NeW challenges For Malaysia

country, state and local levels.

Town and country planning, which is carried out through the National Physical Plan and various development plans (State Structure Plan, Local Plan and Special Area Plan), now requires a new paradigm shift because of municipal issues and problems that cannot be seen within an administrative boundary.

Malaysia has committed to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the New Urbanisation Agenda (NUA) for holistic solution to urbanisation problems.

The urban population of the world which has grown significantly from 1 billion in 1960, to 2.3 billion in 1990 and 4 billion in 2016, requires a joint approach between countries.

In Peninsular Malaysia, the urban population has increased significantly by nearly 75 per cent to 19.98 million in 2015. This is expected to continue and reach 83.3 per cent by 2025.

The National Physical Plan 3 stipulates that this increase should be limited so that it does not exceed 85 per cent by 2040.

The Second National Urbanisation Policy (NUP2) has identified issues of cost of living, traffic congestion, energy and resource inefficiencies, solid waste generation and environmental preservation which need to be addressed through a systematic, organised and efficient urban planning and management system.

It is estimated that by 2040, the total population of Peninsular Malaysia will reach 46.1 million and this will require 4.40 million hectares of development area compared to the current available built-up area of 1.17 million hectares.

This situation will result in the competition of land required for permanent forest reserves, food protection areas, commodity agriculture areas and others. In addition, it gives the impact of disaster risks such as floods, landslides, rising sea levels in coastal cities and others.

As a result, the role of the National Physical Planning Council (MPFN) which is chaired by the Prime Minister has been strengthened, especially in terms of advising on planning and implementation of development policies throughout the nation.

Given that urban planning is a process that requires the input of various parties includes the professionals and community themselves, and goes beyond the boundaries between federal and state governments and local authorities, the government has rationalised the positioning of PLANMalaysia (Town and Country Planning Department) to be under the purview of the Federal Territories Ministry lead by the minister, Khalid Samad. The Federal Territories Ministry has a huge role to play in leading the urbanisation, to a more sustainable, inclusive, resilient, livable and viable process.

This is to ensure that urban and rural planning systems which are under the legal provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 (Act 172) for Peninsular Malaysia, Federal Territory (Planning) Act 1982 (Act 267) which applies only to the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and the Corporation Act Putrajaya 1995 and the Labuan Corporation Act 2001 can be coordinated.

During the opening of World Town Planning Day 2018 celebration in Alor Setar on the 3 rd November 2018, Khalid has mentioned the possibility of the Ministry being renamed to reflex its wider role as it is no longer limited to only development of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya.

Kuala Lumpur, as the capital of Malaysia, is expected to reach a population of 2.2 million by 2020. The city has undergone a dynamic and vast urbanisation process that can be shared with other cities. The town and rural planning systems need to be implemented through an inclusive, effective and efficient settlement solutions.

Solutions to urban problems such as urban poverty, squatters, affordable housing, traffic congestion, public utilities need to be carefully and efficiently planned.

Urban planning and development needs to be implemented in a comprehensive manner, particularly in monitoring and reporting sustainability. In highlighting Malaysia as a nation committed to global initiatives such as SDGs, NUA and others, reporting needs to be made comprehensively for each city.