant formation of Southeast Asian traditional streets. As early as 1500s the region became an important trading centre for the world, where the West meet the East. The emergence of ports along the coastal line and river mouth played remarkable roles, not only as places for trading goods, but also as a place that exchanged skills, languages, customs, ideology, religion through various means and aspects. Reviews from historical background indicate that ports and cities were transformed physically by virtue of the varieties of hybrid cultures that accumulated from time to time. In this respect, the accumulation of cultures tremendously affected the streets activities and its settings. Urban elements as ports, markets, commercial districts and public spaces point out several identities pertaining to the street cultures and characteristics. It was identified that the maritime trade routes during 15th-18th centuries brought abundantly changed to port cities such as Melaka, Bangkok, and Hanoi through the exposure to various influences. This paper demonstrates the correlation between physical forms and cultural entity of these cities. It reveals the linkages of the influential components from the adopted culture that merged with local context, which strongly emphasized the streets characteristics. Comparing with western commercial street models, Southeast Asian Traditional streets convey the local wisdom that inscribed how people use the streets and how streets formed by hybrid settings.

The Rukun Warga-based 3Rs and waste bank as sustainable solid waste management strategy

Abstract: Communities store a potential power to support overall performance of urban solid waste management through various creative and innovative arrangements. In Indonesia, the Rukun Warga (RW) is the lowest hierarchy of community organizational system which can implement creative and innovative arrangements to support solid waste management activities with less financial requirement. This study observed RW-based activity on fifty RWs with 412 respondents in terms of 3Rs, household waste separation, waste recycling business and waste bank system undertaken by the community for the sake of cleanliness and income-earning. The result shows that the correlation between level of the activity of the RWs communities in undertaking 3Rs, recycling business and waste bank, and the perceived cleanliness by the community members was validated. It is also showed positive results such as improved urban environment and provided strong push-factor influencing the community members to join the movement and the activities towards sustainable solid waste management are not always cost-intensive activities but a socially bounded engagement would also workable.

An overview of critical success factors of publicprivate partnership in the delivery of urban infrastructure and services

Abstract: The inability of the public sector to independently meet the increasing demand for infrastructure and services has prompted many governments to adopt Public-private partnership (PPP) as an alternative strategy. In worldwide practices, however, there are mixed results and controversy in the application of PPP model. The Public-private partnership has, for this reason, become an increasingly active research area mainly to establish the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) towards improving the PPP model. This article reviews the current debate on the subject of PPP and compares the findings of different literature regarding the relative importance of CSFs of PPP projects. The authors argue that the CSFs of PPP projects are distinctive to the context of location and time. The article concludes that this subjectivity has implications for the “guaranteed” success of both existing and future PPP projects.

Energy efficiency policy for existing typical campus buildings in the university of malaya

Abstract: A very large component of the maintenance cost of any real estate property is the electricity consumption cost. The electricity consumption cost of a 700-acre university campus in Malaysia would reach an overall yearly operating expenditure of nearly RM 1 billion. Knowing this fact, the University of Malaya’s (UM) top management has conducted many projects at various scales to address energy efficiency (EE), including the replacement of old and inefficient mechanical and electrical (M&E) equipment and the installation of new EE technologies around the campus. In enhancing the overall EE effort, an energy management system is required to ensure that a calculated EE plan can be implemented and audited after it is completed to improve the overall sustainability of UM. Therefore, this study presents the formulation of an Energy Management System (EMS) for UM based on the ASEAN Energy Management Scheme (AEMAS) methodology. Results show that with the full support of the top management of the university, the EMS can be implemented with at least a 5% electricity consumption reduction per year. The formalization of the EMS is the most important step in ensuring any marked reduction in electricity consumption campus-wide.

Exploring the implementation and success of green urban mobility in asian cities

Abstract: Urban population is rapidly increasing at the rate of 1.83% worldwide. This is accompanied by rise in auto-mobile ownership, which conversely imposes adverse environmental, health, economic and social impact in cities. Green Mobility has emerged as the best approach for promoting sustainable and environmental-friendly transportation in modern cities. This paper relied on secondary data to critically review current transport problems, efforts toward ensuring sustainable green mobility, success of the policies and challenges facing the process in Asian cities. The study found that urban transport problems are becoming worst in the cities. However, efforts are in place to reduce car footprint and promote green mobility in the cities. The global overall average score of cities is estimated at 43.9%, while Asia-Pacific cities have 42.8% average score of green mobility performance. The challenges militating against growth of green mobility in cities include fragmented management, lack of clear vision and strategy for the system, and inadequate infrastructure among others. Integrated and coordinated approach is one of the recommendations made towards ensuring sustainable green mobility in cities.

The impact of iskandar Malaysia development on urban amenities

Abstract: For major cities in Malaysia, globalized urban images are enthusiastically pursued by urban policy and explicitly depicted as a blueprint for a civilized city life. These developments have implications to physical and socio-economic developments as well as cultural aspects of cities in Malaysia. This is especially true for Iskandar Malaysia (IM), a new corridor development envisioned to be a “sustainable conurbation of international standing‟. The whole initiatives targeted an enormous increase in socio-economic development indicators such as populations (222%), workforce (233%), and per-capita GDP (210%) during a 20-year period of 2005-2025. Since its establishment in 2006, Iskandar Malaysia has witnessed wide spread urban renewal and new urban/suburban projects which resulted in distinct physical and socio-economic changes. One of the challenges to urban consumption is the provision and allocation of amenities to people within the region. A main concern of this paper is to identify the impact of Iskandar Malaysia development on urban amenities distribution. The 2000 and 2010 census data will be explored using GIS to explain the spatial distribution of health, education and safety amenities. This information will be matched with the residential distribution to determine amenities’ location, distribution and accessibility.

Synthesising an effective incentives system in safeguarding the heritage village of melaka and george town

Abstract: This paper summarizes the main findings derived from the field study held in three heritage villages located in the proximity of Melaka and George Town city. This study has employed a mixed method approach by using a questionnaire survey on the residents and interviews involving officials and local village leaders of the Morten Village and the Chitty Village in Melaka as well as the Clan Jetty Village in George Town. This study was conducted to address an overarching question, which is whether incentives programme that have been formulated for the community are suitable for their aspirations and needs. This paper analyses the residents’ perception on the effectiveness of the current incentives policy by using Bennett’s programme evaluation method. It evaluates the findings in relation to the present policy framework for understanding and managing the cultural heritage incentives programme in order to establish the sustainable community in the heritage village. As observed, this study has identified some constraints such as low quality of the conservation works and lack of incentives provision from the viewpoints of the local residents. In dealing with the efficiency of the current incentives programme, this study has taken the stance that a policy formulation for the incentives programme should visually reflect the ‘real’ needs of the local communities.

The critiques to positivism direction of inquiry in comprehending the complexity of governance in managing cities competitiveness

Abstract: The complexities in managing cities are real in the ethos of global cities competition and indeed, the governance of urban complexities are further compounded by the discoveries of new tangible and intangible determinants, vehemently contributed by the increased structural changes on a global scale ceased to be the main axes and reference points in societal organization. Whilst deterministic about deploying competitive cities interventions, the initiatives have always exposed local authorities to other related issues in the governance of complexity, which usually infers to their organizing capacity in attaining organizations competitiveness. For most modernists’ scholars, they tend to agreed that learning is associated with efficiency and thus, it exposed organizations to learn new impositions of social artefacts. Exaggerated from realist ontology definitive foundation of structural functionalism, it clearly underlined Weberian positivism bureaucratic efficiency, which echoed local authorities in attaining the balancing act between ‘de jure’ and ‘de facto’ that constitutionally empowered in managing cities in the ethos of globalization. On the contrary, the realism in local authorities suggested otherwise, which perhaps lead to epistemological debates on the governmentality. Apparently, local authorities are facing dramatic challenges not only reframing to achieving global interventions on cities competitiveness and urban sustainability interventions -de jure; but also intensely faced-off with severe ignorance, resentment and dissonance from the entire workforce itself - de facto. As such, it warrants this paper to explore the validity on the dominant used of positivism direction of inquiry among social sciences researchers’ on organizational bureaucratic efficiency, when most positivism line of inquiry researchers suggested that local authorities are learning organization entities, or is it so?

Identify significant indicators for a happy city

Abstract: Although, happiness has been evaluated by many researchers, there are very limited studies on happy environment, specifically happy cities. In addition, different methods that have been introduced for measuring happiness by previous studies have several major shortcomings. Firstly, happiness is considered equivalent to satisfaction or the quality of life. Secondly, the majority of these methods are not easy to follow and it is difficult to connect them to design process. Furthermore, these methods support only a limited number of indicators and majority of them are not related to the happy environment. Thus, this paper reviews prominent studies on happiness evaluations and happy environment to identify effective indicators for happy cities. It also attempts to highlight current happiness evaluation methods that consider happy environment to determine how various studies assess cities for happiness. The weaknesses and strengths of different evaluation methods are discussed in this paper to propose a better way to assess happy cities. A systematic review is used to identify indicators for happy cities. Overall, socio-economic factors, environmental factors (e.g., air pollution and temperature), geographical location and facilities management are effective variables for happy cities. This study discusses the challenges in happiness evaluation and attempts to introduce new objectives for futures studies. The results of this study can be used to propose strategies to have happier cities.

The suburbanisation of the kuala lumpur metropolitan region

Abstract: The Klang Valley has been experiencing rapid urbanisation especially during the past two decades. The area has expanded to become a larger entity known as the Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan Region (KLMR). But this development comes at the expense of Kuala Lumpur. The city had consistently recorded net-out migration during the period. This development has consequences on the urban fabric of the city and can lead to the problem

Demographic transition and sustainable communities in malaysia

Abstract: As a developing country, Malaysia is undergoing a demographic transition from a high fertility and mortality rural society towards an industrialised society with low fertility and mortality rates. This transition involved an increased growth rate of elderly population. The number of elderly has risen from 1.4 million in 2000 to 2.1 million in 2010 and is projected to be 3.4 million by 2020. A population aging needs to accumulate assets in order to achieve sustainable development goals. This represents the main challenge to planners and policy makers in terms of designing aged-friendly neighbourhoods to meet the elderly needs. This paper aims to review the population aging trends and policy framework available for the elderly in Malaysia. The paper further discusses the sustainable neighbourhoods related to active aging. The paper concludes by identifying fundamental gaps in both knowledge and policy associated with planning for the aging population and successful aging.

Monitoring the performance of state structure plan in delivering output using dynamic model

Abstract: Plan outputs are the material objects that are tangible and provided as a result of the implementation of a development plan. They often act as precursor to achieving plan outcomes. Therefore, it is important to monitor the performance of plan in delivering its outputs so that the prospect of achieving its outcomes remains high. However, present state structure plan monitoring programmes focus mostly on monitoring land use change and not plan output delivery. The absence of output monitoring reduces the usefulness of the programmes and contributes to under-provision of outputs, especially public facilities and open spaces. This study proposes that state structure plan monitoring programmes must include mechanism to monitor the performance of the plan in delivering plan outputs. To this end, a dynamic model for monitoring performance of state structure plan in delivering open spaces was developed using STELLA software and applied on the Selangor State Structure Plan. The model simulation showed that the Selangor State Structure Plan has performed poorly in delivering the open spaces where their provision has not conform to the plan’s targets. The model simulations also show that this nonconformances will remain by the end of the plan’s planning period.

Environmental psychology: the urban built environment impact on human mental health

Abstract: Growing urban population has increased environmental demands and also affects human health. As the global population becomes more urbanized, there is a concern that it will negatively affect not just physical health, but also mental health. Mental health can be categorized and studied through many different approaches, such as psychology, psychiatry, clinical and sociology. This paper aims to highlight the comparison of mental health of rural and urban dwellers, in terms of environmental psychology (EP) through the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). A survey questionnaire was distributed to respondents in Petaling Jaya to represent the urban area, and Pontian to represent the rural area. The survey questionnaire was analysed using one-way ANOVA analysis, and suggests a relationship between behaviour and age, but also in relation to ‘living area’ influence that suggests urbanization affects a person’s environmental psychology. The findings suggest that urban dwellers are more prone to certain personality traits that can be detrimental to a person’s mental health.

The provision of vertical social pockets for better social interaction in high-rise living

Abstract: High-rise living makes it difficult for social communities to form despite the provision of several dedicated social spaces at ground, podium, mid- and roof-levels, partially due to the sheer number of residents per block. The pull of easily-accessed, solitary recreational activities such as surfing the Internet and watching television further exacerbates the problem. Social spaces need to be brought closer to residents to promote social interaction. This paper proposes to improve social interaction by supplementing currently stratified social spaces with vertically-connected social hubs using existing transitional spaces in high-rise living, such as the lift lobby, to create micro-communities comprising the residents of each respective floor in a cost-effective way. Previous research indicated that strong communities look after each other, indicating that the creation of microcommunities will create an effect not unlike the defensible space theory. Therefore, this paper analyses residential high-rise layouts based on chosen case studies in Malaysia, then suggests several possible design outcomes that turn the lift lobby into social spaces at every floor level.

Sustainable housing affordability in sabah

Abstract: Sabah is one of the states in Malaysia has shown remarkable growth in housing industry where its housing sector has thrived owing to growing market and active supply and demand dynamics. However, the rapid increase in housing price has created greater concern among the researchers about the sustainability of the housing sector in this country. The aspect of sustainability has seem been neglected by the industry players. Consequently, it will give impact to the environment which contrasts with the aim of the built environment to create sustainable development. This is because affordable housing is always being associated with cheap and low-quality houses. This research is aim to assess the best area in the state of Sabah to build sustainable affordable housing scheme. The results indicate that area with high utility degree is the best area that conforms to the sustainable housing affordability factors. Likewise, an area with a lower ranking in utility degree can be described as a worst-performing area. The originality of this research has contributed to a real picture of sustainable housing affordability in Malaysia, particularly the state of Sabah.

Research for a comprehensive and active planning method in an industrial-residential mixed areafocused on ota creative town vision in Ota Ward, Tokyo

Abstract: Recently in Japan, the urban environment in industrial cities has been changing due to changes in the industrial, economical, and social structure. Ota Ward in Tokyo has small industrial districts, some of which are mixed-use areas. In the 1980’s there were 9,000 factories, but currently that number has been decreasing and although the factories still possess sophisticated skill-sets, their working environment is inadequate as it is surrounded by too many residential dwellings. In addition, it is too difficult to pass technical knowledge onto succeeding generations. In this research, we focus on a comprehensive and active planning method, specifically, on how to integrate manufacturing, community development, and city promotion so as to solve this kind of problem in mixed residential-industrial cities. Firstly, we investigated the local resources, which consisted of a small industrial network of a “mixed-used” status in Ota Ward that had access to an international airport. Secondly, we created a vision encompassing these three points: (1) Stock (property) management, (2) Supporting Creative Industry, and (3) City Promotion via Industrial Tourism.Currently two projects are in progress: One is the industrial tourism event, “Ota Open Factory”, which is a one day program where many restricted access small factories are opened to the public in the mixed-used industrial area; and the other is “Creative Town Lab. Tamagawa”, which is an active community space (usable for education, workshops, meetings, exhibitions, events) that has been converted from a vacant factory.With these projects, we are trying to realize the area’s potential through activities, recreating a more creative and active city culture and identity.

An investigation on the relationship between land use composition and pm10 pollution in Iskandar Malaysia

Abstract: This paper discusses the relationship between land use composition and the degree of air pollution, specifically PM10, in Iskandar Malaysia. Aspiring to be a low carbon region and a smart city, Iskandar Malaysia has to meet the social and economic needs of its growing population while taking care of all the environmental challenges that come with rapid urbanization. The intermittent regional haze episodes in the past years have shrouded this region with particulate matters including PM10, but the major cause of the haze was extensive agricultural open burning rather than land use change. Since there is no doubt land use change itself can be a significant contributor to local PM10 concentration, separating PM10 caused by the local (land use change) source from that of the regional source would enable us to investigate the trend in local PM10 pollution level. Therefore, a study on the Iskandar Malaysia’s PM10 readings for the years 2002, 2006 and 2008 was carried out with the aim to identify the relationship between land use composition and PM10 concentrations. The background concentration of PM10 was extracted by using the base flow separation process commonly used in the hydrograph study. The extracted background concentration was then interpolated with the Terra MODIS level 2 product to identify the PM10 concentration for the whole Iskandar Malaysia region, spatially. Since data for land use changes are compositional data in nature, where the percentages of different land use coverages always add up to unity, the barycentric or ternary plot had been used to investigate the relationship between PM10 concentrations with the land use composition (urban:agriculture:forest) in Iskandar Malaysia. The results show that air quality as represented by PM10 concentrations are inevitably linked to the land use changes at the local level notwithstanding the more noticeable but intermittent influence of the regional haze episodes. The degree of air pollution is noticeably controlled by the percentage of urban land use with PM10 clearly affected by the size of commercial area.

A theoretical overview of road hump effects on traffic speed in residential environments

Abstract: This paper is part of an ongoing study to analyse the effectiveness of road humps as a traffic calming measure in improving the residential living environment. A review was conducted on various literatures concerning the effects of road humps on vehicle speeds, particularly in residential areas. The major findings from the literatures are that the vehicles’ operating speeds are affected by the hump design and spacing in between humps. An incorrect hump profile will also potentially result in passenger discomfort and vehicle damage. Public perceptions also agreed that road humps are effective in reducing vehicle speeds. More studies should link field study results with residents’ perceptions particularly in Malaysia, while considering the effect of road geometrics and other devices possibly impacting vehicle speeds along selected roads. Further research also needs to be done to test the effectiveness of current schemes in Malaysian residential areas, as many are on an ad-hoc basis.