100 Nor Akmar et al.: Greenspace Planning and Management in Klang Valley, Peninsular Malaysia METHODS Overall Approach To obtain insight of current urban greenspace planning and management in Malaysia, two levels of government were ad- dressed: the national level and the municipal level. For the former, international and national literature as well as policy and legislative documents were studied. For the latter, a case study approach was applied, involving the heavily urbanized and industrialized Klang Valley of peninsular Malaysia. Six of the region’s cities were selected for further analysis. These cases, which are considered representative cases for the re- gion (Yin 2009), were analyzed by means of literature study, document analysis (e.g., of greenspace policies, if avail- able), and expert interviews with public greenspace managers. A framework for analyzing environmental governance and policy has been developed by van Tatenhove et al. (2000); and Van Gossum et al. (2011), for a recent application. The so- called Policy Arrangement Model (PAM) provides a structured approach to analyzing and understanding policy arrangements as the temporary stabilizations of the substance and organiza- tion of the particular policy domain. Another central concept in the PAM is that of political modernization in terms of shift- ing relations between state, market, and civil society in various political domains. The model states that policy arrangement can change according to four dimensions, namely 1) actors and their coalitions involved in the policy domain; 2) division of resources between the actors; 3) rules of the game; and 4) current policy discourses. In this paper, ‘actors’ are described as organizations actively taking part in greenspace manage- ment and planning, while stakeholders involve organiza- tions and individuals that have an interest in greenspaces, but do not actively take part in their planning and management. In this paper, elements of PAM are used as frame for anal- ysis. Focus is primarily on actors and discourses, and to some extent rules of the game in terms of regulations and rule ac- ceptance. Moreover, the concern of political modernization is addressed in terms of shifting relations between actors, and a possible increasing role of civic society and business- es in greenspace planning and management in particular. Malaysia does not have a single official definition of ‘urban greenspace’, but Mazlina and Ismail (2008) present a broad defi- nition of greenspace that includes forests, parks, pocket parks, playing fields, home gardens and even water bodies. Howev- er, ‘open space’ is defined by the Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Act 1995, (Act A933) under Section 2(f) as “any land whether enclosed or not which is laid out or reserved for laying out wholly or partly as a public garden, park, sports and recreational ground, leisure place, walk or as public place.” The focus of this paper is on municipally-owned greenspace, although elements of privately-owned greenspace will be touched upon. National Level At the national level, written sources ranging from sci- entific publications to policy documents were analyzed to obtain an overview of the status of urban greenspace policy, planning, and management in Malaysia. The fo- cus was on identifying relevant policy arrangements in terms of actors involved, discourses reflected in policy documents, and rules of the game in terms of legal ar- rangements and the formal roles of different actors. Case Studies Klang Valley is an area comprising KL and its suburbs, and adjoining cities and towns in the state of Selangor (Fig- ure 1). The conurbation is the heartland of Malaysia’s in- dustry and commerce. According to the most recent census, the population in the Klang Valley comprises 4.7 million. Rapid urbanization at 4.8% per annum is expected in the area, which translates to a total population of 8 to 9 mil- lion people by 2018 (Kuala Lumpur City Plan 2009). Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Shah Alam, and Klang were selected as representative Table 1. List of questions for interviews with municipal greenspace officers. City and greenspaces information Importance of greenspace Actors involved Legislation What is the total municipal area, population, percentage of green spaces and m2 What are the main functions and benefits of green spaces in your city? Which municipal organization(s) are responsible for planning and management of the city’s green spaces? How is the “greenspace organization” structured (subunits, number of staff, etc.)? Are there other public actors, such as state institutions, that are involved in greenspace planning and management? Name these organisations. Do local regulations, ordinances, etc. exist for greenspaces, trees, nature areas, etc.? If so, please provide examples of these (e.g., tree preservation orders, local nature protection areas, zoning regulations for open space). How do these local regulations connect to national-level legislation for green space? Planning & management Stakeholders Can you describe present planning and management of green spaces? Which formal documents exist? Are the following groups involved in greenspace planning and management: 1) business / companies; 2) interest groups; 3) the general public; 4) other? Which instruments/procedures are used for involving stakeholders [if any; e.g., consultation procedures, surveys, sponsoring schemes (for businesses)]? SWOT analysis What are the most important Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats regarding the city’s greenspaces and their planning and management? of greenspace per inhabitant for your city? ©2011 International Society of Arboriculture
May 2011
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