A Study on the Trend of New Town Planning of Malaysia

Abstract

The post-war period has witnessed the emergence of new towns in a number of countries in Southeast Asia. The new town development in Malaysia started with Petaling Jaya (PJ) as a satellite town in 1953 to accommodate the rapid growing population of Kuala Lumpur (KL). Shah Alam (SA), Subang Jaya (SJ) are all located in the Klang Valley and act as an important social and economic development hub in the nation. New towns have been designed in accordance with the British town planning principles, which were based on the model of a modern ideal city. They constituted a new regional character because they were developed taking into consideration factors such as local technologies as well as site and, climatic conditions. The initial goal of the new town construction and planning, which focused basically on resettling squatters, was later changed to focus on the improvement of the quality of living. This phenomenon was related to the emergence of the middle class, which had grown rapidly ever since. With the public agencies, the private sectors have played an important role in providing viable and sustainable human units of settlement that address the new design issues of new town planning. The goal of this study is to identify the identity of the recent new town planning principles of Malaysia, how they were developed over time and how they were regionalized and transformed in a cultural and regional context. For the analysis, we chose 3 new towns which are located in Klang Valley and which are representative recent projects of two major housing development companies in Malaysia. To identify the planning principles, we analyzed these projects in the viewpoint of the urban space, street system, and housing blocks and units.

The Typologies of Block and Unit Plan in Malaysian Apartments- Focused on Middle Cost Houses Supplied by the Private Sector -

“…Therefore many thoughtful design elements and devices have been seriously considered and invented throughout the years. 3 It was officially launched as the DBKL following the establishment of Kuala Lumpur as the official capital in 1972. Under the vision of making Kuala Lumpur a "World Classic City" by 2020, it performs duties and implements projects regarding urban hygiene, urban public health, urban beautification, social infrastructure construction, public transportation infrastructure construction, public housing supply, certificate issuance, and cultural projects.…”

“…2 The initial intention was to investigate all the apartments supplied by the private sector in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia since the 1970s when the construction of apartments started. Because the DBKL (Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur, City Hall of Kuala Lumpur) 3 has not kept full record of apartments built in Kuala Lumpur to date, this study includes only a total of 34 precincts acquired through a number of stages and using the available data from DBKL. 4 Typically, the components required to develop housing precincts include site, housing blocks, and units, and the framework of this study is based on these components.…”

Comparative review of Smart City from an urban planning perspective in Johor Bahru City and Petaling Jaya City

“…Petaling Jaya was first introduced in the early 1950s as a satellite town to resettle squatters from Kuala Lumpur [22]. The rapid population growth in Kuala Lumpur led to the need for additional housing and the development of new towns like Petaling Jaya [22].…”

“…Petaling Jaya was first introduced in the early 1950s as a satellite town to resettle squatters from Kuala Lumpur [22]. The rapid population growth in Kuala Lumpur led to the need for additional housing and the development of new towns like Petaling Jaya [22]. The squatters in Kuala Lumpur were living in informal settlements, such as along the Gombak and Klang Rivers and railway lines [13].…”

“…Therefore, the thought of data-driven smart eco-cities has also been discussed within the context of strategic sustainable urban development in Petaling Jaya [30]. The development of new towns, such as Petaling Jaya, has been a response to rapid urbanization and population growth in Malaysia [22]. The influence of new technologies on urban fiscal structure and regional integration has been examined, highlighting the potential for economic growth and knowledge spillovers [31].…”