Introduction
Gone were the days
when everybody in the kampungs knows each other, different races live together
in harmony, and they cooperate with one another in unison through activities
such as ‘gotong-royong’. Nowadays children can no longer play freely in the
streets, people can no longer feel safe while walking along the streets. High
crime rate is a disturbing trend nowadays. Modern city life now became part and
parcel of most Malaysians’ way of life, often conforms their social realm
within the household. Property developers nowadays build new townships and
housing schemes at the urban fringe of many major city conurbations. These
developers often rake in profits by selling their residential units,
disregarding any proper urban planning that may benefit the residents.
1. No priority
for pedestrians and cyclists
Among the aspects developers and planners should
consider are to provide more space for pedestrian walkways and make it far away
from busy streets. Many major streets and laneways in Malaysia do not provide
ample space dedicated to pedestrians and bicycles. In many residential areas
kerbs are used by residents as private gardens, while five-foot ways in shop
lots are used to park motorcycles, furniture or displaying goods, so people
frequently walk or jog along road shoulders. To make matters worse, cars were
often parked at road shoulders, jeopardizing resident’s safety to vehicle
accidents and snatch thefts. Even when there are pedestrian walkways that is narrow,
often there is illegal parking of motorcycles which obstruct pedestrian
movement. Instead, the authorities should encourage developer to
plant more trees so as to provide shade to walkways. This in turn will reduce the reliance on cars
and motorcycles for travelling to nearby destinations, thus inculcate healthy
lifestyle and increased chance of social interaction among neighbours.
2. Lack
of civic centres
Aside from that, urban
planners should accentuate mixed use of development while planning new townships.
As a resident of a new residential area, I have to drive my car as far as
10-minute journey for running errands such as grocery shopping, dining-out and
banking, therefore it is inconvenient for residents like me to walk or cycle.
Shops, commercial centres, public buildings and transportation hubs developed
within a 2km radius and within walking distance are laudable.
3. Lack of public spaces
Many contemporary
cities in Malaysia has lack of public open space. Developers and urban planners
should create more public space for recreation, games, communal activities,
festive gatherings and flea markets. These will not only ameliorate robustness
of the neighbourhood, but also encourage more productive and beneficial activities,
and in turn instill family values, building camaraderie and sense of comfort in
the neighbourhood community as in traditional kampongs. Various recreational
activities and community centres may deter the young from indulging in social
ills such as illegal racing. Besides that, public spaces would also provide a
more safe and secure realm for the residents, especially for children who would
use it as a play space.
4. Inefficient public transportation
In addition, townships
should be built along major transportation corridors to ensure residents have
easy access to public transport. Major landmarks such as shopping centre and
public parks, and key districts should be planned in close proximity to the
public transportation hubs. In many new residential areas much is focused on
travelling by private vehicles, mainly cars and motorcycles. It is suggested
that towns may have a dedicated bus lane or bicycle lane to reduce reliance on
private transport. In that way, traffic congestion and environmental pollution
is alleviated.
A public park may be
developed at the centre of a residential area with people conducting business
by setting up warungs, mamak stalls or hawker stalls. This is because these hawkers
tend to occupy parking space which lead to double parking by vehicles, which in
turn cause traffic congestion. Maximizing functions of public
space may increase liveability of the neighbourhood. Cities should provide
ample open space for hawkers selling food. In that way, this would become a
popular public space for residents to converge. Food streets should be
celebrated as one of the key elements of Malaysian culture.
5. Insufficient variety
Building arrangements
should have a distinctive layout and variety, rather than continuous street
layouts parallel to one another as in many typical terrace housing. Developers
and planners should also promote mixed use of space in these new urban areas,
instead of vast specific zoning of residential areas. An urban area should have
different types of buildings to provide visual cues and create a sense of
meaning to the place. This would also increase legibility for people to locate
places.
6. Lack of local character and cultural richness
Planners of
contemporary cities should not discard the good qualities of a local kampongs and
old towns. These kampungs consists of fine grains of intense social activities
that enlivens the city. Many modern Malaysian cities today are looking more like
Western cities and their distinctive urban characteristics are diminishing.
This is due to increasing globalization that seems to be more economically
expedient in Malaysia, but this is however a major threat to the maintenance to
the urban cultural heritage.
Modern
buildings that may be suitable for cold climates may not be suitable for
Malaysia which has a tropical climate. These cities have isolated glass
skyscrapers that are unsustainable and out of local context. In some traditional
heritage buildings and kampong houses, they are built to adapt with the local
tropical climate.
These contemporary
cities should have a certain human scale. Putrajaya and Cyberjaya may have been
planned with wide boulevards, monumental plazas and governmental institutions are mainly for vehicles with disregard to human
scale. The buildings are located too far apart to accommodate wide streets and
this makes people feel uncomfortable while walking through the streets in the
scorching afternoon. The buildings in these newly planned cities should be designed
with different architectural styles, i.e. Malay, Chinese, Indian etc. to
reflect the multiculturalism in Malaysia.
Conclusion
I vehemently believe
that developers, planners and authorities should not be nonchalant in solving
the prevalent issues in our cities and considering the needs and future of the
local community to achieve the objective of a city with a clear vision.
