Community-Based Disaster Management in Kuala Lumpur

AbstractThe goal of this study is to explore how flood-affected communities in Kuala Lumpur use their community-based organisation (CBO) in dealing with their vulnerability. Data was collected for this study through interviews, survey questionnaire, document analysis and field observation. The study finds CBO has a crucial responsibility in managing disasters affecting their communities especially in ensuring community members are ready for any eventualities and reducing their vulnerabilities. This research also found that the urban poor are the group that is hit the worst in most flooding incidents and the experience that they shared have shaped how they lead their lives

GIS implementation in Malaysian statutory development plan system

The chapter presents the current state of GIS implementation in Malaysian development plan system. It offers an overview of GIS implementation worldwide, touching briefly on the history of GIS, planners’ early acceptance of the system, factors that promote GIS implementation, level of usage among planners, and factors that impede successful GIS implementation. At the end, the chapter provides a comparison between the state of GIS implementation in Malaysian statutory development plan system with the state of GIS implementation worldwide. The evidence was derived from three main sources: literature, empirical observation of GIS implementation in Malaysia, and a survey conducted in 2008

Urban transportation systems and governance in the Klang Valley, Malaysia

This paper analyses the governance of urban transportation system in the Klang Valley, Malaysia, focusing on institutional issues. The Klang Valley was chosen as the study area due to its phenomenal growth in the last two decades that affected the administration of its urban transportation system. The lack of synergy in the administration of the system has resulted in an adverse impact on its efficiency. Interviews was utilised as the main research instrument. Through the examination of the practices, attitudes and beliefs of those working in the transport related field have shed some light on the relationship between agencies and the impact that these have upon transportation system in the Klang Valley. Other than interviews, these examinations involved investigating the history and current status of the policy development, implementation as well as administration, which were obtained through an examination of government documentation, archival records, and observation. The results indicate that there are four barriers that resulted in the inefficiency of the urban transport system in the Klang Valley, which are institutional issues, political issues, cultural and ideological issues, and finally, policy issues. However, as mentioned before, this paper will specifically focus on institutional issues as one of the main factors in urban transport governance in the Klang Valley, Malaysia

GIS application in monitoring development plan implementation in Malaysia: Weaknesses and potential

Monitoring of development plans implementation is gaining more attention than before by the planning authorities in Malaysia. Pilot plan monitoring projects are being conducted in order to develop the most suitable monitoring mechanism. Since GIS use is widespread in development plan preparation process in Malaysia, there have also been efforts to bring GIS into the monitoring stage of the plan. This paper looks at the present practices of states planning authority in Malaysia in monitoring the implementation of their State Structure Plans (SSP). Interview surveys were conducted with all states planning authority that already have their SSP gazetted. It was found that, although many have not had proper monitoring practices in place, some had already been using GIS for the purpose of monitoring the implementation of their plans. This paper discusses the weaknesses of the monitoring systems being used by planning authorities presently and provides an alternative monitoring model which can overcome the weaknesses of the present systems. The discussion provided in this paper could be helpful to planning authorities who wish to develop their plan monitoring system in the future

Role of the Masjid in disaster management: preliminary investigation of evidences from Asia

The Masjid (Mosque in English) has historically played a vital role in the spiritual, moral and social upliftment of the Muslim community. Nevertheless, the role of the masjid has remained largely undocumented, and unrecognised in the development and disaster studies. Although the role of the masjid in disaster situations in many Muslim countries is evident, very little study has been undertaken to document its role as a development agent. Hence, investigating the potential of the masjid in disaster situation is an effort to describe and explore the functions and roles of a mosque in responding to a disaster. It has been remarked that the masjid has the potential to play a role in disaster management in early warning systems, as an information centre, an evacuation site and even with contingency planning. The role of the masjid during emergency response has received appreciation from the victims and the community. However, the potential has not yet been fully explored. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to explore and document the role the masjid has played in disaster management in various Asian countries and based on it develop a model of the potential role, the mosque can play in building the community resilience for disaster management in the Muslim countries

Role of the masjid in disaster management: Preliminary investigation of evidences from Asia

The Masjid (Mosque in English) has historically played a vital role in the spiritual, moral and social upliftment of the Muslim community. Nevertheless, the role of the masjid has remained largely undocumented, and unrecognised in the development and disaster studies. Although the role of the masjid in disaster situations in many Muslim countries is evident, very little study has been undertaken to document its role as a development agent. Hence, investigating the potential of the masjid in disaster situation is an effort to describe and explore the functions and roles of a mosque in responding to a disaster. It has been remarked that the masjid has the potential to play a role in disaster management in early warning systems, as an information centre, an evacuation site and even with contingency planning. The role of the masjid during emergency response has received appreciation from the victims and the community. However, the potential has not yet been fully explored. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to explore and document the role the masjid has played in disaster management in various Asian countries and based on it develop a model of the potential role, the mosque can play in building the community resilience for disaster management in the Muslim countries

Urban public space as social interaction space: case study in Petaling Street

Despite the fading cultural value as a Chinatown, the relationship of the society and its public space is a form of a natural phenomenon that is inseparable. The changing functions of public space in Malaysia were identified to decrease the quality of social and cultural activities in Petaling Street. Therefore, this study aims to explore urban public spaces as the main social driver in crating interaction in Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur. The relationship between attributes of the urban public space and visitor retention were analyzed in this study. In terms of social interaction, the user activities were interrelated with the sociability of the urban space. The questionnaire survey was selected as the main medium for data collection distributed to the visitors and locals within the Klang Valley who have visited Petaling Street Chinatown. A total of 150 respondents involved and the analysis shows that street furniture does affect their preferences in an urban public space. Furthermore, the time spent by respondents will increase depending on the external factors such as weather and aesthetics. On the other hand, the internal factor that contributes to the number of visitors in Petaling Street Chinatown is their accompanying traveler which in the context of a solo traveler, the street should be celebrated with vibrancy