Joy Jacqueline Pereira

A sustainable city index for Malaysia

The assessment of a sustainable city is always related to the selection of sustainable development indicators. There are few initiatives for integrating indicators from various sectors to become an integrated index in Malaysia, whereas issues of sustainable development are interrelated. In search of an adequate set of indicators to develop an index, some existing indicators and indices have been reviewed. The purpose of this article is to develop a set of criteria, indicators and indices for sustainability assessment in major cities of Malaysia. The study is focused on the state indicators, and an indicator framework has been developed. Thirty indicators have been identified based on rationality and availability. The results show the score of indices range from 0.45 to 0.72. Sensitivity analysis has been conducted, showing that, overall, the major cities in Malaysia have a moderate performance towards development of a sustainable city. Their major weaknesses are in management and environmental services.

The Applications of Rasch Measurement Model for Calibrating Survey Instrument for Analysing the Criteria of Sustainable Construction

This study aims to calibrate the measurement instrument which is used for the analysis of the criteria of sustainable construction. To meet the objective, Rasch measurement model has been applied to identify the misfit data through analysis of fit and unidimensionality, where the reliability and validity of the measurement items were determined and the misfit data were identified and reviewed to enable a more accurate and meaningful analysis. With the conduct of fit and unidimensionality analysis as part of the measurement model processes, the objective to calibrate the measurement instruments that would enhance the quality of the instrument in measuring the construct was able to be implemented. Due to that, the identification and removal of the misfit data as part of the analysis process, is a strong statistical justification for this study which improved the reliability of the items, and indirectly serves the purpose of instrument calibration to ensure a more accurate measurement.

Physical Development Framework for Climate Change Adaptation in Malaysian Construction Industry - Current Scenario and Way to Improve

Climate change has been universally recognized as a global problem. The emissions are increasing rapidly with the growth of economy especially in developing country. The vulnerability of infrastructures and built environment due to climate change will extend to the whole region, if no proper and immediate actions being outlined and implemented at the very early stage in the development cycle. Implications of the changes in climate predicted in Malaysia mean that present road, infrastructure and building that have been well developed at current and before, may not be suitable and equipped to withstand with the changes in the climate. The impact may cause defect to the structures, and the construction activity itself may become more difficult to implement due to hot and dry weather, and more frequent precipitation and heavy storms. The inclusion of the perspective of socio-technical systems shall provide any possibilities for a much better system and right approach in adapting to the change of climate. Due to that, this study will explore on how the issue of climate change together with the involvement of multidisciplinary experts can be integrated into the physical development framework particularly for decision making process during the stage of planning of the construction cycle, and how it would impact the current scenario particularly in Malaysia.