Countering urbanisation and promoting equitable development

The intention of seeking greener pastures has led many hopeful individuals and families moving into city centres, particularly Kuala Lumpur. Through rose-coloured glasses, the pulling factors of these urban areas are attractive indeed – leading to almost 80% of Malaysians proudly calling themselves urbanites today. Keeping in mind that the global urbanisation rate at the moment is only about 50%, Malaysia is observing an alarming rapid urbanisation rate.

The process is inevitable as a facilitator to ensure economic growth, especially for developing countries – but at what cost? Analysing the externalities that came about from rapid unplanned urbanisation in Malaysia, the immature social, infrastructure and administrative systems is a recipe for disaster – especially in the sense of socio-related risks and quality of life degradation – we are very close to approaching the tolerable ceiling of socio-economic well-being. While it is important for a country to achieve economic prosperity, it should not be at the expense of social welfare.