Urban Air Quality and Human Health Effects in Selangor, Malaysia

AbstractSelangor has five stations set in residential, traffic and industrial areas designed to research the data obtained from the Air Pollution Index (API) and detect any significant change in the air quality to avoid any harm upon the human health and environment (DOE, 2012). The research would adhere the API scale provided by the DOE in order to promote a better understanding on the data as it would reflect the effects of air pollution on human health (DOE, 2012). Research methods in this research include the theoretical analysis of Urban Air Quality and acquiring important information from key informants and public to scope the issues and problems using the structured questionnaire

The housing preference of young people in Malaysian urban areas: a case study Subang Jaya, Selangor

A house is a basic shelter. This simple definition of a house has become wider as it assumes a social status symbol and an economic property value while serving the various inter-linked functions of protection, neighbourhood, social interactions, community amenities and services, privacy, and access to work. However, young Malaysian urbanites are feeling restricted by current housing options as they confront the difficulties of owning a house in urban areas due to the current much inflated housing prices. This study investigated the housing preferences of urban young people in USJ 1, Subang Jaya. Primary data were gathered from a total of 99 male and female respondents aged 20 to 39 years who were sampled from nine condominiums, apartments and housing parks. The findings revealed that most young Malaysian urbanites preferred landed housing with more number of bedrooms to high-rise housing. They strongly preferred to purchase their future house that truly meets their housing preferences. In terms of location, these young people preferred to live in urban area so as to be close to their workplace and services. They targeted high priced houses despite their affordability issues

Confronting Mental Disorder in Urban Physical Setting

Mental health issues have many causes, including the changing and unpredictable elements of the urban physical setting. Thus, this research is crucial to understand the mental health challenges of the urban population in Malaysia. Therefore, the objective of this research is to assess the magnitude of mental health outcomes and associated factors of the urban physical setting among the urban population. A study was carried out at two low-cost flats in Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur, with a sample size of 102 respondents. The findings show that there is a correlation between the urban physical environment setting, particularly green spaces with mental disorders (depression, anxiety, and stress).    Keywords: urban planning; environment; mental; health.    eISSN: 2398-4287© 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. 

A Bidirectional Associations between Urban Physical Environment and Mental Health: A theoretical framework

This paper examines the influence of the urban physical environment on mental health. A scoping review of reviews and a search of keywords from 109 international literatures from 1985 to 2019 conducted in a relevant database such as SCOPUS, Web of Science, and PubMed and snowballing method in the references list to get a recent paper that related. The relationship developed in the form of a theoretical framework using urban health indicators that identifies a relationship between the urban physical environment and mental health. The framework can be beneficial to the urban planning decision-makers to plan healthier and more sustainable Malaysian cities.Keywords: Urban Physical; Environment; Mental; HealtheISSN: 2398-4287 © 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v5i13.204

Healthy Lifestyles and Non-communicable Diseases (NCD) among Urban Residents. Case Study: Sri Pahang Public Housing, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur

Unhealthy lifestyle, especially the physical inactivity, can contribute to the increase in risk for non-communicable diseases (NCD). A study was carried out at Sri Pahang Public Housing area, Kuala Lumpur. The study aimed to investigate the healthy lifestyle and the relationship with the NCD. A questionnaire survey had been carried out to collect the data. From the statistical analysis, it is found that most of the respondents were less healthy regarding their lifestyle. Half of them did not carry out their exercise regularly. The physical inactive among respondents were significantly correlated to their health condition (NCD). Keywords: Body mass index (BMI); exercise; physical activity; smoking eISSN: 2398-4287© 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bsby e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v5iSI3.256

Residents’ Well-being of a Village in a Great City. Case Study: Kampong Bharu (New Village), Kuala Lumpur City.

Urbanisation, a human settlement is growing from a village to a megacity. However, there are few cases of villages, which had been lacking behind in the trend of urbanisation. For instance, Kampong Bharu (New Village) had been maintained as a village setting even though it is located within the boundary of Kuala Lumpur city. A study has been carryout to examine the residents’ well-being of the Kampong Bharu by using a questionnaire survey and statistical analysis. In general, the well-being of villages was within a moderate level. The social and economic developments were contributed to the psychological well-being of residents. Keywords: City; correlation; quality of life; satisfaction eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v5iSI2.2523

Residents’ transportation mode preferences in Transit Oriented Area: a case study of Mentari Court, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is often linked to the compact, green, mixed use and sustainable development. It encourages people to reduce the use of private vehicles. A TOD area consists of various types of land uses i.e. residential, commercial, public facilities and employment area. A transit station within the walking distance to houses centres the TOD area. Conceptually, it is attracting people to use public transport in making a trip. However, the actual level of acceptance by residents on the public transport services within the TOD area is not being clearly examined in Malaysia. As a TOD area, Mentari Court, still jams out with private car as large numbers of residents in the study area were still using private cars for their daily working trip purposes. This study examined the residents’ transportation mode preferences in the transit oriented (TOD) area of Mentari Court Apartment, Sunway City, Petaling Jaya. The findings from the field study of 99 respondents of the Mentari Court residents revealed that most of the respondents chose public transport for leisure trip and walking for the daily working trip to the short distance between their apartment and work place. However, incomplete route of public transport network, poor connectivity and services, long journey, and fear of crime had discouraged some of the respondents to use public transport. As a proposal, TOD should be implemented in a regional level instead of local level to increase the integration and coverage of transit network

The Effectiveness Of Building Plan Approval. Case Study: Subang Jaya Municipal Council, Selangor

The growth of construction activities in Malaysia has given rise to the need for more statutory controls to ensure systematic and orderly development. This process of statutory approval refers to obtaining permissions from the relevant authorities to ensure the development follows the standards laid down in the building regulations and certain stages of the construction are inspected by officers from the local authority. This effort is evidenced by the improvement of mechanism delivery system of building plan process, known as One Stop Centre (OSC). In fact, the building plan and construction permit approval come as the most important stage in development as it will determine the exact date for construction to start. However, relatively little is known about the effectiveness of building plan process in the local authority. Therefore, a study has been carried out to investigate the effectiveness of building plan approval process in Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ). A questionnaires survey has been conducted to forty-seven (47) respondents from the MPSJ’s internal technical departments that involved in the process. The respondents have mostly felt that the ineffectiveness of the building plan approval process was due to the incomplete documents submitted to the OSC, lack of knowledge among the Professional Submitting Person (PSP) and the incapability of staffs in handling development applications. Hence, the findings present a synthesis of results for town planners, architects, developers and government agencies to have a better understanding of how the effective and efficient building plan process can rationalize the success of property development sector. Thus, the knowledge serves as a basis for future strategic planning decisions and guidance in the delivery system in Malaysia

Local Spatial Knowledge for Eliciting Risk Factors and Disease Mapping of Tuberculosis Epidemics

Predicting risk areas of tuberculosis (TB) epidemics needs a proper understanding of the disease transmission process in identifying holistic risk factors. This study was performed to determine the causative factors triggering the epidemics in Shah Alam, Malaysia by utilising spatial analysis techniques and participation of local-expert knowledge or local spatial knowledge (LSK) approach. LSK approach was conducted to collect data on TB risk factors by combining experienced local experts' opinions, multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) analysis, and GIS mapping. The combination of experts participatory GIS and knowledge elicitation can generate a useful spatial knowledge framework for risk assessment of local epidemics. Keywords: Local spatial knowledge, MCDM method, experts participatory GIS, tuberculosis. eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v5iSI2.2522

Social Impact of Foreign Immigrants on Urban Communities. Case Study: Taman Taming Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

This study examines the social impact of foreign immigrants on urban communities in Taman Taming Jaya, Selangor.The scope covers the overall social impact on the presence of foreign immigrants on urban communities,family relationship,the relationship among the local community, the relationship between locals and foreigners,the acceptance of foreigners by local residents,sense of belonging and the safety aspect.A total of 95 questionnaires survey were carried out among local respondents.Besides,direct observation was conducted to investigate the condition of the study area.The findings revealed that most of the respondents felt that the presence of foreign immigrants has negatively impacted their life. Keywords: social, impact, urban, community eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v5iSI2.2524