The privatization of public streets and urban spaces in Malaysia

Abstract

In the last two decades, Malaysia has embedded good neighborhood principles in its planning plans that promote diversity and accessibility in urban residential areas. However, the emerging trends of the privatization of public streets and open spaces in urban residential areas in Malaysia offer the opportunity to study complex urban governance processes in a democratic and developing country. Using empirical evidence, this article recounts the fascinating saga of how various actors - urban planners, resident associations, residents of open neighborhoods and residents of guarded neighborhoods - responded to the privatization of public streets and open spaces in Malaysia. While planners described Greater Klang Valley as a diverse city in Malaysia, they sometimes tolerated the privatization of public streets and open spaces through neoliberal policies