Influence of Social Behaviors toward Cultural Heritage Sustainability in World Heritage Site, Melaka

Cultural heritage is constructed from the intrinsic relationship between three fundamentals: society; tangible cultural heritage (TCH); and intangible cultural heritage (ICH). To sustain, cultural heritage relies on the social behavior of society. Thus, reflecting fragility of heritage. Hence, this paper attempts to discourse the society’s behavior towards ICH. Exploratory case study was employed by adapting five social behavior related-criterions required by UNESCO. The data was analysed using two techniques: (1) simple statistical; and (2) thematic.  The results indicate that the status of ICH is threatened due to the weak viability level and minimal safeguarding effort by the ‘society’.© 2016. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. 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.Keywords: Social behavior; intangible cultural heritage; world heritage site, threatened

Future direction of urban planning education: the Malaysian universities-industry experience

Rapid urbanization is a common global phenomenon and Malaysia is not an exception with more than 75 percent of its population currently living in urban centres. One way of addressing urbanization challenges is through institutions producing competent urban planners with the industry playing a vital role in the design and implementation of the universities’ curriculums. The objective of this study is to investigate the perceptions and expectations of the industry on urban planning programs of Malaysian universities. The inputs from the industry were collected through a survey involving respondents from government agencies, urban planning practitioners, built environment consultants and property developers. The finding reveals that the subjects covered in the curriculums are suitable in producing marketable and industry-relevant urban planning graduates. Additionally, the syllabi encompass essential planning theories and contemporary concepts, nurture designing abilities and incorporate excellent use of technology with up-to-date software and hardware. However, the respondents opine that the management components, legal matters and communication skills can be further enhanced in order to produce better urban planners who are well-equipped to face real-world challenges. The study concludes that more industry-university cooperation is necessary including embedding industry experts in various learning settings such as input lectures and critique sessions to benefit both the students and the academics. Research collaboration between the institutions and the industry is another golden opportunity that should be explored. A mutual platform is also proposed to encourage more interactions among stakeholders in the urban planning field to enable updating of members on latest development and accomplishments. Furthermore, the industry agrees that an urban planning program which is capable of addressing the current challenges is an exceptional investment not only for the country but the wider region as well