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KUALA LUMPUR (May 21): Land development and “vertical living” issues were today addressed at the 10th National Real Estate Research Coordinator (Naprec) Conference held at the National Institute of Valuation (Inspen) in Kajang.
Naprec is a national real estate fund for research on the real estate industry set up under the 8th Malaysia Plan. It is coordinated by Inspen.
Associate professors Dr Anuar Alias and Dr Wan Nor Azriyati Wan Abd Aziz of the University of Malaya each presented a paper.
They were, respectively: “Land Development on Highland and Steep Slope Areas: A Comparative Study Between Malaysia and Hong Kong on Process Mechanism and Legislation Issues” and “Vertical Living Phenomenon: a Stop Gap Mitigating Prescription”.
Anuar said sustainable development in Malaysia should not be an issue because the country has integrated strategic development plans.
“We [have] holistic [legal] provisions, but there is lack of enforcement by the authorities,” he said, citing landslide incidents in Rawang Perdana and Taman Hillview, among others.
He explained that after the completion of a development, the management of a hillside slope is passed back to local authorities that lack the funds to maintain them.
In comparison, Hong Kong has managed to keep its developments safe and sustainable despite being prone to geo-disasters.
In her presentation on “vertical living”, Wan said that “our observations showed that the living environment in low and medium-cost vertical residential buildings are not satisfactory [but] empirical data shows that the residents perceive their buildings to be well-preserved and managed.”
She stressed that although the responsibility for maintaining the living environment falls heavily on the shoulders of residents, management bodies should not take their responsibilities lightly.
