Urban renewal law to be introduced
PUTRAJAYA: The Local Government Development Ministry is preparing a new law specifically related to urban renewal.
Its minister Nga Kor Ming said currently, urban renewal is implemented through nine existing laws, with legislation involving various ministries, departments and agencies.
“If we look at development in Malaysia, there are several things that hinder efforts towards urban renewal, including the absence of specific legislation,” he said after launching the Urban Renewal Implementation Guidelines yesterday.
He said the special law was prepared through the Town and Country Planning Department (PLANMalaysia), by conducting a Regulatory Impact Analysis with Malaysia Productivity Corporation to assess the need for a special law.
Nga said the new law is expected to be tabled in Parliament at the end of next year, which will have a major impact on the national economy, as well as enabling the guidelines to be used nationwide.
He said the guidelines were introduced as the governance of urban renewal varies by states and local authorities, and there is no uniform practice across the country.
Nga added that the guidelines will be used as reference for the federal government, state and local authorities, developers and other stakeholders to redevelop obsolete and abandoned townships. Emphasising that urban renewal should be accorded serious attention, given that Malaysia’s urbanisation rate is expected to increase to 85% by 2040, Nga said a geospatial database for urban renewal will be created by the ministry, through PLANMalaysia.
“The role of the geospatial database is as an inventory of the location and site information for potential areas for urban renewal for the whole country. It contains information such as the age of buildings or areas, the status of building conditions and others,” he said.
According to Nga, Kuala Lumpur City Hall currently has the data, and a total of 139 sites with an area of 1,297ha have been identified to be redeveloped.