Shuhana Shamsuddin

Implementation of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design by Kuala Lumpur City Hall

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a ways to prevent crime from happen by manipulating the built environment through effective design. The research aims to investigate the level of CPTED implementation by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (KLCH). The Safe City Program that was introduced in 2004 by the Malaysian Government and CPTED is partially one of the strategies that have been adopted in the program. The issues investigated are the worsening of urban crime rate as reflected in the crime index that rose significantly from year 1980 to the year 2007. Rising of crime index for past six years in Kuala Lumpur is questionable whether CPTED has been successfully carried out by the KLCH. The study was conducted among the professionals and technical staffs that are the so called implementers of KLCH as they are the core person in implementing CPTED.

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design program's implementation and its effects on the liveability of Kuala Lumpur City centre

Livable city is referred to as the quality of living in an area that contributes towards a safe, healthy and enjoyable place. The Safe City and Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) programs were implemented to address this issue. However, due to the rising crime index in 2004, it is questionable whether CPTED had successfully been implemented in this country especially in Kuala Lumpur. This paper discusses the role of CPTED in making Kuala Lumpur a liveable city and to assess the awareness and understanding among the citizens and the local authorities on CPTED program. The study was conducted among the professionals and staffs of Kuala Lumpur City Hall as they are the real implementers who are also responsible to inform the community of the CPTED programs. The findings revealed that, there is still a lack of understanding of CPTED program that affects the success of this program in increasing the safety levels of Kuala Lumpur to make the city more liveable.

Sustainable historic waterfront development: Approaches and dilemma of two UNESCO world heritage sites in Malaysia

Urban waterfronts are unique cultural resources which have great potential to improve economic development, public enjoyment and civic identity. This issue is more predominant in the historic areas where the once active waterfront ceases to function in its traditional capacity. George Town and Melaka were both jointly awarded the UNESCO world heritage site in 2008 because of the similarity in issues and the functions they served in the past. The waterfronts of the cities were included in the heritage sites’ boundaries and the approaches taken to the waterfront development have an important influence on their sustainability. This paper examines the approach to waterfront regeneration in the major cities of Malaysia including the two aforementioned historic cities. A mixed method approach has been adopted for the research using field observations, morphological study, in depth interview, questionnaire survey and content analysis of policies in government documents to collect data for the analysis. The research attempts to compare the differences in approaches between the two heritage cities and their implications in relation to their sustainability. The research discovers that the level of contextual integration is an important consideration for sustainable waterfront regeneration for the historic cities.

Waterfront regeneration as a sustainable approach to city development in Malaysia

The morphological development of the towns and cities in Malaysia was influenced by the river, where it functioned as the main transportation system. Many of these rivers flow right through the town centres and are influential in giving character to the townscapes of the cities through the quality of views. Nevertheless, many of these rivers are in a poor state of health in terms of the water quality and have not been fully exploited in terms of their recreational potential as well as their heritage value. Of the thirteen state capital cities studied, there are three cities that have already embarked on a regeneration program to revitalize their riverfronts. However, some of the recent developments on the riverfront are considered unsustainable and insensitive to the river as a valuable asset of the city, such as the covering of the river with an open plaza and changing the natural embankment of the river to concrete banks, hence turning its image into that of a large open culvert running across the city. Many of the buildings along the river are still backing the waterfront where access both visually and physically is rather limited. This paper is going to discuss the issue of rivers as one of the significant elements that contribute to the sense of place of the city and the plight of the rivers as the city progresses into the future. The discussion is based on an urban design study of all the state capital cities in Malaysia as well as a doctoral research that looks at the issue of waterfront regeneration in the Federal Capital City of Kuala Lumpur. The paper concludes by highlighting the impact of these rivers to the sense of place of Malaysian cities and their roles in creating sustainable cities in the future.

How a city lost its waterfront: tracing the effects of policies on the sustainability of the Kuala Lumpur waterfront as a public place

Kuala Lumpur owes its beginnings to the two rivers that transect its historic core but it lost its waterfront as a public place due to rapid urbanisation. The rivers were used as flood mitigation measures with limited visual and physical access to the public. This paper traces the effects of policies on the waterfront development of the city by focusing on the factors that contributed to its disappearance. It employs a qualitative approach by analysing the riverfront physical conditions based on old maps and photographs as well as government documents and in-depth interviews with local authority officials, architects and developers.

The Influence of the Surveillance Factors towards the Residents’ Perceptions on Safety at the Shared Outdoor Spaces in Gated Community

Focusing on high rise residential gated community, this article concentrates on evaluating the effectiveness of surveillance factors in gated community in influencing the residents perceptions of safety at the shared outdoor spaces. Five common shared outdoor spaces in gated community were identified based on the literature review and extensive observations. These were measured and tested through a combination of questionnaire surveys, in-depth interview and unstructured direct observation techniques. Results revealed that the effectiveness of natural surveillance gave the most significant influence on the residents perceptions of safety in the shared outdoor spaces compared to the organized surveillance and mechanical surveillance in gated community.

Liveability of Kuala Lumpur city centre from the perspective of urban design quality

Creating a liveable city is commonly a debated question. Over the last decade, the total population of people living in urban areas has increased rapidly and is expected to continue rising until 2020 where urban sprawl is anticipated. As a result, higher density has led to a high crime rate and environmental issues as a result of traffic congestion and inefficiency of the public transportation system as well as industrialization. The Malaysian Government has undertaken many initiatives such as Government Transformation Program to create a quality environment for the residents. This demonstrates that liveability is one of the main concerns towards current new development and stressing the importance of creating a liveable city that provides a safe, healthy and enjoyable place of living. This initiative is probably the reason why Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia is ranked 78th in the 2011 World Liveable City Ranking by the Economic Intelligence Units (EIU). The perception of the residents is the major contributing factor in creating a liveable place and environment because they are the real people who live, work and play in the city itself. So, it is essential to know the factors influencing the urban design quality of the city before implementing any guidelines or regulations regarding the liveability of a city. This paper discusses the policies regarding the liveability of Kuala Lumpur and how the happiness level of the urban design quality affects the liveability of the city itself.