‘Gazette town and city plans to reduce environmental risk’

PETALING JAYA: Local plans that spell out the dos and don’ts of how each town and city in the country can be developed need to be gazetted and followed strictly by the state and local authorities, said the Malaysian Institute of Planners.

Its president Ihsan Zainal Mokh­tar said this could help reduce the potential harm that development can bring to the environment.

Commenting on a World Bank study that found temperature anomalies in Malaysian cities growing faster than the global average, Ihsan said it was important to have a good local plan and stick to it.

“A local plan not only spells out population density, which areas need road coverage and where to build schools, but also identifies which green areas can’t be touched,” he said.

Controversial proposals to develop green areas that get easily approved despite opposition by residents are an example of what can happen when a local plan is not gazetted.

“If a local plan is drawn up but not gazetted, it results in less control in development.

“If we don’t stick to the local plan, we will leave more room for interest groups to push their agenda in how an area should be developed, rather than public interest,” Ihsan added.

He said while a number of cities and towns had gazetted local plans, Kuala Lumpur and Penang had yet to gazette their local plans, namely the Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2020 and Penang Local Plan 2020.

To reduce the potential risk of flash floods as a result of higher rainfall in urban centres due to rising temperatures, Ihsan said several measures could be taken.

They include increasing the number of detention and retention ponds.

A detention pond is a low-lying area that holds a set amount of floodwater while slowly draining to another location. A retention pond is designed to hold a specific amount of floodwater indefinitely.

Ihsan also said more greenery could be introduced along footpaths.

Another method is to use bioswales, which are long trenches containing vegetation that receive rainwater run-off and work by slowing down water infiltration.

On the World Bank study which found urban sprawl contributing to greenhouse gases and raising temperatures, he said control measures could include allowing higher density only for projects near the city centre.

“Urban sprawl also involves building many highways into the cities which take a lot of the forests, causing temperatures to rise,” he said.

“Cars travelling into urban centres are also a source of urban heat, so one way to tackle the problem is by improving public transport.”