world town planning day 2007 - convention proceedings

WORLD TOWN PLANNING DAY

2007

NATIONAL CONVENTIONTown And Country Planning - 50 Years

21 & 22 November 2007Pusat Dagangan Dunia Putra (PWTC)

Kuala Lumpur

Convention Proceedings

Town And Country Planning 50 Years

NATIONAL CONVENTION: TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING 50 YEARS 1

CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1

Objectives 4Programme 5

Convention

KEYNOTE ADDRESS 6By Y. Bhg. Dato Mohd. Fadzil Hj. Mohd KhirDirector General, Federal Department of Town and Country Planning

SESSION 1: TOWN PLANNING EVOLUTION SINCE 1957 16Paper 1 18

The Evaluation of Town and Country Planning in Malaysia from Mat Sallehs Points of View By: Professor Emeritus Michael J. Bruton Department of City And Regional Planning, Cardiff University, U.KPaper Summary

Paper 2 56The Evaluation of Infrastructure Planning and Development in Malaysia 1957 Onwards: Lessons Learnt By: Ir. Selvarayagam s/o P. NagalingamDeputy Director General III, Department of Public Works

Paper 3 70Impact of Planning and Development on the Environment and Natural Resources and Its Correlation to Natural Disasters By: Y. Bhg. Dato Seri Dr. Salleh Mohd Nor Council Member of Malaysian Nature Society (MNS)Paper Summary

Panel Discussion Questions and Answers on Session 1 90Topic:

Has Planning and Development Post Merdeka Done More Harm Than Good for the Country?

Chairman: Mdm. Norliza HashimPresident Malaysian Institute of Planners (MIP)

SESSION 2: CURRENT PLANNING ISSUES 100Paper 4 102

Town Planning and Conservation; What Needs to Be Done? By: Y.Bhg. Tan Sri Dato Seri (Dr.) Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid President Badan Warisan MalaysiaPaper Summary

2 FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

CONTENTS

Paper 5 116Planning with the People, Between the Facts and Fiction, an Inevitable Course of Actions By: Mr. Derek John FernandezPJK Advocate & Solicitor of High Court of MalayaPaper Summary

Paper 6 138Community Participation in Post Tsunami Aceh: Lessons Learnt from Disaster Management By: Ar. Azman Zainon AbidinDepartment of Architecture, UiTM Perak, EXCO MERCY, MalaysiaPaper Summary

Paper 7 182Forwarding Gender Equation in Urban Governance and Planning By: Ms. Maria Chin AbdullahExecutive Director Womens Development CollectivePaper Summary


Non Compliance and Low Understanding of the Development Planning Mechanism Have Been Contributory to Planning Pitfalls in The County. Do You Agree and If Yes What Needs To Be Done?

Chairman: Y.Bhg Dato Zainuddin MuhammadFormer Director General, Federal Department Of Town and Country Planning (1993-2001)

SESSION 3: FUTURE PLANNING AND CHALLENGES 220Paper 8 222

Marrying Corporate Ideals with Good Urban Planning Practice: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Other Means By: Y.Bhg. Dato Abd Wahab MaskanCEO GuthriePaper Summary

3Town And Country Planning 50 Years

NATIONAL CONVENTION: TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING 50 YEARS

Paper 9 238Towards a More Cultured Society: Town Planning from an Artist Point of View By: Y.Bhg. Dato Faridah MericanExecutive Producer, the Actors Studio, BSCPaper Summary

Paper 10 246Sustainable Business Practices - The Corporate Commitment By: Mr. Chew Seng ChoonChairman Technical Committee, Business Council for Sustainable Development MalaysiaPaper Summary

Paper 11 266Emerging New Trends Affecting the Physical Landscape of the Nation, Future Shocks a la Malaysia By: Y.Bhg. Dato Jailani JohariSenior Director State Planning Division, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.Paper Summary


Good Urban Planning Requires Strong Political Will. Are We There Yet or How Do We Cope with Future Physical Planning Demands?

Chairman: Y.Bhg. Dato Ghazali Dato YusuffExco Member Sustainable Business Council

CLOSING SPEECH AND RESOLUTION 292

ANNEX 300List of Participants 302Organising Committee 316 Convention Photos 322

4 FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

CONVENTION PROCEEDINGS

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the 2007 World Town Planning Day Convention are: To educate all levels of communities about planning and its contribution

in the development of the country, especially in the building of cities and settlements;

To provide a benecial platform for planners to gain experience and to promote better planning quality in the country; and

To honour and recognise the efforts of signicant people involved in the planning process and their contribution towards creating quality neighbourhoods and settlements.

PROGRAMME

20 November 2007 (Tuesday)

02.00 pm 07.00 pm Hotel check in at The Legend Hotel, Jalan Putra, Kuala Lumpur

DAY ONE 21 November 2007 (Wednesday) VENUE

1st Session: Town Planning Evolution Since 1957

08.00 am 09.00 am Registration at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) Foyer Dewan Tun Husain Onn Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC)

09.00 am 09.30 am Keynote Address by Y. Bhg. Dato Mohd Fadzil Hj. Mohd. Khir Director General, Federal Department of Town and Country Planning, Peninsular Malaysia

09.30 am 10.00 am Visit to Exhibition planEX 07 Dewan Tun Dr. Ismail B Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC)

10.00 am 10.30 am Tea Break

10.30 am 10.50 am Paper 1: The Evolution of Town Planning in Malaysia from a Mat Sallehs Point of View By: Prof. Emeritus Michael J Bruton Department of City & Regional Planning, Cardiff University, U.K

10.50 am 11.20 am Paper 2: The Evolution of Infrastructure Planning and Development in Malaysia 1957 Onwards: Lesson Learnt By: Department of Public Works

11.20 am 11.50 am Paper 3: Impact of Planning and Development on The Environment and Natural Resources and its Correlation to Natural Disasters By: Y. Bhg. Dato Seri Dr. Salleh Mohd Nor Council Members of Malaysian Nature Society (MNS)

11.50 am 12.45 am Panel Discussion Topic: Has Planning and Development Post Merdeka Done More Harm Than Good for The Country? Moderator: Madam Norliza Hashim President Malaysian Institute of Planners (IMP)

12.45 pm Lunch

2nd Session: Current Planning Issues

02.30 pm 02.55 pm Paper 4: Town Planning And Conservation; What Needs To Be Done By: Y. Bhg. Tan Sri Dato Seri (Dr.) Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid President Badan Warisan

02.55 pm 03.20 pm Paper 5: Planning With The People, Between Facts And Fiction. An Inevitable Course Of Actions By: Mr. Derek Fernandez Planning Advocacy and Activist

03.20 pm 03.45 pm Paper 6: Community Participation In Post Tsunami Aceh: Lessons Learnt From Disaster Management By: AR. Azman Zainon Abidin Head of Operations Indonesia. MERCY



03.45 pm 04.10 pm Paper 7: Forwarding Gender Quality in Urban Governance and Planning: Hopes and Aspirations By: Miss Maria Chin Abdullah Executive Director Womens Development Collective (NGO)

04.10 pm 05.00 pm Panel Discussion Topic: Non Compliance And Low Understanding Of The Development Planning Mechanism Have Been Contributory To Planning Pitfalls In The Country. Do You Agree And If Yes What Needs To Be Done? Moderator: Y. Bhg. Dato Zainuddin Muhammad Former Director General Federal Department of Town and Country Planning Peninsular Malaysia (1993-2001)

05.00 pm Tea Break

World Town Planning Day Dinner VENUE

08.00 pm 11.00 pm World Town Planning Day Dinner Hilton Kuala Lumpur Guest of Honour, YB minister of Housing and Local Government

DAY TWO 27 November 2007 (Thursday)

Launching of World Town Planning Day and World Habitat Day 2007 VENUE

07.30 am 08.00 am Participants leave for KLCC (Transport will be provided)

08.30 am 08.50 am Arrival of Guest Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC)

08.50 am Arrival of Y.B Dato Seri Ong Ka Ting Minister of Housing and Local Government

Doa Recitation

Speech by Y. Bhg. Datuk Eddy Chen Lok Loi Deputy President, ESROPH Malaysia

Speech by UNDP Representative

Speech by Y. Bhg. Dato Mohd Fadzil Hj. Mohd. Khir Director General, Federal Department of Town and Country Planning, Peninsular Malaysia

Keynote Address by YB Dato Seri Ong Ka Ting Minister of Housing and Local Government

Launching of World Town Planning Day and World Habitat Day 2007 Award Presentation for National Ideas Competition on Safe Cities

10.15 am 10.45 am Tea Break

11.00 am 11.30 am Participants return to PWTC (Transport will be provided)

12.30 pm Lunch Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC)

3rd Session Future Planning and Challenges VENUE

02.00 p 02.25 pm Paper 8: Marrying Corporate Ideals With Good Urban Planning Practice: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) And Other Means Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) By: Y. Bhg. Dato Abd Wahab Maskan CEO Guthrie

02.25 pm 02.50 pm Paper 9: Toward A Cultured Society: Town Planning From An Artists Point Of View By: Y. Bhg. Dato Faridah Merican The Actor Studio, BSC Jalan Maarof, Kuala Lumpur

02.50 pm 03.15 pm Paper 10: Sustainable Business Practices, The Corporates Commitment By: Mr. Chew Seng Choon Chairman Technical Committee, Business Council Sustainable Development

03.15 pm 03.40 pm Paper 11: Emerging New Trends Affecting The Physical Landscape Of The Nation. Future Shocks A La Malaysia By: Y. Bhg. Dato Jailani Johari Senior Director State Planning Department, Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission

03.40 pm 04.30 pm Panel Discussion Topic: Good Urban Planning Requires Strong Political Will. Are We There Yet Or How Do We Cope With Future Physical Planning Demonds? Moderator: Y. Bhg. Dato Ghazali Dato Yusuff Exco Member Sustainable Business Council

04.30 pm Closing Remarks

04.45 pm 05.00 pm Tea Break End of Convention

For future information on programme, please call:Mdm Tee Szu Fong Mdm Noor Azuwa KushairiTel: 03 2699 2148 Fax: 03 2694 7824 Tel: 03 2699 2180 Fax: 03 2694 7824Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

Keynote Address

TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING 50 YEARS

Y. Bhg. Dato Mohd Fadzilb. Haji Mohd Khir

DIRECTOR-GENERALFEDERAL OF DEPARTMENT TOWN AND COUNTRY

PLANNING

8KEYNOTE ADDRESS

FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim. Assalamualaikum wbt and a very good morning,

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

1. Alhamdulillah, all praise and glory for Allah SWT, for it is his blessings and guidance that we are gathered here today. It is always a pleasure for me to rst of all welcome you to this World Town Planning Day National Convention which is organized in conjunction with the World Town Planning Day 2007 celebration. A special welcome to all the speakers, thank you for joining us today, despite your busy schedule I am sure.

2. This years theme Town and Country Planning: 50 Years has been aptly chosen, as Malaysia just celebrated the golden anniversary of its independence last 31 August, and indeed it was the biggest celebration the country had witnessed for half a century. So this morning I will share with you my thoughts on 50 years of planning Peninsular Malaysia.

BEFORE INDEPENDENCE

3. Town Planning has a relatively long history in Malaysia. It was imported from England as early as 1921, with Charles Compton Reade from South Australia as the rst government town planner. Subsequently the rst town planning department was opened in Kuala Lumpur in January 1921. The rst town planning legislation - the Town Planning Enactment was drafted in 1923, which among the provisions allowed the Sanitary Board to set up its own organization to include the running of the planning aspects.

4. The early planning focus mainly on settlement areas along the riverbanks, where lands were fertile and the rivers were used as transport network. Later, settlements began to organically appear around the hub of economic activities - around the tin mines and the outskirts of rubber estates for instance. Kuala Lumpur and Sungai Lembing in Pahang are classic examples of towns that grew out of tin mining activities, while Lunas in Kedah is now an emerging heritage town whose history can be traced back to rubber planting activities.

5. At the time of independence, Malaysia had four distinct ethnic groups - the Malays, Chinese, Indians and Others, all living separately by the different employment behaviour. With most Malays being farmers and shermen lived in the village with little or no planning input. The town areas are mostly populated by the Chinese whom are the tin miners and shopkeepers. The Indians who were mostly rubber tappers lived in estates that were are planned by the estate owners.

6. The First and Second Malaya Plans were introduced and implemented under British rule and adopted a laissez-faire attitude towards protecting British interests in Malaya. These two socio-economic Malaya Plans were aimed at guiding the development of social services, national resources, utilities, trade and industry. The economic base was then primarily production of that rubber and tin.

7. Land use zoning was mainly prepared on small and adhoc basis for human settlements. In



1924, the layout of the rst town planned based on the Garden City principles was prepared for Kuala Kubu Bharu.

8. The Town Planning Enactment 1923 was later incorporated in the Sanitary Boards Enactment CAP 137 and was later renamed as Town Boards Enactment. Part 1X was merely an optional duty on the local government enabling them to prepare General Town Plans which were essentially zoning plans showing major permitted land uses. In line with this, activities of the Town Planning Department were also widened to encompass all Town Boards and Municipal areas in the then Malayan Union, while the Federal Town Planning Department maintained its role as the advisor to the Federal Government on planning matters. Subsequently three regional ofces in Johor Baru, Ipoh and Penang were set up between 1955 and 1956 while Kuala Lumpur remained as the Federal Head Ofce covering the state Selangor, N. Sembilan and Pahang.

9. The main concern of development then was mainly to create new villages and new towns, as well as to open up new land schemes. The reasons behind these developments were to ensure security - as the country was facing communist insurgency.

10. In relation to urbanization, in 1954, Petaling Jaya became one of the earliest comprehensively planned new town developed by the British as an answer to the problem of over crowding in Kuala Lumpur and to function as a satellite town. Here, planning concepts from Britain such as Garden City and neighbourhood unit were adapted and implemented by the Departments town planners in preparing the layout plans.

THE 60s INHERITANCE


11. After the Independence, the planning service was placed under the Concurrent List of the Federal Constitution, making it the responsibility of both the Federal and State Governments. The Planning Department was then restructured through the setting up of the State Town and Country Planning Departments (STCPD) throughout Peninsular Malaysia.

12. the First Malaysia Plan 1966-70 was also introduced to achieve integration of the peoples, to improve the standard of living and to provide employment opportunities and basic amenities among others. CAP 137 was still used for development control purposes, while the blue print zoning plan was still used as a guide. Interim development plan was prepared for the urban areas. The need to exercise town planning was mainly to exert proper control and curb ribbon development that was so apparent along the major roads. As such in the early days, the focus of planning was to control physical development in a proper manner. During this time also the Parliament House, the National Indoor Stadium and other facilities were planned and built.

13. For the rural areas, the focus was to improve regional imbalances by creating Felda settlements plus the rubber estates for creation of jobs. Other existing rural settlements were upgraded and more land schemes emerged, in tandem with objectives the National Plan at that to upgrade the standard of living of the rural people. For the record, the rst FELDA scheme in Malaysia started in 1958 in Lurah Bilut, Bentong Pahang.

10

KEYNOTE ADDRESS


THE 70s - MOULDING ERA


14. The New Economic Policy (NEP) was launched in the 70s under the Second Malaysia Plan (1970-1975). The essence of this policy is to pursue growth with equity through a two-pronged strategy namely, to eradicate poverty irrespective of race, and to restructure the society. The Economic has moved from agriculture to industrial base with Penang was the rst free trade zone for the manufacture of electric and electronic products. The NEP has set the mould for the nation.

15. The urban development highlights the integration of the people through the improvement of the social, economic and physical development. The seventies also proved to be a more progressive decade. Several agencies were established to help boost the urban and rural sectors. Among them are the Urban Development Authority (UDA) and several Regional Development Authorities (RDAs). This era marked the beginning of large planned settlements. UDA was responsible to develop townships, public housing, and commercial centres, among others. Some of its noted works are Puduraya Transport Terminal Kampung Attap shophouses, Dayabumi Complex, Pertama Complex, and Taman Tun Dr. Ismail township. The private sector continued in their in providing adequate houses for the people.

16. Five RDAs were established in the 70s which are JENGKA, DARA, KEJORA, KETENGAH and KESEDAR. The main objectives of these RDAs were to plan and develop rural new towns to improve the economic and regional imbalances in their regions. The TCPD was involved in preparing layout plans for the RDAs. The concept involved planning for human settlement and their employment areas with the provision of basic amenities such as schools, commercial, industrial area and recreational facilities.

THE 80s - NEW PLANNING ERA


17. This is the beginning of the new planning era - the Malaysian way. Malaysia has ventured into heavy industries, It started with the establishment of Petronas, from a home-based company to a full-edged oil and gas multinational rank which is one of the countries biggest achievements. The formulation of Heavy Industry Policy in 1980 and the Industrial Master Plan 1 in 1986, later resulted in the formation of Perwaja and Proton. There was a clear focus on the private sector as being the engine of growth.

18. National mega infrastructure development projects took place during this decade. The North-South Highway which is the longest expressway in Malaysia with a total length of 966km linked many major cities and towns in Western Peninsular Malaysia, Penang Bridge which is one of the architecture wonders of Penang connecting the island and the mainland rank as the longest bridge in Asia and fth largest in the world, and the East-West Highway,

11



linking the east and the west of Peninsular running between Jeli in Kelantan and Grik in Perak.

19. Having seen limited success with the development of new towns by the RDAs, in 1986, rural planning was inclined toward in-situ development approach with identication of Rural Growth Centres (RGC) or Pusat Pertumbuhan Desa (PPD) in Peninsular Malaysia, for the Ministry of Rural Development (KPLB). These RGCs are the lowest hierarchy of settlement in the overall urbanization schemes, and they were meant to function as the centre for public facilities, services and low order goods, as trading and transport hubs, as well as a stimulus for urban development. Some of the kampungs identied as PPD were Kg. Soi in Kuantan and Kg. Sungai Rusa in Pulau Pinang.

20. The Town And Country Planning Bill was enacted by the Parliament as The Town and Country Planning Act 1976 (TCPA or Act 172). Generally this Act introduced a uniform system of law and regulation for town and country planning in Peninsular Malaysia. It aims to ensure the proper control and regulation of town and country planning in local authority areas. From 1978 onwards began the adoption and enforcement of the TCPA by various states in the Peninsular. Under the provision of this Act, development plan system in this country covers two main stages that are structure plan and local plan. By the fourth Malaysia Plan, marked the beginning of a series of development plans prepared in accordance with TCPA 1976 by TCPD and in cooperation with local authorities. The structure and locals prepared were mainly for urban areas. The rst Structure Plan was prepared for Seremban and a Local Plan for Tampoi/Larkin/Kempas.

21. In terms of urban development, there is a need for a well functioning public urban realm for meetings and encounters among the people of all ages, acquaintances, friends and even strangers. This requires the existence of multi-functional public places. Furthermore the public places must have appropriate human scale architecture and mixed land use of shops and homes, outdoor caf and restaurants. The urban development during this time have multi-dimensional function such as city for business, nancial, administration and recreation for better living environment. Landscape became an important component in city planning by then.

THE 90s - SETTING UP BASE FOR THE FUTURE


22. The 90s also marked the start of Vision 2020, an idea mooted under the leadership of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. Vision 2020 is a 30-year target to achieve a fully developed nation. The National Development Policy which replaced NEP in preparing for the new millennium emphasised and focused on sustaining the economic growth and to achieve further structural transformation through science and technology, research and development, and by increasing productivity and efciency.

23. During the 90s, nations worldwide were faced with increased globalization, particularly economic liberalization plus the impact of ICT advancement. These in many ways have changed the way we think, plan, govern, do business - indeed, changed the ways of life, and how they live, work and play.

12

KEYNOTE ADDRESS


24. As planning challenges become more complicated locally and globally, so as the planning approach which have shifted to planning for sustainability. In response to this, the planning fraternity has adopted a more integrated and comprehensive planning approach through the Integrated Planning and Resource Management System (IPRMS). This is an approach where physical planning and resource utilization are integrated vertically and horizontally i.e that is between and within sectors at all three levels of government.

Distinguished guest, ladies and gentlemen,

25. In 1991, Peninsular Malaysia had 7.7 million urban population, of which around 1.2 million were in Kuala Lumpur. The capital city being just 243 sq. km in size was congested with urban development, hence triggering the idea to relocate Federal Government Administrative agencies to a greeneld area, and by doing so strengthening Kuala Lumpurs role as the business and nancial hub of the country

26. The role of planners increased and became very important with the development of Multimedia Super Corridor, Putrajaya and other large scale projects. A modern and vibrant township Putrajaya was founded in 1995, located south of Kuala Lumpur. This well-planned city is an attractive amalgamation of an administrative center with commercial, residential areas with parks, lakes and wetlands. Putrajaya development is a successful application of the Total Planning Doctrine. At the same time, the Malaysian government conceptualized and formed the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), creating Cyberjaya as the hub of MSC now dubbed the worlds intelligent city and premier hub for Information and Communication Technology (ICT). As it turned out, Putrajaya sits in the middle of MSC, and next to Cyberjaya, all in all emitting a very good synergy between them. In the regional context, these landmark developments automatically extended Metropolitan Kuala Lumpurs de facto boundary to the south, creating a Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan Region of around 4,000 sq. km today.


27. The 90s also showcased a number of world class infrastructure in Malaysia with the development of the LRT and the KTM Commuter to alleviate the problems of trafc congestion in Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan Region. The Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) presented a distinctive example of a beautiful and functional airport with state-of-the-art architecture serving as the regional hub for air travel. Today, futuristic creations such as the Petronas Twin Towers in KLCC which is the tallest twin building is among a must-visit by foreign tourists especially in Kuala Lumpur. All the above demonstrate the drive for development as evident across the country.

2000s SUSTAINING AND MOVING FORWARD


28. Malaysia has made signicant strides in nation building, in developing its economy and in improving the quality of life of its people. The path towards 2020 will be fraught with

13



challenges and difculties as the local and global socio-economic landscapes continue to involve in other to option the highest level of performance and the maksimum impact from the country national development affords, as in the Ninth Malaysia Plan, national mission identies ve key thrust for Malaysia. First: To move the economy up the value chain Second: To raise the capacity for knowledge and innovation and nurture rst class

mentality Third: To address persistent socio-economic inequalities constructively and

productively Fourth: To improve the standard and sustainability of quality of life Fifth: To strengthen the institutional and implementation capacity

29. As we ushered into this era, the nation has progressed so well. To date, the TCPD with the cooperation of local authorities has undertaken the preparation of 117 Structure Plans and 201 Local Plans which are in various stages of preparation. Now that most areas have been covered by some kind of plans, we will now have to monitor and review all these plans. Through consultation and collaboration with all stakeholders, plans are now being prepared in an integrated and holistic manner - focusing on quality and practicality.

30. The TCPD to date, has also produced 41 Physical Planning and Development Guidelines to guide those involved in property planning and development. Nevertheless, I admit some of these guidelines are due for review to suit to present needs and requirements.

31. Finally, this year at least three very interesting developments have taken place. Firstly, in the pursuit of improving the government delivery system, the one stop centre (OSC) was formed at the local Authority under the purview of Ministry Of Housing And Local Government. This exercise is to help enforce fast-track approval by Local Authorities. Secondly, in line with the Ninth Malaysia Plan several regional growth corridors have been formed for and are set for implementation namely The Iskandar Development Region (IDR), the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) and the Eastern Corridor Economic Region (ECER). These three corridors will constitute the biggest physical development in the nation in at least the next decade, and the nation is eagerly waiting to share the wealth created by these corridors. Various operational plans along with numerous local plans and special area plan will supplement those projects identied in those regional plan and country will see greater growth.


ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

32. However despite the holistic and comprehensive development plans being prepared, environmental degradation, trafc congestion and poor public transportation, urban sprawl and encroachment into environmentally sensitive areas, lack of clear direction on the preservation and conservation of national heritage social problem etc. continue to nag us. The question is, is it due to non conformity or lack of implementation due to limited resources or conicts of interest among states or implementation agencies or development targets/strategies are wrongly formulated or our prot overrule social obligations?

33. As a way forward, perhaps the solutions would still be in the National Urbanisation Policy

14

KEYNOTE ADDRESS


which provides the basis for development. The NUP which was launched in 2006 outlines the following thrust;(a) Towards an efcient and sustainable urbanization.(b) Development of a resilient, dynamic & competitive urban economy.(c) Towards an integrated & efcient urban transportation system.(d) Provide quality urban services, infrastructure & utility.(e) Create a conducive urban living environment with district identity.(f) Effective urban governance.

34. Urban development should have a clear guidance on the direction of future expansion so as to accommodate an orderly and manageable development. Urban development should be implemented as smart growth with emphasis on redevelopment while preserving green areas for recreational purpose, conserving environmentally sensitive area and preventing encroachment into agricultural area. To sustain the development would also include the new need for disaster planning with frequent occurrences of disasters and threats of global warming.

35. Sustainability also means it is important to identify the economic strength for the urban centre and to provide its urban dwellers with appropriate work.

36. Surely we want to see a progressive nation enjoying a high quality of life, therefore the provision of infrastructure and utility should full the demand of the population and supporting the growth of the urban economy as well as contribute to the competitiveness of the any city. Services such supply of electricity, telecommunications and solid waste disposal need to be improved so as to ensure sustainability and cost-efciency of maintenance. An efcient and comprehensive transportation system is vital to address the problems of congestion policy which promotes the use of an integrated public transportation system that is effective, reliable, user friendly and affordable will elevate the well being of urban centres and will enhance the competitiveness of an urban centre.

37. Society today is concerned with comfortable, user-friendly living environment with facilities for social interaction. As urban population increases, the urban environment should be planned and managed as a more attractive place for living, working and recreation. Major public amenities such as school and recreational areas should be adequately provided at suitable locations for use by all group of urban population.

38. An effective urban governance system should be established to administer urban growth and development at various levels particularly at the local authority level. The Local Authority, as the main agency responsible for urban management, needs to update the administration and management systems to optimize its revenue. The use of innovative approach and technology is warranted in order for the Local Authority to meet the demand of urban dwellers. Planning in future will have to involve all sectors of the community which have the stake in the area through collaborative synergy, strategic alliance or smart partnership, involving not only government organisations but also private sector organisation, NGOS and CBOS including disadvantaged groups. The youth and also civil society only by then there will support and involvement and will render the governance to be more effective.

39. As in the previous year, I would like to take this opportunity to announce the result of MURNInet 2007. For this year assessment, out of 40 cities and towns 5 are considered sustainable, which has scores more than 80 percent. The rest are moderate.

15



CONCLUDING REMARKS


40. The planning service has indeed matured alongside with the outstanding growth of the nation. Our Nation has developed from a tin and rubber-producing country to an industrial and Knowledge based economy and from rural based settlement to modern Twin-Towers. The success achieved largely comes from the joint efforts from all quarters including Town Planners. Undoubtedly we have encountered and will be confronted with more complex issues and challenges in future planning and development internally and globally. In our strive to achieve developed status and a sustainable prosperous country in the next 50 years will denitely need the participation, consultation, collaboration and partnership with all involve and stakeholders so as to harness planning development which can be implemented and accepted by all.

41. Lastly, I hope you will make the most of this years World Town Planning Day National Convention. Please ensure your participation in the forthcoming paper presentations that will cover Town Planning Evolution since 1957, Current Planning Issues and Future Planning and Challenges.

42. With that, I thank you for your attention and wish you all a productive and enjoyable conference.

Session 1

TOWN PLANNING EVOLUTION SINCE 1957

Paper 1 The Evaluation of Town and Planning in Malaysia from Mat Sallehs Points of View Prof Emeritus Michael J. Bruton

Paper 2 The Evolution Of Infrastructure Planning And Development In Malaysia 1957

Onwards - Lessons Learnt Ir. Selvanayagam s/o P. Nagalingam (Paper Was Not Presented and Discussed)

Paper 3 Impact of Planning and Development on the Environment and Natural Resources

and its Correlation to Natural Disasters Y. Bhg. Dato Seri Dr. Salleh Mohd. Nor

Panel Discussion Questions and Answers Has Planning and Development Post Merdeka Done More Harm Than Good for the

Country? Mdm. Norliza Hashim

Paper 1

Professor Emeritus Michael J. Bruton

DEPARTMENT OF CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNINGCARDIFF UNIVERSITY, U.K.

THE EVALUATION OF TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING IN MALAYSIA

FROM MAT SALLEHS POINTS OF VIEW

20

PAPER 1


CURRICULUM VITAE

PROFESSOR MICHAEL J. BRUTON CBE

Address : 14 Queen Anne Square, Cardiff, CF 10 3 EDTelephone : 0222 373121Status : Married, two daughters (30 and 27 both married)

QUALIFICATIONS: BA MSc (Eng) DIC Dip TP FRTPI FCIT MIHT1961 BA (Hons 2/1) Geography with Geology1964 Diploma in Town Planning1965 MSc (Eng)1965 DIC (Transport Planning)1964 Member Royal Town Planning Institute1968 Member Institution Highways and Transport1978 Member Chartered Institute of Transport1980 Fellow Chartered Institute of Transport1982 Fellow Royal Town Planning Institute1995 Commander of British Empire1996 Fellow University of Wales College of Cardiff1999 Emeritus Professor Cardiff University

PESENT SITUATION: Retired

CAREER HISTORY: Michael J. Bruton CBE; Professor Emeritus, Cardiff University Academic and professional qualications in Town Planning, Transport and Geography.

Appointed Commander of the British Empire for services to Cardiff University 1993 Practised for 8 years as a Town Planner in local government in England and Scotland

London County Council; Lanarkshire County Council and Buckinghamshire County Council

Entered academia with Strathclyde University, then to Oxford Brookes University; University of Central England and nally UWIST/Cardiff University as Head of Department of City and Regional Planning before becoming Deputy Principal and Registrar

Served as planning representative on the University Grants Committee and chaired the Built Environment Research Assessment Committee on two occasions.

Member of the Editorial Board of Habitat International; joint editor of The Natural and Built Environment Series.

Research interests focus on Local Planning in Practice and Planning Practice in Developing Countries, particularly Malaysia and China

Interest in Malaysia and the Malaysian planning system originally stimulated by students from Malaysia who attended the post graduate course in Town Planning at UWIST in Cardiff, then re-enforced by periods as external examiner at UTM and USM and research

21

Malaysia: The Planning Of A Nation


visits funded by the Leverhulme Foundation (1980) and Cardiff University (2000, 2004 and 2006). I have followed the development and success of the Malaysian planning system with interest and am in the process of nalising a book on the subject.

More recently involved with planning in China advising the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design on planning problems in Zhuhai, Shenzen, Tianjin and Jilin.

MAJOR PUBLICATIONS: (from a list of over 100 include)

Introduction to Transportation Planning, Hutchinsons, London. (3 editions in UK 1970, 1975, and 1985 pp290) Also published in Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish

Spirit and Purpose of Planning, Hutchinsons, London. (2 editions in UK 1974 and 1984 pp 208)

Local Planning in Practice, Hutchinsons, London. 1986; pp452(with D J Nicholson)

Public Participation, Local Planning and Conicts of Interest, Policy and Politics, Vol 8 No 1980; pp 423-442

The Malaysian Planning System: A Review, Third World Planning Review Vol 4 No 4 November 1982; pp 315-334

Peninsular Malaysia - Resolving Conicts between Economic and Social Goals, Cities, May 1985; pp 3-17

Social and Economic Development: The Historical Framework; Proceedings of the Fifteenth Association of Commonwealth Universities Conference Swansea 1993, pp 187-197

Shenzhen: coping with uncertainties in planning; Habitat International 29 (2005) pp227-243

M. J. Bruton20 March 2007

22

PAPER 1


MALAYSIA: THE PLANNING OF A NATION

By:Professor Emeritus Michael J. Bruton Cardiff University, U.K.

1 INTRODUCTION

This paper reviews briey the operation of the Malaysian planning system in the 50 years since independence in 1957. However to form a balanced view on the level of success achieved by that system it is essential that account be taken of the nature of the planning process and the problems that Malaysia has faced since 1957.

2 THE NATURE OF PLANNING

People in general regard planning as a simple, common sense activity which is a process for determining appropriate future action through a sequence of choices (Davidoff and Reiner 1973 p11). In reality it is a complicated and difcult process for the reasons that;

Public policy problems are complex and highly inter-related. For example in 1998 land use development in Kuala Lumpur was related amongst other things to the state of the Malaysian economy the efforts of nancial speculators to exploit the potential nancial advantages of devaluing

the M$ the corporate failures associated with this speculation private investment and the nancial services on offer in Malaysia, especially the non-

performing loans in the banking sector globalization International Monetary Fund policies and attitudes the state of the economies in other countries in South East Asia., as well as the actions of

the Federal Government and City Hall KL.

Attempts to solve a particular public policy problem can have unintended consequences in other areas. For example the repeal of the Malaysian Rent Control Act 1966 has had both intended and unintended consequences for central George Town in Penang. Whilst the intended objective of securing more private investment into properties in the area that had been allowed to decay because of the imposition of rent controls has begun to succeed, the unintended consequences of repealing the rent act have been a movement of people out of the area because they cannot afford the increased rent need for the state to provide low cost housing for the displaced population reduction in spending power in the area to support retail and other services

23



consequent closure of some of these businesses and a reduction in the opening hours of those businesses that remain

reduction in the number of tourists visiting the area because of the reduction in services offered and the lack of vibrancy in the area.

These unintended consequences are changing the character of central George Town and will continue to change its nature in ways not anticipated by the law makers unless positive proposals to redress the situation are implemented.

Uncertainty is endemic in planning for the future. Indeed the only certain thing we know about the future is that it is uncertain.

Public policy is concerned with the distribution or redistribution of resources.As a consequence conicts of interest arise in reaching public policy planning decisions and then implementing them, and such decisions are inevitably political.

Thomas (1999 p27) puts this point succinctly ....the scope, content and direction of planning are shaped by political struggles at various

spatial scales in which the protagonists arise from the conicts of interest endemic in a capitalist society.

Thus conict resolution is an integral part of the public policy planning and implementation process.

In practice conict resolution for the public sector invariably involves some form of bargaining to buy off the opponents to the proposals in the plan or in some instances the use of power is used to produce a resolution.

Plans are rarely carried out according to plan.Since the 1970s there has been an acknowledgement that many of the measures for change introduced through the policy planning process have in practice achieved relatively little by way of fundamental or lasting change. For example; In the USA the work of Pressman and Wildavsky (1973) rst highlighted this problem. Failures of implementation in urban regeneration, land development, employment, control

of pollution and industrial restructuring were identied in Britain in the 1970s by Solesbury (1981)

A seminar in January 2007 reviewing the rst three years of the current Malaysian Prime Ministers period in ofce found that policies formulated for the betterment of the people failed to bring benets to the target group. (New Straits Times 2007b p1).

It would seem that, in the words of Barrett and Fudge,(1981 p 3) There is now a general recognition that Government either seems unable to put its policy

into effect as intended, or nds that its intentions and actions have unexpected or counter-productive outcomes which create new problems.

24

PAPER 1


A number of factors can be put forward to account for this failure to achieve perfect implementation, including the adoption of a top down managerial approach which treats the implementation of

policy as separate from policy formulation inadequate resources the policy is a bad policy the multiplicity of agencies involved in the process the complexity and difculty of co-coordinating the multiplicity of tasks inadequate, or even a lack of, communication policy ambiguities conicts of interest between the policy makers and the implementers.

Indeed one of the major difculties in securing successful implementation is that of obtaining compliance where a policy or a programme is to be implemented by agencies whose interests do not necessarily coincide with those of the policy makers.

3 PUBLIC POLICY PROBLEMS FACING MALAYSIA 1957-2007

At Independence in 1957 the British left Peninsular Malaysia (PM) with a problematic and divided ethnic structure consisting of the

indigenous Malays (Bumiputeras), who worked primarily in agriculture and the administration of the non Federated Malay States

Chinese, who had been attracted to PM to work in the tin industry but who also dominated business, and

Indians, who had been encouraged to migrate to PM to work in the rubber industry and the British civil service, but who were also dominant in the retail trade

an imbalanced concentration of urban development and infrastructure on the west of the peninsula, where the Chinese and Indian population was also concentrated, and a poorer, agricultural eastern region where the Malay population was dominant

an economy that was based on the production of primary products to support the British economy tin, rubber and timber

a federal constitution which has been sufciently robust to withstand the creation of the Federation of Malaysia through the addition of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore and the subsequent withdrawal of Singapore from that Federation

inadequate and outdated town and country planning and local government structures

Since Independence PM has introduced a new local government structure and developed a well established, hierarchical planning system that has evolved and adapted to changing circumstances and has dealt successfully with a range of complex problems deriving from signicant population growth from approximately 10.8m in 1970 to 23.3m in 2000, of

which 18.3m lived in Peninsular Malaysia a major redistribution of population - approximately 70% of the population was rural at

independence in 1957; today approximately 70% of the population is urban signicant social change, in its efforts to eliminate poverty, to remove the association of

economic employment with race and to cope with the inherent tensions between the three

25



main ethnic groups in Peninsular Malaysia the Malays, the Chinese and the Indians the need to grow the economy to support population growth; population redistribution and

the associated urbanization and the social changes sought the need to adapt to the changing economic and political conditions in the wider world the impact on the environment of population growth, urbanization and economic

development.

4 THE PLANNING SYSTEM IN PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

Table 1 shows the hierarchical planning structure that has developed in PM since Independence.

Vision or Political RealityAt the top of the hierarchy are the vision statements which represent the political reality within which the lower order plans were/are produced. These statements have changed with time as follows Pre Independence 1947-57, provided by the British Colonial Ofce with its concern to

support the British economy The Old Economic Policy 1958-70, which was largely laissez faire and concerned to

produce plans for economic development Post 1971, the New Economic Policy 1971-90, the National Development Policy 1991-2000

and the National Vision Policy 2001-2010, which, in conjunction with their supporting Outline Perspective Plans, redened and updated development in Malaysian terms to promote national unity; the eradication of poverty; the restructuring of society so that employment is not associated with race, and the redressing of regional economic and social imbalances.

These social changes were and are to be resourced from rapid and sustained economic growth.

National PlanningAt the next level down sit the national plans which between 1947 and 1970 were crude plans for economic development. Following the race riots of 1969 these ve yearly development plans (the Malaysia Plans) have been concerned to secure social change at the same time as promoting economic growth. They have worked within the framework provided by NEP/NDP/NVP and the supporting OPPs, and set out in some detail the policies and proposals to be adopted for each ve year period.

Generally those policies for which the federal government has a constitutional responsibility are implemented in accordance with the plan; e.g. transport proposals such as the construction of the North-South Highway; the construction of the rst Penang Bridge and the second bridge linking Johor with Singapore. However, there are other policies, such as industrial development, where the states through their constitutional responsibility for land tend to promote industrial development in a way that does not always accord with policies in the Malaysia Plans or does not take account of what is happening in other states.

26

PAPER 1


The Second to the Ninth Malaysia plans have adopted a consistent denition of development which involves social restructuring resourced through economic growth. but at the same time have adapted their policies to take account of changing world conditions. For example the federal government recognised in the late 1980s and early 1990s that the rapid and sustained economic growth needed to support these redistributive policies could only be achieved if the plans adapted to privatisation and globalisation.

The early Malaysia Plans (Second, Third and Fourth) were largely public sector driven, with central government intervention in the marketplace through for example directives and incentives for industrial location and relocation; urban development/redevelopment to improve the position of the Bumiputeras in society.

Plan Content 1947-57 1958-70 1971-90 1991-2000 2001-2010

The Vision or Political Reality

British Colonial Ofce

OEP NEPOPP1

NDPOPP2

NVPOPP#

Planning at The National Level

Plans for Economic Development

Plans for Economic Development

Development PlansMalaysia Plans 1-5

Development Plans Malaysia Plans 6-7

Development Plans Malaysia Plans 8-9

National Physical Plan

Planning at The Regional Level

? ? SEDC (wef 1966)

Regional Plans/ Studies

SEDCs

RDAs

Regional Plans/Studies

SEDCs

RDAs

Klang Valley

SEDCs

RDAs

Klang Valley

3 Regional Growth

Conurbations

Land Use Planning

TBE Master Plans

TBE Master PlansRegional Plans/ Studies

TBE Master Plans

Regional Plans/ Studies

Structure Plans/Local Plans for Local Auths

TBE Master Plan

Structure Plans/Local Plans for Local Auths.

Structure Plans For State

Local Plans for Local Auths

Note: SEDCs State Economic Development Corporations; RDAs Regional Development Authorities TBE Town Board Enactment 1939; OEP-Old Economics Policy

Table 1: Malaya/Malaysia: Hierarchy Of Planning Levels 1947-2010

27



This emphasis changed with the Fifth Malaysia Plan which promoted a greater involvement of the private sector in securing social and economic change a reduced role for government in the process human resource development and a culture of efciency the development of IT industries and R and D.

These policies were consolidated in the Sixth Malaysia Plan.

The Seventh Malaysia Plan introduced further changes in economic policy in response to global and regional competition with the introduction of policies to develop a knowledge based economy requiring (a) an enhancement of the value-added of all productive activities through the use of knowledge and (b) the creation of new knowledge intensive industries. The increased use of knowledge coupled with a better skilled workforce was also intended to contribute to improved productivity whilst the use of ICT and e-commerce was to facilitate the establishment of an efcient and up-to-date information system to support trade and investment.

Such changes were essential if Malaysia was to remain competitive and are a testimony to the competence of the planners and the leadership provided by the politicians.

Regional and Rural DevelopmentAn inherited and imbalanced spatial and ethnic distribution of wealth has been a long standing development issue in Malaysia and since independence serious attempts have been made to redress these imbalances. The racial riots of 1969 conrmed these social and economic differentials as a dominant political issue to be addressed as part of national and state planning. During the period of NEP the Malaysia Plans promoted regional economic growth targets which the states sought to achieve through the work of

the State Economic Development Corporations (SEDCs) and the preparation and implementation of large scale rural and regional development

strategies through, for example, the work of FELDA and the RDAs, particularly in the less developed states of Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, Pahang and in those rural areas of Johor.

Inevitably these policies and programmes changed in emphasis over time as the nature of the problem and the context within which it was set changed.

During NEP the policies and programmes to redress regional and ethnic imbalances aimed to reduce excessive rural - urban migration, especially to the already congested core regions

such as Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley revive and strengthen agricultural and industrial development in the poorer regions,

particularly through the strategy of in situ rural development redirect new development and growth to the less developed regions of the country urbanise and industrialise rural and agricultural areas resettle and rehabilitate selective frontier areas place greater emphasis on integrating urban growth with the overall national regional

development and growth centre strategy. (Mat 1983)

28

PAPER 1


Large scale land development schemes to open up new land for agriculture were introduced by agencies such as FELDA; large scale resettlement schemes involving the creation of new urban settlements, and associated new land development schemes were introduced by the RDAs such as DARA, and JENGKA; rural urbanisation programmes were introduced in parallel with industrial dispersion policies to group existing villages to form urban nuclei; considerable effort was put into providing water, electricity and social services in rural areas.

Despite these efforts by the end of NEP it was apparent that the land and settlement development schemes and the policy for industrial dispersal were not meeting their targets and the strategy moved away from a concern with large scale land development projects towards promoting an orderly hierarchical pattern of urban development.

Under the National Development Policy (NDP) a new two pronged regional and urban development strategy was introduced in an effort to redress regional imbalances by moving jobs to the people through the development of urban growth centres within the

disadvantaged regions of the country in an attempt to keep the rural - urban migrants within the region and

moving people to where the jobs were, through the orderly development of areas such as the Klang Valley, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Penang and Johor.

At the same time a strategy of developing specialised industrial estates in key locations such as Kulim in

Kedah was introduced and the efforts of the RDAs were redirected to focus on improving the agricultural productivity

and managerial practices of existing settlers through human resource development.

Effectively a new direction for rural and regional development was introduced involving self help and greater involvement of the rural population.

The New Vision Policy (NVP) through the Eighth and Ninth Malaysia plans re-emphasises the need to reduce ethnic and regional imbalances through a continuation of the same general policies. i.e. diversifying the economic structure of the less developed states, improving and expanding access to basic amenities such as health, education, piped water and electricity; improving infrastructure facilities such as telecommunications; regrouping rural communities into small townships to facilitate the provision of the facilities demanded by a modern economy.

In addition to these targeted attempts to redress regional imbalances, the states, since the 1960s, have more generally contributed to the resolution of this problem by promoting economic development in their areas through ad hoc regional development plans, generally produced in the 1970s as stop gap

measures, e.g. Penang and Johor and the state-wide development plans produced by the SEDCs concerned with the provision of

infrastructure and the carrying out of industrial and commercial ventures.

Although not explicitly part of the programme to redress regional imbalances they have over

29



time contributed signicantly to attempts to resolve this problem by fostering economic growth and guiding physical development, which in turn has contributed to the rural-urban migration of the Malays.

The development of economic planning in Penang since the mid 1960s is a good example of how these ad hoc plans and state development plans can contribute to the development of the economy of the states and contribute to the resolution of the regional imbalances problem. Facing what was seen as an economic crisis with the loss of free port status; high unemployment and signicant outward migration Penang addressed these issues in the master plan produced by Munro in 1964, which proposed that industrial development in future should focus on the export sector and new developments should concentrate on the mainland adjacent to the port of Butterworth.

These ideas were amplied through the work of Nathan (1970) who also proposed the development of international tourism in the state. Later (unpublished) work by the Penang Development Corporation (SEDC) consolidated these policies and proposals, whilst the more recent economic development plans - Penang into the 21st Century (1991) (PSDP1) and the Second Strategic Development Plan for Penang (2000) (PSDP2) - introduced and subsequently further developed for the state the policies and proposals needed to bring developments in Penang into line with national policies. Munro and Nathan explicitly put forward proposals for physical development; the state economic development plans implicitly guided physical development on the ground using the ideas of Munro and Nathan. There has been a long term consistency in the development of the strategic policies for economic and physical growth in Penang which has seen the state weather the economic and social impact of the loss of free port status develop into a multi-national manufacturing and an international tourist centre and more

recently begin the transformation into an R and D and knowledge based economy.

The basic ideas of Munro and Nathan in promoting physical development on the mainland have been followed to an extent not imagined at the time they put those ideas forward.

Over the period 1971 2005 in the context of privatisation, globalisation and the development of IT, the rural and regional development projects and policies in Malaysia have moved from a concern with large land development schemes and associated growth centre developments to a locally based, decentralised approach to rural economic development and growth which draws as much on local human resource based initiatives as federal government input.

The federal government is fully aware of the sensitivity of attempting to change rural and regional development policies. Targeted attempts to redress regional imbalances are a clear sign to the public that government is taking the issue seriously so although the original justication for the RDAs no longer exists they will continue in being to carry out a new role that emphasises agricultural productivity and management, the provision of services and human resource development. At the same time the development of growth centres and the implementation of 'rural urbanisation' policies will also feature as a part of the policy to improve social and economic conditions in the rural areas

30

PAPER 1


Town and Country PlanningWithin the strategic hierarchical rework provided by, at the top, the political reality (NEP/NDP/NVP/NM), then the perspective plans followed by the Malaysia Plans, the town and country planning system should, in theory, occupy the next level down in the hierarchy, with a brief to translate the requirement created by policies for social and economic change into demands for land e.g. land for housing and associated social and welfare facilities; land for industry; communication links and so on.

Regrettably the establishment of this hierarchical relationship in a way that allows it to function smoothly, has not been completely successful for a number of reasons. Initially, in 1971, local government and therefore the local planning authority coverage of the country were

patchy with the result that consistency of approach was not possible. the town and country planning system was outdated and based on static master plans that

were not capable of operating in the exible and speedy way required by the Malaysia Plans that are produced for ve yearly periods.

The introduction of the structure plan/local plan system through the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 and the reform of local government introduced by the Local Government 1976 was intended to overcome these failings but these efforts were not successful for the reasons that the concept of strategic planning was not fully understood no attempt was made to adapt the structure and local plan system to PM with its federal

constitution the local planning authorities established under the Town and Country Planning Act 1976

were too small in area to produce effective structure plans complete coverage of PM by the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 and the Local

Government Act 1976 was not achieved until the late 1980s, effectively leaving the static Town Board Enactment master plans as the legal town and country planning instrument.

More fundamentally, the constitutional responsibility of the states for the implementation of town and country planning policies and for land, account for the unhappy hierarchical relationship between the Malaysia Plans and the town and country planning system. Understandably each state has been and is concerned to secure the best possible outcome for itself from the national development process, but the persistent over estimation by all states of the population growth and inward investment they individually could expect to attract from the 'national pot', has led to unnecessary, duplicated and wasted investment into, for example, industrial estates.

Indeed, when the combined population forecasts of the 97 structure plans for PM in the late 1990s exceeded 100m when the actual population in 2000 was 22.2m and expected to increase to 26.04m by 2005, it was inevitable that the federal government would sooner or later reform the system. This pressure for reform was compounded by technical deciencies in the 1976 system at the state level. Despite the FDTCP fullling its role effectively in providing the necessary legislation to ensure uniformity of policy and technical advice and guidance to the states and local planning authorities

31



The states and local planning authorities complicated the relationship between the Malaysia Plans and the land use planning system by producing structure plans that were not strategic within the same state related to different time periods so that it was difcult to appreciate

what was expected to happen at any one time contained policies that were less than specic and did not obviously relate to the area for

which they had been produced were delayed in being gazetted so that local authorities were often without a statutory plan

whilst the politicians worked to the plan that had been produced but ignored that plan when it suited them

absorbed an enormous amount of professional and administrative time within the states where they were produced and at the federal level where they had to be examined and approved

Similarly local plans were produced in signicant numbers but not gazetted because of the inexibility of operating a

local plan once it had been gazetted largely zoning plans that had more in common with the master plan system established by

the Town Board Enactment, which perpetuated the inexibility of the old system.

Within this system a cumbersome and bureaucratic development control process was operated which delayed the implementation of development and encouraged a culture amongst potential developers of paying speed money to facilitate the process.

Unease had been implicitly expressed by the federal government at the problems of securing a sensible working relationship between the Malaysia Plans and the town and country planning system at state level in the Third Malaysia Plan 1976-80, when a physical development strategy was outlined for the

Northern, Eastern, Central and Southern regions (Prime Ministers Department 1976, p212-214)

Fifth Malaysia Plan 1986-90, when reference was made to the production of a National Spatial Plan and a National Urbanisation Policy (Prime Ministers Department 1986, p185-86) and

Eighth Malaysia Plan 2001-2005 when the production of a National Physical Plan (NPP) and a National Urbanisation Policy (NUP) were proposed.

This unease eventually led to the introduction of reforms to the town and country planning system through what at rst sight appears to be an innocuous amendment to the Town and Country planning Act 1976. In reality the reforms were a combination of radical change and sensible amendments to existing legislation. The radical changes include the provision for the federal government to have executive authority over the control and regulation of aspects

of the town and country planning system production of a National Physical Plan (NPP), which effectively adds another level in the

strategic hierarchy between the Malaysia Plans and the structure plans establishment of the National Physical Planning Council to oversee the production of the

NPP and advise the federal and state governments on the implementation of development

32

PAPER 1


NPP to serve as a framework within which the lower-level structure and local plans are to be produced.

The sensible amendments relate to the introduction of state wide structure plans by the state director of town and country

planning allocation of the responsibility to the state for the control of all development in its area introduction of local authority wide local plans which have to be submitted to the state

planning committee for approval.

All states had adopted the 2001 Amendment Act by the end of 2005.

If these reforms are implemented sensibly and systematically then the hierarchical relationship between the Malaysia Plans and the town country planning system should become more harmonious, with the state wide structure plans being more directly related to the needs of the Malaysia Plans through the NPP. This new relationship however imposes a signicant responsibility on the NPPC and the DGFDTCP as the Secretary to the council, to monitor and, if necessary, control the content of the state wide structure plans to ensure that they accord with the proposals in the NPP.

This is not going to be an easy task as anecdotal evidence suggests that the rst state wide structure plans prepared under the new legislation consist of a 'stitching together' of the previous local planning authority based structure plans. It seems that strategic planning as a concept is not fully understood, which is surprising given the

existence of perfectly sound strategic plans in Johor (the Johor Operational Master Plan 1996) and Penang (Penang into the 21st Century)

the importance of the strategic hierarchical approach where the level above (NPP in this case) constraints the level below (state wide structure plans)

It is interesting to note that since the 2001 reforms were introduced the federal government has introduced an innovative new measure to deal with the planning and implementation of development in the three Regional Growth Conurbations established in the Ninth Malaysia Plan. By act of parliament three regional development authorities are to be established to produce comprehensive development plans for their region (CDP), covering physical, economic, social, commercial and regulatory plans. A major government linked private company is to be given the responsibility in each region for producing and overseeing the implementation of these comprenhensive development plans. One company was appointed by the Ninth Malaysia Plan (Khazanah Nasional); the other two were appointed by Cabinet decision.

To date the South Johor Economic Region (SJER) has been set up by act of parliament and the CDP for the area has been produced by Khazanah Nasional. The plan demonstrates an innovative approach to plan making in that following the identication of the main strategic trusts to be adopted in developing the region the plan then adopts a sophisticated zoning system, reminiscent of the old Town Board Enactment master plans, to control implementation of development. Some might argue that this is a retrograde and reactionary step away from

33



the so called exibility of the structure and local plan system. An alternative view is that it is a radical and worthwhile attempt to minimize the lengthy, bureaucratic, cumbersome and costly development control process with a system that can easily be understood by inward investors and which gives a very clear indication of whether or not their development proposals are likely to be acceptable. Such a system, which gives investors certainty, will be welcomed by them.

The principle of this approach adopted by the federal government is not altogether new. From the 1990s the federal government began to use special projects as a means of ensuring quick and effective development on the ground of major projects. In effect the town and country planning system was bypassed at state level with, for example, the decision to develop KLIA being taken in Cabinet; the decision to build the new administrative capital of Putrajaya being decided through an act of parliament. Both projects were conceived, planned and built in a very short time for such major projects, and the lessons learned by the federal government have undoubtedly informed subsequent changes to the planning system introduced after the reforms of 2001.

Given the difculties of securing a land use planning system that reects accurately the needs of the policies for social and economic change set out in the Malaysia Plans it was inevitable that the federal government would seek alternative ways of solving the problem. Whilst the RDAs were not entirely successful in achieving their objectives they did point to a way of by-passing the town and country planning system in a way that respected federal/state responsibilities. i.e. through an act of Parliament. Experience with KLIA and Putrajaya can only have reinforced the benets of adopting such an approach and the proposals for dealing with the Regional Growth Conurbations will be studied with great interest. To date the federal government has been fully respectful of Johors rights and responsibilities, involving it centrally in the management of SJER, and there is every indication that it will continue in this way with Johor and the other states involved with the Northern and Eastern Growth Conurbations. If this initiative is successful then it could have knock-on effects for the planning and development of other areas in the country. This in turn will have implications for the FDTCP in that there will be a need to review what sort of planning system is needed for those parts of the country outwith the special areas.

5 CONCLUSIONS: PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION IN PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

Public sector planning is a process that is concerned to make things happen that would not otherwise happen if left to the free play of market forces. It is future oriented, in that it attempts to devise strategies which lead to desired end states, and thus uncertainty is endemic to all planning activities. It is concerned to bring about social, economic and spatial change by inuencing the activities of rms, households and people through a mixture of guidance, regulation and incentives. Invariably it deals with a range of complex, inter-related problems. It is re-distributive in that it allocates resources in an effort to implement the chosen strategies. As a consequence it is inherently political involving conicts of interest between those who win and those who lose through the application of re-distributive policies. As a process it is highly complex.

34

PAPER 1


At the same time the process is further complicated by the fact that the areas of major concern for public policy planning change with time as social, economic

and political priorities change, and. the general public sees planning as a relatively straightforward activity involving little

more than the application of common sense, and as a consequence are unforgiving when, inevitably, planning fails to deliver all that it appears to promise.

In the real world the implementation of policies for social, economic and physical change can have intended and unintended consequences and policy intentions can be reshaped in the process of implementation as a consequence of changing circumstances inadequacies in the process of implementation the implementing agency having a different agenda to the policy making body.

To cope with uncertainty the world of business adopts a contingency approach where different problems require different solutions. Christensen (1985) similarly advocates the adoption of such an approach to public policy planning on the grounds that Planning processes can be understood as contingent because they are not pre-determined,

but depend instead on problem conditions (p.66).

Strategic planning is another approach towards managing change in the social, economic and physical environment through a hierarchical system of management and control which can also incorporate elements of the contingency approach.

Within this hierarchy of levels of policy formulation, each level of planning performs a strategic function for the level below and conversely is constrained by the strategic planning of the level above. This allows the relationships between policy options to be pursued separately at each level, but within a framework which provides an explicit means of handling the vertical relationships between them. The Malaysian planning system operates within such a hierarchical framework, with at the top of the hierarchy the current setting of national objectives and policies for social, economic and physical

change through the National Vision Policy (NVP); the Third Outline Perspective Plan (OPP3), the associated Malaysia Plans and the National Physical Plan (NPP)

the development of regional plans and policies through, at different times, the state economic development plans, and more recently the plans for the Regional Growth Conurbations established in the NPP and the state-wide structure plans

the production of local spatial plans for local authority-wide areas which translate the more general land use proposals of the higher order plans into detailed land use development proposals.

Each level in the hierarchy should in theory work within the framework established by the level above.

The organizational framework represented by the theoretical view of strategic planning implies that the process is logical and straightforward and that technical analysis, reasoned argument and clear direction will deal with complexity. However in reality the process

35



involves people and their value systems no one approach is applicable in every situation conict rather than consensus is a more likely component of the process and public policy decisions are inevitably political

All of which are complicating factors for implementation. Yet successful implementation of policies and proposals for change is almost certainly the most important aspect of the public policy process. Since the 1970s there has been an acknowledgement that many of the measures for change introduced through the public policy planning process have in practice achieved far less than the plan proposals aimed for.

It would seem that plans are rarely carried out according to plan Government either seems unable to put its policy into effect as intended, or nds that its

intentions and actions have unexpected or counter-productive outcomes which create new problems.

In some situations policy is not implemented as intended (non-implementation) because the resources available are inadequate and/or those involved in implementing policies or proposals have been either unconvinced about

the value of the policies, and/or uncooperative and/or inefcient, or their best efforts could not overcome obstacles to effective implementation over which

they had little or no control.

In other situations (unsuccessful implementation) policies are implemented as intended but nonetheless the policy fails to produce the required results. The reasons for such a failure can be attributed to bad execution, where the policies have been ineffectively administered bad policy, which is based on inadequate information, poor reasoning or unrealistic

assumptions or bad luck, where external circumstances prevent the policy from being implemented

Formulating policy and implementing that policy should not be separate operations they should be part of the same process. The way in which policies are implemented inuences the actual policy outcome; the probability of successful implementation can be increased if thought is given at the policy design stage to potential problems of implementation. Yet governments generally tend to favour a managerial, top down approach which treats the implementation of policy as separate from policy formulation where policy comes in at the top; is translated into operating instructions and is handed down to the implementers at the bottom of the hierarchy. Inevitably what happens on the ground often falls a long way short of the original aspirations for a number of reasons which are invariably inter-related including inadequate resources the policy is a bad policy the multiplicity of agencies involved in the process the complexity and difculty of co-coordinating the multiplicity of tasks inadequate, or even a lack of, communication policy ambiguities

36

PAPER 1


conicts of interest and lack of compliance between the policy makers and the implementers.

Indeed one of the major difculties in securing successful implementation is that of obtaining compliance where a policy or a programme is to be implemented by agencies whose interests do not necessarily coincide with those of the policy makers. (Barrett and Fudge 1981 p18-19)

Thus the planning and implementation process is far from straightforward. It has to deal with complex, inter-related problems, the proposed solutions to which invariably have

unintended consequences uncertainty, which varies with the nature of the problem being addressed and therefore

require different policy approaches conicts of interest arising out of the distributive and redistributive nature of the process problems of implementation deriving from the top down, hierarchical system of planning

and management favoured by governments.

Against this theoretical background it is surprising that plans for social and economic change in Malaysia have achieved so much in such a relatively short period of time In seeking to restructure society; redress regional and ethnic social and economic imbalances and at the same time achieve sustained and rapid economic growth it is evident that in Malaysia these issues are inter-related in a complex way. e.g. Without economic growth it is not possible to achieve the desired social restructuring, and/or the reshaping of the regional and ethnic distribution of wealth; regional imbalances are integrally linked with ethnic issues which compound the complexities; the achievement of sustained economic growth is dependent on wider global relationships and how Malaysia adapts to the changing outside world.

More local land use level examples illustrate the same point. e.g. the operation of the commercial property market in KL in the late 1990s was inter-related with the state of the

economies in South East Asia, the impact of speculation on the value of the M$, the private investment services on offer in Malaysia, the non-performing loans in the banking sector in Malaysia, International Monetary Fund policies as well as the land use development policies operated by City Hall in KL.

land use planning system and the complexities of implementing proposals for urbanisation where there are signicant inter- relationships between the location of economic growth, employment and residential development which in turn have inter-relationships with demands for movement.

At the same time these complex inter-relationships are further complicated by the fact that these problems change with time as the social, economic and political priorities of the government of the day change. e.g. post 1957 the concern in Malaya was to develop an economy that would be competitive in the wider world and be less dependent on Britain, through a commercial laissez faire approach; post 1971 the concern was to grow a competitive economy at the same time as eliminating poverty and restructuring society through direct government involvement; post 1986 the role of central government in achieving social and economic change was reduced whilst the contribution of the private sector became much

37



more signicant; post 1996 the full impact of globalisation was anticipated and the concern became one of stimulating a knowledge based, value added economy through the efforts of the private sector, facilitated by government providing an environment conducive to this type of development, to resource the social changes sought. These changes have had signicant knock-on effects for manufacturing, education and training, investment, development and government.

Further complexities arise from the inter-relationships between the federal government and the states, which derives from the allocation of responsibilities between these two bodies by the Constitution. In the context of concerns to achieve fundamental social change at the same time as growing the economy, these inter-relationships give rise to problems of dependency relationships and securing compliance between the wishes of the federal government and the aspirations of the states. This can often result in non-implementation or unsuccessful implementation of the proposals put forward by the federal government and has been a particular problem in relation to proposals to accommodate the population growth anticipated in the Malaysia Plans, with states

assuming a far greater population growth for their area than is realistic the development of land for industrial purposes, with the states again assuming a far

greater proportion of this growth for their area than is realistic and environmental matters such as de-forestation.

The states invariably put their interests above the national interest as represented by policies in the Malaysia Plans, and use their constitutional powers over land to implement developments that often ran counter to the policies and proposals in the Malaysia Plans. Given (a) that Implementation of the NPP is the responsibility of all federal and state agencies. (Federal Department of Town and Country Planning 2005a p6-1) and (b) the extensive and complex range of dependency relationships involved, the complexities of securing successful implementation of the policies and proposals contained in the NPP are daunting.

If a much higher level of successful implementation is to be achieved then ways need to be found to (a) reduce dependency relationships and (b) secure greater compliance. Within the federal government the work of the Implementation Co-ordination Unit (ICU) is particularly important in ensuring that the dependency relationships between the multiplicity of federal government departments and agencies do not impede the implementation of major policies and programme in the Malaysia Plans. However the ICU has little control over the states with regard to those issues that are designated as state matters under the constitution and inevitably problems do arise in these situations. In this context the work of the three Regional Growth Conurbation authorities will be carefully scrutinized to determine the extent to which this new experimental approach to planning and implementing development overcomes the problems associated with achieving successful implementation.

At a more general level the federal government has attempted to deal with the problems of complexity and dependency relationships through the adoption of a strategic/hierarchical framework for planning and the implementation with at the top the Vision statements/political reality (NEP etc) followed by the

38

PAPER 1


Outline Perspective Plans followed by the Malaysia Plans.

This arrangement has operated very successfully within the area of responsibility of the federal government since 1971 and through the different strategic levels clearly establishes the political commitment to the changes sought; the broad policy objectives and resource implications and the detailed policy, programme and resource proposals.

Implicitly it is assumed that this hierarchy i

world town planning day 2007 - convention proceedings

Documents

regional planning

impact of planning

future planning

town planning evolution

development planning

current planning issues

good urban planning

evaluation of town