‘UN safe city concept implemented in Malaysia since 2004’

Ainur Zaireen: Safe city is part of a smaller concept within the main objective of liveable cities.

THE safe city concept is part of the main objective towards making Johor Baru a liveable city, says a Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) lecturer.

Faculty of Built Environment Real Estate Department senior lecturer Dr Ainur Zaireen Zainudin said the safe city concept focused on crime prevention efforts and reducing the fear of living in the city.

“The United Nations-Habitat (UN-Habitat) is the international body responsible for sparking the idea of ​​this concept following the increasing rate of crimes in major cities around the world.

“This situation creates uneasiness when it begins to threaten stability, sustainability, economic development, quality of life as well as human rights of society in the city,” she said.

She added that such phenomenon caught the attention of UN-Habitat, which launched the safe city programme in 1996.

Ainur Zaireen said the programme was launched in Malaysia in 2004 with PLANMalaysia as the body responsible for monitoring the implementation of the safe city agenda.

“PLANMalaysia roped in local councils throughout Malaysia and came up with several steps to help make cities in the country safe,” she said, adding that installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras was among the steps PLANMalaysia recommended to local authorities.

Shah Alam, said Ainur Zaireen, was the first city in Malaysia to be recognised as safe city following installation of CCTV cameras in many areas.

She said local councils with bigger revenues would not have any problem installing CCTV system as they have the financial capability.

“Having such cameras in public areas will help change the people’s perception towards a city. This would definitely attract foreign investors and tourists.

“We can see developments not only in economic terms but also socially among the people,” she noted.