KUALA LUMPUR, 20/7/2021- The rapid urbanisation of our cities certainly requires for a range of city stakeholders to occasionally pause to take stock of what has been achieved so far whilst keeping one eye towards the future.
With one of the highest urbanisation rates in Asia, Malaysia is certainly a worthy subject of study by urbanists, given its ranking of 54 out of 194 countries surveyed recently, where its urbanisation was rated at 77.2%, with room to grow to 88% by 2050.
For citizens and planners alike, increasing urbanisation brings with it a host of challenges, such as environmental degradation, rising inequality, unsatisfactory public hygiene, other than governance structures resulting in unsatisfactory outcomes caused by overlaps or gaps.
This year is a good time to look at where Malaysia is now, and more so since this is the 100 th year since formal town planning was introduced to then Malaya. For history buffs, Charles Compton Reade was appointed the first Government Town Planner for the Federated Malay States in 1921.
Relooking Town Planning
Modern town planning is no mere feat, given the large number of stakeholders involved in city planning, design, development and management. For example, there are multiple government agencies working on smart cities, with each city or municipality having different priorities, budgets, and capabilities.
To bring everyone closer to the same page, the Malaysian Institute of Planners (MIP) and Nextdor Property Communications, together with the support of Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT), PLANMalaysia (Federal Department of Town and Country Planning), and the Commonwealth Association of Planners (CAP) will jointly present and celebrate our past, recognise current challenges facing our cities and prepare for the future at City Expo Malaysia 2021.
It is an expo that will draw attention to the importance of best city planning and give our visitors and exhibitors the platform to share ideas and solutions to solve the most pressing issues facing our cities to showcase good planning practice and solutions for sustainable development.
As a fully online event with a single entry point, CEM 2021 will bring together multiple stakeholders to share ideas and solutions for city challenges in the first and largest virtual expo on town planning and development in Malaysia.
The activities surrounding the virtual event will be month-long, starting from the World Town Planning Day on November 8 followed by five days talks and conference. This packed programme includes events such as the National Planning Congress, Young Planners Forum, Commonwealth Association of Planners Awards, Placemaker Awards ASEAN 2021, and Mayor’s Forum.
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