Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 37(3): May 2011 and economy in the process of development and the improvement of communications. Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya have a spe- cial status as Federal Territories, implying that they need to submit their planning and man- agement reports or proposals to the Ministry of the Federal Territories for review. These federal territories have their own extraordinary policy and legislation, such as The Federal Territory (Planning) Act 1982 in the case of Kuala Lumpur. Putrajaya was established un- der the Perbadanan Putrajaya Act 536, 1995, which has the purpose of managing and ad- ministering the Federal Territory of Putrajaya. Most of the cities surveyed have also applied the Street, Drainage, and Building Act 1974. Its Act 133 elaborates on several roles of local au- thorities regarding drainage, maintenance of mu- nicipal roads as well as public buildings in west Malaysia. These subjects of concern have close links to urban trees and greenspace. Specifically related to tree maintenance and safeguarding is the Tree Preservation Order (35A – 35H) from the Town and Country Planning Act 1976. The legislation includes guidelines prohibiting the felling of trees with a girth exceeding 0.8 meters. Apart from implementing national policies, the cities have also adopted their own munici- pal policies and bylaws. Shah Alam City Coun- cil, for example, adopted the Shah Alam City Council Bylaws 2005 as an instrument for pro- viding green area guidelines and for protecting city parks. Similar legislation for small parks has been adopted in Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, and Klang (all in 2005). Even though the various Acts have different names, they all have similar purposes. In Klang, a special act was adopted in 1993 on the issue of vandalism, including mentioning of vandalism in the parks. Nature protection legislation is also of importance for municipal greenspace. Local nature protection areas were designated in Putrajaya, for example, within the Putrajaya Structure Plan 1995 (Act 8), under the Policy and Green Area Act. In a piece of innovative legislation emphasising the importance of greenspace, Subang Jaya and Klang require 10% of all new commercial and hous- ing development schemes to be made into greenspace. Greens- pace in this context includes road shoulder and road median. Actors and stakeholders Different municipal organizations are responsible for greens- pace planning and management in the cities (Table 3). In KL, the 1,000-staff Landscaping and Urban Cleaning Con- trol Department plays a leading role, contributing to the city’s ambitions to become an attractive (tourist) city. The department comprises several divisions, namely Adminis- trative Division, Park Division, City Cleansing and Con- trol Division, and Agriculture and Horticulture Division. Urban greenspace governance (i.e., decision making) and management does involve a wider range of actors than just the re- 103 Table 3. The importance of green space functions as recognized by greenspace plan- ners and managers in the case study cities, Klang Valley, peninsular Malaysia. sponsible municipal departments and units. The influence of na- tional-level actors, such as the National Landscape Department, has already been mentioned. A series of knowledge institutions (universities and research centres) also play an important role, as advisors to city councils on planning, management and design issues. The Institute of Landscape Architects Malaysia has also contributed to knowledge generation and transfer. These institutes have been carrying out tree inventories and assessments, but also greenspace planning and design work. Private landscaping firms are active as well, although the expert interviews indicated that the services of private landscape firms were not frequently used. Private businesses have also become active in greenspace policy, or at least greenspace management. KL is a city with con- siderable involvement from companies that sponsor, for example, tree planting programs, greening campaigns, and the establish- ment of running tracks. In Putrajaya, one of the leading banks takes care of some of the city parks through a sponsoring agree- ment, while several companies in Petaling Jaya have provided ©2011 International Society of Arboriculture
May 2011
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