Shaharuddin Mohamad Ismail

Challenges of Ecosystem Resilience: An Aspect of the Sustainability Science Approach in the Study of Environmental Awareness in the Selayang Municipal Council, Selangor, Malaysia

This article discusses a conceptual framework for developing environmental awareness among the Malaysian people via sustainable development principles and the dialogic change model. The conceptual model was developed based on the principles of the integrated pillars in sustainable development and the dialogic change model. Two main component data were used: awareness campaign activities data and complaints data. The awareness campaign hard data were obtained from the various government agencies that contain the awareness campaign activities such as the Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD), the Department of Environment (DoE), and the Ministry of Health (MoH), among others, for the past 10 years (2005–2015). The complaints data were gathered from the Selayang Municipal Council (Majlis Perbandaran Selayang—MPS). Generally, people are more aware of the changes that take place in the urban ecosystems as the recipients of rules or policies made by authorities. The level of awareness among the Malaysian people now has improved. The people take action through the Municipal Council via telephone calls, face-to-face complaints and emails. This article uses the complaints by the residents in the MPS, which is located in the Selangor State, as a case study to investigate the level of awareness and actions taken by urbanites in urban areas. The main findings of the study are issues related to cleanliness of the resident’s area and maintenance, among others, and the major implications for planning policy and ecosystem resilience will be drawn in this article.

Going for Green Cities: The Role of Urban and Peri-Urban Forestry in Creating the Ambiance of the Liveable City in Malaysia

It is well acknowledged that the world’s population is expanding and increasing. According to the United Nations, more than seven billion people inhabited the earth in 2011, and the number is expected to increase to 9.3 billion in 2050. Consequently, for the first time since 2008, more than 50% of the world’s population resides in towns and cities, which is expected to increase to more than 70% by 2050. Similarly, rapid urbanisation in Asian countries is also expected to expand tremendously, and many of the mega-cities will be located in Asia. Malaysia is also experiencing a rapid expansion of urban areas due to economic and business activities. It has been estimated that by 2020, 75% of the total population in Peninsular Malaysia will be residing in urban and city centres. Furthermore, 50% of the Peninsular Malaysian population will be in Kuala Lumpur Extended Mega-Urban Region (EMUR). The rapid pace of expansion and development in urban areas will undoubtedly effect many aspects of sustainable development. Unsustainable consumption of natural resources, water, land and recreational facilities will have detrimental effects on the environment as well as on both economic and social livelihood. Thus, this paper elaborates on the general perspectives of the current status of forests and green areas in the extended mega-urban regions as well as explores the need for future development of urban greening for liveable cities. The development of strategies and solutions are urgently required to assist cities in achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs), particularly goal SDG11, which focuses on making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, liveable and sustainable.

Managing the Growing Kuala Lumpur Mega Urban Region for Livable City: The Sustainable Development Goals as Guiding Frame

In the last three decades, Malaysia has witnessed fast urban growth and spatial spread at a rate never experienced before, in response to overlapping industrial, social, economic and policy drivers. The paper will analyse the urban spatial spread from the productive towns and cities in the country, in particular, taking the Kuala Lumpur mega urban region as focus to demonstrate the spread of urbanization surfaces and the dimension of modernity among the urban people associated with urban life. The approach taken is the framework of the sustainability science, specifying issues and then taking a transdisciplinary stance to those issues. Data were then gathered from published sources supported by our own field observations of urban land use spread in parts of the Kuala Lumpur mega urban region. Despite the increasingly glittering showcasing of the state of the art development in infrastructures, housing and economic diversity there are challenges that the Kuala Lumpur mega urban region has to pay attention to, to make the city livable. Looking beyond the physical achievements to date there remains to develop what has been discussed lately about grooming the soul of the city, to instil the urbanites with globally accepted values related to what we believe should be the essence of a livable city, such that the urbanites will take responsibility to be with the authority to ensure, for example, cleanliness, safety and making the city more vibrant and attractive.

Delineating risk zones and evaluation of shelter centres for flood disaster management along the Pahang River Basin, Malaysia

Shelter centres are important locations to safeguard people from helpless situations and are an integral part of disaster risk reduction (DRR), particularly for flood DRR. The establishment of shelter centres, and their design based on scientific assessment, is crucial. Yet, they are very much related to the geographic location, socio-economic conditions and the livelihoods of the affected communities. However, many parts of the developing world are still lagging behind in ensuring such scientific design. Considering the flood disaster in 2014 that affected the residents living along the Pahang River Basin, in this study we delineate the communities at risk and evaluate the existing shelter centres to determine how they reduce people’s vulnerability to the risks associated with rural and urban landscapes. We used spatial analysis tools to delineate risk zones and to evaluate existing evacuation systems. A flood disaster risk map was produced to determine which communities are living with risks. Subsequently, the distribution of shelter centres examined whether they are able to support people living at the flood risk zones. These centres were also evaluated using a set of international guidelines for effective disaster shelters. This reveals that the number of shelter centres is not adequate. The designation and designing of shelter centres are not being done scientifically. The maps produced here have a lot of potential to support disaster management decisions, in particular site selection and the prioritisation of centres. The study concludes with a set of guidelines and recommendations for structural and non-structural measures, such as alternative livelihoods and the potential of ecotourism, which may improve the resilience among flood-affected communities; and the decision-making process for the overall flood DRR initiatives.