Prof Geoffrey Williams is an economist and policy specialist. The views expressed are his own.
The Madani government has ambitious plans for urban development, but for large-scale projects to succeed they must adopt the principles of urban resilience, drawing on world-class examples already underway in Malaysia.
Urban resilience is the ability of a town or city to withstand, adapt to, and prosper despite persistent challenges or shocks. It requires strengthening urban foundations and infrastructure, and aligning development and management with risks that could threaten the well-being and future prosperity of communities.
A robust urban resilience strategy addresses the three global megatrends of climate change, urbanisation and globalisation.
To achieve this, city planners and governments need holistic approaches, aligning their capabilities and resources with the risks facing their communities. These include flooding and access to clean water, environmental impacts and energy demand from growing industrial, business and residential use, and ensuring inclusive access to community resources such as affordable housing, schools, medical facilities and land management, balancing commercial and social spaces.
This approach treats urban governance as an interactive system subject to both long-term and rapid short-term change, breaking down silos that treat emergency responses, sustainability plans, and livelihood and lifestyle policies as separate departments of local government.
Malaysia already has a world-class example to follow in the Penang Resilience Strategy (PRS), a state-wide initiative designed to prepare for climate threats, infrastructure challenges and social inclusion.
The PRS enjoys wide stakeholder support, including from the Micron Foundation, which provides funding to support the membership of Penang and Seberang Perai City Councils in the global Resilient Cities Network, and the development and implementation of some of the 13 flagship projects and 30 initiatives in the PRS, which aim to benefit 1.8 million people.
The Negalitres for Schools community-based environmental initiative has installed water-saving devices in 170 schools in Penang to conserve water. In partnership with the Global Peace Foundation, AquaConnect provides clean water to indigenous communities.
A capacity-building partnership helps train a cohort of Chief Resilience Officers and provides urban resilience curricula to government and community leaders to promote awareness and improve project development and implementation.
Importantly, the close engagement of the PRS with high-technology industrial stakeholders such as Micron—which has decades of investment in the state and creates thousands of jobs—supports the strategic alignment of the PRS with Micron’s broader commitment to sustainability and building resilient communities through corporate social responsibility, sustainability management and public–private partnerships.
Although still a relatively new initiative, the PRS provides lessons in urban resilience for Malaysia and the Asean region as a whole. It is designed to build expert capacity within the state to face future challenges, disruptions and risks.
The PRS develops data-driven, sustainable, and inclusive policies to address key areas including business resilience, water security, climate adaptation, and inclusive urban planning, and is considered the first of its kind to be driven by a clear urban resilience narrative. This is supported by technology-driven accessibility based on strong stakeholder engagement with industrial and commercial players, emphasising a community-powered approach.
A key foundation of the PRS is evidence-based, inclusive policy guided by data, designed to benefit all residents, particularly the most vulnerable. The strategy takes a collaborative approach, involving state, city, community and business representatives, who together have created a story-driven roadmap described as “people-first, data-informed and action-oriented.”
Focusing on specific priorities, such as business resilience, water security, climate change and inclusive urban planning, is aligned with broader initiatives within the larger vision for Penang, including the City Competitiveness Master Plan, green development, and economic growth. Support and pledges from businesses such as Micron and other partners help ensure effective implementation of the plan.
