Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 37(3): May 2011 Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 2011. 37(3): 99–107 99 Greenspace Planning and Management in Klang Valley, Peninsular Malaysia A.A. Nor Akmar, C.C. Konijnendijk, M. Sreetheran, and K. Nilsson Abstract. In rapidly developing countries such as Malaysia, the importance of urban greenspaces is recognized, but due to rapid industrialization and urbanization, maintaining and developing greenspace is a major challenge. This paper analyzes the status of urban greenspace policy, planning, and management in Malaysia. For this purpose, information was collected about urban greenspaces and their governance, planning, and management, both at the national level and in six representative case cities in the most urbanized part of Malaysia, the Klang Valley. Data was compiled by means of a literature review, document analysis, and expert interviews with municipal officers in the selected cities. Results show the greenspace discourse in Malaysia has shifted its focus from one dominated by beautification to one concentrated on regarding greenspace as an essential part of the urban infrastructure. In spite of similarities in municipal greenspace management organization and legislation, each city has its own approach in terms of prioritized greenspace functions, greenspace planning, and collaboration with different actors and stakeholders. A shift is occurring toward greater in- volvement of nongovernment actors in governance and management. Challenges related to maintaining multifunctional greenspaces in a time of rapid economic development and urbanization call for better implementation of policy and legislation, and of balancing national visions with local needs. Key Words. Environmental Governance; Greenspace Policies; Green Structure; Urban Greening; Urban Greenspace. Many of the world’s urban areas are rapidly expanding in pop- ulation and area. In the past several decades, the Asia-Pacific region has experienced rapid urbanization brought on by a de- mand for higher wages, better quality education, housing, trans- portation, and health care (UNDP 2008). In 2006 for example, Malaysia had two-thirds of its population living in urban areas, up from only half in 1990. By 2030, it is predicted that ap- proximately 75% of the Malaysian population will be urban. In Malaysia, the capital city Kuala Lumpur (KL) developed from a small unknown place in the 1870s, to a booming mining town and subsequent capital of the new state of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur has subsequently grown into a mega city, inheriting all the challenges associated with rapid, often unplanned urban growth. Kuala Lumpur saw its population increase from 977,102 in 1980 to 1,887,674 in 2007 (UNDP Malaysia 2008). Further growth can be expected, as the KL City Plan 2020 mentions a target population of 2.1 million by the year 2020 (Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2009). In countries like Malaysia, urban greenspaces are particu- larly important for maintaining a high quality urban environ- ment by offering recreational opportunities. In tropical cities, greenspaces are also very important for shading and cooling, and for mitigating the urban heat island effect and its impact in terms of e.g. air pollution (Mikami and Kubo 2001; Sani and Ahmad Badri 1988; Takano et al. 2002; Thaiutsa et al. 2008). However, maintaining and developing a multifunctional and sustainable green infrastructure is a major challenge in a country like Malaysia. Greenspaces are susceptible to land use changes and degradation of their environmental and social qualities, as demonstrated by examples from the region. Cities such as Manila, Philippines, and Jakarta, Indonesia, have seen a steep decrease in the amount of greenspaces inside and around the city (Moriwake et al. 2000; Hakim, 2004). In Malaysia, land use changes in KL and surroundings during the last decades have been dramatic due to the establishment of commercial areas, and an overall con- version of forests and greenspace to built-up area (Teh 1989). Maintaining and developing a sound and multifunctional ur- ban green infrastructure, comprising a range of ‘green’ elements from large-scale peri-urban nature areas and forests, to city parks and street trees, requires proper planning, design, management, and legislation. Recent studies have looked at the status of urban greenspaces and their planning and management across the globe (e.g., Konijnendijk et al. 2005; Nilsson et al. 2007). Ottitsch et al. (2005), made a comparative analysis of urban greenspace poli- cymaking and management in selected major European cities, identifying large differences and a lack of coordination in terms of legislation and regulations at different levels of land manage- ment. Comparative studies of greenspaces and their management have also been undertaken under auspices of FAO, exemplified by the work by Åkerlund et al. (2006) in west and central Asia. In an earlier FAO report, a case study by Webb (1999) addressed urban forestry in KL. However for the case of Malaysia, a country with increasing emphasis on city greening (Sreetheran et al. 2006), there is a lack of studies and comparative data on the amount of urban greenspaces and their planning and management. To help fill this gap and support future policy and practice, this paper analyzes the present status and challenges of urban greenspace planning and management in Malaysia, exemplified by a compar- ative study of greenspaces and their planning and management in six cities in the most urbanized part of Malaysia, the Klang Valley. ©2011 International Society of Arboriculture
May 2011
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