Trends of Waterfront Development in Malaysia

2010

Rives have long been recognized as one of humanity’s most important natural resources. They are one of the most important of all the natural resources necessary to ensure human health and civilization. A close association between cities and water is inherent over the history of civilization and in fact, many urban cities in Malaysia are located close to river areas. The last two decades have shown Malaysia has shifted development strategy from an agricultural base to industrialization, and manufacturing industries have now become the main component of the economy for the country. This transformation since the 18 century has clearly shown that rapid urbanization, industrial and intensive agricultural activities, as well as wide-spread land development, have contributed to extensive changing of river functions for the economy, national development and the environment. In particular, river roles have become less significant for human life and river functions limited to transportation p...

Rivers have long been recognized as one of humanity’s most important natural resources. They are one of the most important of all the natural resources necessary to ensure human health and civilization. A close association between cities and water is inherent over the history of civilization and in fact, many urban cities in Malaysia are located close to river areas. The last two decades have shown Malaysia has shifted development strategy from an agricultural base to industrialization, and manufacturing industries have now become the main component of the economy for the country. This transformation since the 18th century has clearly shown that rapid urbanization, industrial and intensive agricultural activities, as well as wide-spread land development, have contributed to extensive changing of river functions for the economy, national development and the environment. In particular, river roles have become less significant for human life and river functions limited to transportatio...

Proceedings from 15th …, 2009

Rivers and water are valuable natural resources for human life, environment and national development. Recognition of water resources as national heritage will contribute towards more long term sustainable property development. Waterfront development is already a well-...

Asian Social Science, 2013

Historically, waterfronts developments have undergone various stages of development initiatives and become the most challenging tasks for planners and urban designers nowdays. It reflected a dynamic natural resources with special characteristics and regarded as the most important factors that influence the growth and image of the cities and had a significant impact on urbanization and modernization of the most cities in the near future, as experienced by most harbor cities in Europe, North America, Australasia, Japan and others. This paper attempts to understand the evolution of waterfront development within the framework of urban design and public spaces, as been practiced by Singapore and Turkey, and provided lesson to learn by taking Johor Bharu as a case. In future research, the urban studies on waterfronts will be important framework in cities development. The smart-partnership between local government and private should be more emphasized in order to achieve the world-class urban and cities development.

During the last three decades, the waterfront areas of many 'post-industrial' cities in North America, Britain, Europe and Australasia have undergone a remarkable transformation. Emerging from industrial degradation and from burial under transportation infrastructure, inner-urban harbours and riverfronts have been reborn as showpiece cultural and leisure precincts. The waterfront redevelopment had gone hand in hand with a broader renaissance of inner cities after decades of suburban dispersion. After decades of decline, cities are rebounding, and one key to bringing urban areas back to life is revitalizing commercial districts. Successful revitalization approaches need to capitalize on the opportunities presented in inner-city neighbourhoods while addressing long-standing obstacles to their rebirth.

PLANNING MALAYSIA, 2020

This study on the evolution of waterfront development in Lumut through physical improvement serves as one component in the formation of a city from the economic, social and environmental aspects. The current study aims to review the elements of urban design that offer an alternative to the revitalisation of the waterfront city in Lumut, Malaysia, particularly to upgrade the physical environment quality and economic vibrancy of cities. The objectives of this study are as follows: (1) examine the consideration and perceptions of urban design aspects given by the respondents related to the evolution of a Lumut waterfront city, and (2) identify urban design elements that have evidence of significant contributions to the revitalisation of the aforementioned city. This research comprises two components. The first component explains the analysis based on observation and the obtained secondary information. The second component is the inventory study and analysis related to the city design i...

Pacific Rim Property Research Journal, 2011

The waterfront is recognised as the zone of interaction between a city and a river. In Malaysia, waterfront developments were established when the country was first settled, mainly as a transport route and for trading. Waterfronts became more urbanised and commercialised from the early 1990's onwards. However, due to constraints such as ineffective governance as well as inadequate federal, state and municipal planning guidelines, the waterfronts have problems such as environmental degradation, crime and flooding. Although some waterfront development projects continue to remain profitable, with good public access, many do not. This paper examines the effectiveness of governance for waterfront developments in Malaysia. The data presented in this paper was obtained from in-depth interviews with stakeholders involved in waterfront development projects in Malaysia; in particular, from three selected case study areas: Kuching Riverfront, Malacca Waterfront and Glenmarie Cove Riverfront. The interview results show that Malaysia does not have effective governance for waterfront developments for several reasons. A low level of cooperation between stakeholders involved in waterfront development projects was identified as a main contributor to the governance problems. These results will be used to provide information for developing guidelines for best practice for waterfront developments in Malaysia.

2010

Energy and Sustainability V, 2014

In Malaysia, rivers were homes to vital communities and they initiated the emergence of cities around them. Population growth, economic growth, urbanisation and increased technology have transformed many Malaysian river systems from water industries into non-water industries. The focus of this study was to examine the level of success for sustainable waterfront development in Malaysia as well as to identify the barriers in achieving best practices in waterfront development in Malaysia. The findings of this research were based on the questionnaires mailed and e-mailed to property development companies listed by Bursa Malaysia in 2009. The findings indicated that the level of successful implementation of waterfront development in Malaysia was considered low. This was attributed by several reasons such as; difficulty in balancing the various social, economic and financial needs of the various stakeholders, no collaboration between stakeholders, and external interference and lack of human expertise. The attributes identified were then recommended to be improved in order to achieve best practices of waterfront development in Malaysia in future.

International Journal of Business and Society

Waterfront development is already a well-established phenomenon internationally. In Malaysia, the importance of rivers as the focal point of the city was established from early times of civilisation and remains forever. After gaining independence in 1957, Malaysian economy has been transformed from water industries to non water industries, and subsequently changed the function of the waterfront areas. The current pattern of waterfront development in Malaysia now focus more on mixed-use development and recreational. Although some riverfront development projects continue to remain profitable and also maintain a successful public access component, many have not. To date, numbers of waterfront development projects were developed in Malaysia and forecasted to be increased in the future. Unfortunately, in many cases, the implementation of these waterfront projects is driven more by investment needs rather than by community and environmental needs, and subsequently having a negative impact environmentally and socially. Therefore, this paper aims to examine whether Malaysia practises "good governance" or "poor governance" in waterfront development and subsequently to identify the barriers behind that. The findings of this research were based on interviews conducted within three case study areas: Kuching's Riverfront, Malacca's Waterfront, and Glennmarie Cove Riverfront. The results showed that the low participation and collaboration among the stakeholders involved in waterfront development process as well as other factors shows inefficiency for waterfront governance and finally results unsustainable waterfront development. Therefore, to achieve a sustainable waterfront development, sustainable governance is recommended and better enforcement of the law is needed.