Spatial analysis of current land use provides useful insight on urban development trend specifically in measuring sprawl growth. Remote sensing and GIS technologies were applied in this research to measure the phases of segregated urban sprawl growth, focusing on the aspect of mixed land use planning. The findings proved that Kuala Lumpur is currently facing segregated land use sprawl based on the measurement derived from one of LUGI component. This type of sprawl transpired within the residential zone in Kuala Lumpur city, demoting mixed-use development by unravelling different classes of land uses into singleuses, thus promoting high dependency on motorised vehicle and discouraging public and pedestrian modes of transportation. The transit-oriented development is one of necessary approaches to control segregated sprawl and promotes mixed-use development in housing areas within the city.

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.

The loss of green area has been rising all over the world particularly in big cities. For a number of decades, urban sprawl and developments have changed the natural landscapes of urban areas where areas with green areas have been converted into built up developments and other land uses. Thus this research intends to study the changes of green areas in Kuala Lumpur based on land use detection analysis approach where 3 series of remote sensing images namely SPOT2, SPOT4 and IKONOS for year 1990, 2001 and 2010 have been used to acquire the data on the green area changes aided by ERDAS IMAGINE 2011 and ARGIS 9.2. The finding of the study shows that there is a decrease in the size of green area in Kuala Lumpur from year 1990-2010 due to pressure of urban developments. Two significant factors which contribute to the changes of green area in Kuala Lumpur have been identified in the study, which are the increase in built up areas and sprawl development pattern.

In 2001, the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 (Act 172) was amended through Act A1129 (2001). The amendments included provisions to allow four levels of government involvement (Federal, Regional, State and Local Authority) in spatial planning, with the intention of establishing a more effective development plan system in Malaysia. However, an assessment of the relationship between legislative provision and the implementation of development planning is urgently required to consider a number of issues, including delays in adopting plans and the continued existence of out of date plans. Therefore, this paper discusses issues and problems encountered by selected local planning authorities in the implementation of the development planning system. The discussion focuses on the capacity and capability of these authorities with regard to legal aspects, administration, finance, human resource issues and technical support. The data were obtained through mixed methods i.e. postal surveys, interviews with representatives from selected local authorities and focus group discussions with selected professional town planners. The findings demonstrate that most of the issues and problems encountered in implementing the development plan system at each plan level in Malaysia are legal in origin.

Spatial analysis of current land use provides useful insight on urban development trend specifically in measuring sprawl growth. Remote sensing and GIS technologies were applied in this research to measure the phases of segregated urban sprawl growth, focusing on the aspect of mixed land use planning. The findings proved that Kuala Lumpur is currently facing segregated land use sprawl based on the measurement derived from one of LUGI component. This type of sprawl transpired within the residential zone in Kuala Lumpur city, demoting mixed-use development by unravelling different classes of land uses into singleuses, thus promoting high dependency on motorised vehicle and discouraging public and pedestrian modes of transportation. The transit-oriented development is one of necessary approaches to control segregated sprawl and promotes mixed-use development in housing areas within the city.