Wan Nor Azriyati Wan Abd Aziz

Exploiting town planning factors in land development: Case study of urban housing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how planning factors affect urban housing development in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. The paper encompasses planning approval process, legislative provisions, and planning decisions.Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses published literatures on land‐use planning to unveil diverse negative effects on property development, particularly on urban housing supply. Primary data are gathered through questionnaire surveys to 137 private housing developers and in‐depth interviews with seven local planning authorities to obtain feedback on the issues affecting urban housing development.Findings – The paper establishes that some components of the town planning control can be exploited towards achieving the housing aspiration of a nation.Research limitations/implications – The findings of this paper are based on planning controls on urban housing development in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Practical implications – The paper attempts to encourage public policy...

The state intervention in achieving a quality urban living standard: A case study of rehabilitation of squatters\' colony in Kuala Lumpur

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present how the state government can successfully intervene in providing better quality of urban living standard in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach - The paper approaches the issue of state intervention by using a case study of a former squatters’ colony area in Bandar Baru Sentul in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. Findings - The paper establishes that for many decades the governance of Kuala Lumpur has played an active role in designing and implementing a wide range of housing policies to eradicate squatters’ settlement in the city, consequently fulfilling the aspirations of low-income people to become part of the home owning democracy. Practical implications - This paper attempts to encourage public policy makers and local authorities to undertake a more active role in providing better quality of urban living standard through the establishment of strong institutional capacity. Originality/value - The paper provides information on how the state government provides a range of mixed policies to rehabilitate squatters’ colonies in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Guarding the Neighbourhood: The New Landscape of Control in Malaysia

While securitised enclaves have become a global phenomenon, case studies of particular nations reveal the unique interplay between local conditions and international influences. This article presents the first major empirical study of gated developments in Malaysia. We found two types of enclosures being produced in urban Malaysia. Market-produced gated communities, attracting affluent households to live within elegant walls, dominate new growth areas in major cities. Guarded neighbourhoods are a post-market product: that is they result from resident-initiated actions to impose makeshift boundaries and controls in older neighbourhoods. Although concerns about safety and security permeate the national discourse around gates and guards, new structures of enclosure reinforce and reproduce shifting structures of inequality, class and ethnicity in urban Malaysia.

Towards a housing policy in Malaysia

In numerous statements, successive governments of Malaysia have recognized housing as both a basic human need and an important component of the country’s economy. Underlying this, the primary, formal objective of Malaysia’s housing policy has been to ensure that all citizens, particularly low-income groups, have access to adequate and decent shelter (Wan et al., 2011). In addition to ensuring an adequate supply of housing, another ostensible objective has been to promote a safe, healthy, convenient and beautiful living environment. Essentially, housing has been perceived as a vehicle for achieving human settlements that not only meet the physical need for shelter but also the particular national need for social, cultural and ethnic integration.