Integrating strategic environmental assessment into Malaysian land use planning / Halimaton Saadiah Hashim.

PhD ThesisThe thesis develops a framework and system for integrating Strategic Environmental Assessment [SEA] into Malaysian land use planning, for the purposes of achieving sustainable development. The emphasis is upon procedural and resource aspects of SEA rather than on methodologies. The research includes review and analysis of international and Malaysian published literature, government documents, case study analyses, a postal questionnaire survey and interviews. The development of the proposals is based on the identification of philosophies, principles and links between three main concepts, namely sustainable development, land use planning and Strategic Environmental Assessment. Examples of approaches and experiences of SEA from the United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada and elsewhere are analysed and evaluated. These are assessed against Malaysian national planning and land use planning systems and frameworks, and current Malaysian practices in environmental impact assessment. An evaluation of the strengths and shortcomings of the Malaysian systems, procedures, processes and resources is used to justify and form the basis for the proposals. The thesis describes the research framework and methodologies; the basic concepts of sustainable development, land use planning and SEA/ElA; and the Malaysian political, legislative, institutional and planning frameworks. The proposals include an idealised SEA framework within a proposed national integrated planning system for Malaysia; the functions of Malaysian SEA; a proposed structure plan process with SEA; an outline strategy for actions; and subjects for further research.Government of Malaysi

House crow presence as unsustainable urban indicator?

House crows (Corvus splendens), normally known as pest organisms due to their unhygienic and noisy characteristics, are usually found in abundance in urban areas, particularly in areas that are littered with rubbish i.e. areas with poor waste management. They forage for scraps near littered market places and poorly maintained garbage dumps, where food waste is not well managed. These areas provide abundant feeding opportunities for scavenging birds, in particular house crows. In Malaysia, hot spot areas for house crow nesting are in the Klang Valley, namely in Kuala Lumpur, Kajang and Klang which are in the Greater Kuala Lumpur area. The presence of house crows have often been regarded as unsustainable urban indicators, in particular as indicators of unhygienic conditions, which in turn are indicators of poor urban cleanliness and health. This urban issue must be addressed effectively and house crows must be controlled to avoid widespread health problems due to their increasing population. In Malaysia, shooting was the only form of control of these urban pests. However, there is often a lack of precaution taken by the authorities during shooting exercises and high risks occur during and after these events. Proper management of these pest organisms is one of the crucial issues that need to be implemented, perhaps even with stronger legislative measure by the authorities in order to avoid health problems to human and negative impacts on the environment, economy and livestock

Climate change mitigation and adaptation as a sustainable regional development strategy: lessons from the Selangor River Basin, Malaysia

Spatial planning practice in Malaysia has given greater prominence to environmental matters since the amendment of the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 in 1995, in which sustainable development has become the core emphasis of all planning policies and plans. However, climate change elements, which are necessary to be addressed in strategic planning, have not been explicitly incorporated in spatial plans that cover urban and rural areas at state and local levels. This paper presents a framework to evaluate the extent of spatial planning responses to climate change adaptation and mitigation across various critical components that defines the quality of plan, including facts, analysis, goals, policies and implementation, in the case of the Selangor River Basin, a river basin that can be considered as a life support in the Kuala Lumpur Conurbation, the biggest urban mega region in Malaysia. A content analysis of national, state and local level spatial plans reveals that quality of plans is higher at the national level but gradually decline towards the lower tiers plans, and that generally equal emphasis has been paid to both climate change mitigation and adaptation. The findings support the argument that spatial planning provides a platform for coordinating mitigation and adaptation responses through its sustainable development policies, however the scope of sustainable development in Malaysia need to be reframed for this purpose

Developing sustainable communities by integrating the sustainable development concept into university courses: social science lecturers’ perspectives in UKM

Sustainable cities are formed by sustainable communities and vice versa. Developing sustainable cities and sustainable communities need individuals who are taught about the principles, criteria and elements of sustainable development (SD) and sustainability, and have been ‘bred’ in sustainable environments at least during the students’ years in sustainable campuses. To enable the university students to learn about and practice sustainable SD, all courses must be integrated with SD elements. Therefore, the understanding and willingness of lecturers to integrate SD principles and elements in their courses is very vital. The purpose is to discuss the relationship between social science lecturers’ understandings towards SD concept and their beliefs in integrating this concept into their own courses in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Lecturers’ understandings of SD concept and beliefs in integrating the concept into the courses are important because they can facilitate the implementation stage of integrating SD concept into various courses at the university. Statistically, the results of this study indicated that the relationship between lecturers’ understandings towards SD concept and their beliefs in integrating the concept into social science courses is significant at p<0.05. Unfortunately, the relationship showed a very low level of strength, which is 0.22. However, the qualitative results showed that several lecturers illustrated a very high level of belief in integrating SD concept into their courses even though they do not fully understand the concept. Thus, the findings suggested that training should be implemented for social science lecturers to enhance their level of understanding towards SD concept and explore the appropriate teaching approach in integrating this concept into the courses

Disaster management base on geoinformatics

Disasters including natural and manmade make heavy losses in life and property each year. This subject can affect society, economy, and environment and can be a serious threat for development. In 10 years ago over 200 million people are have been effected both life and property. This figure is seven times more than losses in war. After the earthquake in Bam (a city in south Iran), tsunami in south-eastern of Asia, fire in Australia, and other disasters, the management of disaster has been considered more than before. They have tried to use all facilities and equipment for reduction of disaster damage. Over 80% of necessary data in disaster management are spatial data. The applications of geoinformatics technology products particularly derived from space earth observation satellite and remote sensing integrated with GIS technology to various areas of earth sciences, urban management, geohazards, mapping, planning, early warning system and development has been highly rewarding. Spatial data and advanced technologies have an important role in disaster management because Geographic Information System (GIS) can help in identifying disaster points. GIS combines geospatial data, and hardware, software that can analyze data to Produce information. GIS mainly involves saving and analysis of data according to spatial and attribute data. GIS can combine and analyze spatial and non-spatial data. We have made an attempt to consider disasters management according to facilities and role of Geospatial Technology in control of disaster (especially earthquake)

Integrated Models for Solid Waste Management in Tourism Regions: Langkawi Island, Malaysia

The population growth, changing consumption patterns, and rapid urbanization contribute significantly to the growing volumes of solid waste that are generated in urban settings. As the rate of urbanization increases, demand on the services of solid waste management increases. The rapid urban growth in Langkawi Island, Malaysia, combined with the increasing rates of solid waste production has provided evidence that the traditional solid waste management practices, particularly the methods of waste collection and disposal, are inefficient and quite nonsustainable. Accordingly, municipal managers and planners in Langkawi need to look for and adopt a model for solid waste management that emphasizes an efficient and sustainable management of solid wastes in Langkawi Island. This study presents the current practices of solid waste management in Langkawi Island, describes the composition of the solid waste generated in that area, and presents views of local residents and tourist on issues related to solid waste management like the aesthetic value of the island environment. The most important issue of this paper is that it is the first time that integrated solid waste management is investigated in the Langkawi Island

Identifying sustainability assessment elements: the case study of campus sustainability assessment elements for Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Sustainability Assessment Frameworks for any area must be unique to its characteristics. This study identifies campus sustainability assessment (CSA) elements for Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) or National University of Malaysia by examining established CSA frameworks, then adopting, and adapting suitable elements, thus avoiding starting from zero. The study explores CSA approaches and frameworks and then narrowed down to two approaches which are most comprehensive, namely the Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework (CSAF) and the Sustainability Tracking and Assessment Rating System (STARS). The study examines key aspects and elements in these frameworks, and then identifies relevant elements for the UKM CSA framework. This study finds that CSAF and STARS are most comprehensive and suitable. Their dimensions and aspects are different from UKM’s but their elements can match the Sustainable UKM Programme, thus suitable to be adopted and adapted by UKM. CSAF and STARS do not focus much on physical development as key aspects and elements. This is different from the UKM programme which gives a stronger focus on physical development. However most of the CSAF’s and STARS’ assessment elements are suitable for UKM. Using CSAF and STARS as a base for developing UKM’s sustainability assessment framework is regarded as appropriate as they are the most comprehensive methods and hence avoid starting from zero

Application of Artificial Neural Network method and Landfill Leachate Pollution Index for Prediction of Solid Waste Generation and Evaluation in Tropical Area “Langkawi Island”

This paper discusses the artificial neural network (ANN) with emphasis on how its role in accurate forecasting of the amount of solid waste generation in the  Langkawi  Island. To achieve an accurate amount of solid waste forecasting is not an easy work because many factors or variables influence the forecasting process, which consequently increases the likelihood of  variations in forecasting the amount of solid waste generation. Therefore, applying artificial neural network helps  to solve this problem,which is associated with the simulation model. The establishment of Langkawi Island as a Geopark cluster makes it necessary to protect Langkawi against pollution, particularly the elements of leachate. Moreover, it is important for future planning related to the quantities of solid waste generation in Langkawi. Waste generation amount, types and the strips of trucks and personnel from  2004 to 2009 have been used as the independent variables in the ANN analysis. The suitable model, according to the mean absolute error (MAE), the mean absolute relative error (MARE) and R2,has  been selected through feed-forward-back propagation for testing and training. The best model to predict generation of solid waste is  to include 16 input layers, one hidden layer and one output layer. The second section of this paper explained Leachate Pollution Index (LPI) in Langkawi Island that presented total pollution potential related to landfill site and the  result indicated that LPIor  value is more than inorganic and heavy metal in the area.Key words: Prediction of Solid Waste Generation, Langkawi Island, Artificial Neural Networ

Tahap kelestarian pelajar Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia ke arah kampus lestari

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia(UKM) telah melancarkan program UKM lestari serta piagam UKM lestari yang merakamkan iltizam dan prinsip untuk menjadikan universiti ini sebuah lestari menjelang 2020. Sehubungan dengan itu , satu kajian telah dijalankan bertujuan untuk menganalisis tahap pengetahuan , kesedaran dan peranan kelestarian dikalangan pelajar UKM untuk dijadikan asas kepada cadangan dan program kampus lestari. Data diperolehi melalui kaedah tinjauan yang menggunakan borang soal selidik. Responden kajian adalah seramai 2275 orang pelajar dan pemilihan dibuat berdasarkan kaedah persampelan rawak bersrata dari gugusan akademik di kampus induk UKM di Bangi. Hasil Kajian mendapati jurang dan kelemahan tahap pengetahuan, kesedaran dan peranan pelajar dikenal pasti, merupakan cabaran utama kepada pihak pentadbiran UKM kearah mewujudkan kampus lestari. UKM perlu merangka dan melaksanakan program pembinaan keupayaan kelestarian pelajar dengan lebih teratur dan berterusan untuk membangunkan sebuah kampus lestari menjelang 2020

UKM sebagai kampus lestari: tinjauan awal pengetahuan, kesedaran dan penglibatan pelajar dan kakitangan di Kampus UKM Bangi (The UKM as a sustainable campus: A preliminary inquiry into the knowledge, awareness, and participation of students and staff in the Bangi campus)

Pada tahun 2007, UKM telah melancarkan Program UKM Lestari bertujuan untuk merialisasikan pembangunan lestari yang berteraskan pengintegrasian dan pembangunan keseluruhan universiti. Pelbagai usaha penyelidikan dan pembangunan telah dilaksanakan oleh Kelompok Penyelidikan Kampus Lestari menerusi Program UKM Lestari. UKM juga telah melancarkan Piagam UKM Lestari yang merupakan iltizam universiti untuk mengamalkan pembangunan lestari sepenuhnya menjelang 2020 dan menggariskan beberapa prinsip dan program perlaksanaan. Untuk menjayakan usaha ini, UKM memerlukan sebuah komuniti yang bukan sahaja memahami dan menyedari tentang pembangunan lestari dan kepentingannya, bahkan mengamalkan budaya kelestarian dalam kehidupan seharian untuk membantu menyokong idea pembangunan kampus lestari di UKM. Golongan kakitangan dan pelajar merupakan salah satu daripada komuniti penting di UKM, tambahan pula merupakan komuniti majoriti di universiti. Penyelidikan ini penting untuk mengetahui tahap pengetahuaan, kesedaran dan penglibatan kakitangan dan pelajar UKM terhadap kelestarian. Kajian juga dijalankan untuk mengetahui tahap kepuasan warga UKM terhadap pengurusan berkaitan kelestarian di universiti. Responden kajian terdiri daripada 425 kakitangan dan 2295 pelajar. Pemilihan sampel dibuat berdasarkan kaedah persampelan rawak berstrata dari setiap pusat tanggungjawab (PTJ) di kampus induk UKM di Bangi. Hasil kajian mendapati jurang dan kelemahan tahap pengetahuan dan kesedaran pelajar, merupakan cabaran utama kepada pihak pentadbiran UKM ke arah mewujudkan kampus lestari. Sementara bagi tahap pengetahuan dan kesedaran kakitangan berkaitan kelestarian di UKM,adalah di peringkat baik. Pengurusan UKM perlu merangka dan melaksanakan program pembinaan keupayaan kelestarian pelajar dan kakitangan dengan lebih teratur dan berterusan untuk membangunkan sebuah kampus lestari menjelang 2020