Marlyana Azyyati Marzukhi

Sports facilities development: A case study of Malaysia

Sports and sports facilities development have improved rapidly over the past decade in Malaysia. Further, globalisation and dramatic growth of urbanisation highlight the importance of sport and sports facilities in cities. There is also currently tremendous interest in sports and a wave of sports investment. This research aims to investigate the development of the existing sports facilities in Malaysia. It is based on quantitative research via postal questionnaire survey. The research reveals new trend of sports investment and sports facilities construction started in the mid 1990s. Image transformation through hosting event and contribute to local communities through creating sports culture have been the centre point of sports investment, which is in line with the National Sports Policy in Malaysia. The findings recommend further research to review and provide specific guidelines and principles for sports facilities in Malaysia to improve future development following the global trend.

THE RELATIONSHIP OF HUMAN HAPPINESS AND NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING: CASE STUDY PUCHONG INDAH HOUSING ESTATE, SELANGOR, MALAYSIA

People living in urban area are always linked to stressful life and less happiness. One of the symptoms is the increasing number of people experiencing depression. Besides, there is also the feeling of fear (unsafe) within the community. To overcome the problems, neighbourhood planning should take into consideration the elements of happiness. A study was carried out at Puchong Indah Housing Estate, with the objectives to examine the level of happiness of residents and to analyse the relationship between happiness and neighbourhood planning aspects. Questionnaire survey was conducted to identify the level of happiness and satisfaction among the residents. The Spearman correlation was applied for the relationship analysis. The main findings demonstrate that the people in Puchong Indah are happy. The residential area planning aspects, i.e. community relationship, accessibility to public areas, transportation and safety aspects were significantly related to happiness of respondents. Recommendations were constructed based on the findings.

Urban farming: Utilisation of infrastructure or utility reserved lands

Urban farming is referred to farming or agricultural activities within an urban area, generally practiced for income-earning or food-producing purposes. It contributes to food security, food safety, better environmental quality and greenery for a nation especially the urban area. Due to the high land value in urban area, infrastructure or utility reserved lands were seen to be necessary to be identified with the suitability for farming purpose. This paper is dealing with the study on suitability of urban farming in the reserved lands from the perspective of planners, urban farmers, and officers from land offices and land owners. Besides, the related laws and statutory plans were also been studied. As a result from the study, the reserved lands were identified to be suitable for agricultural activities such as for vegetables and ornamental plants production. However, the proper planning should be carried out under the Malaysian development plan system. Recommendations were identified at the end of the study.