Sustainability and new town development in Peninsular Malaysia

The idea of the garden city movements was found to be an important approach in city planning and creating the urban from. In principle, urban form and sustainability are linked. Urban form which includes the shape of settlement patterns at all scales, is a significant determinant of the prospect of sustainability. Sustainability requires specific initiatives and needs to be coordinated. The basic principles of new town development to be considered included limiting new towns' size in terms of scale of population, provision of green belts and creating a well-connected system of cities. Perhaps the most significant aspect of new town development is the policy to seek an economic balance between housing, facilities, industrial and commercial development. The original idea in Howard's garden city concept has been modified for various reasons and to meet wider policy aims. Consideration of the social factors is pivotal for the success of new town development as a social city and this very much related to the concept of self-containment. This can only be achieved by policies that take into account the society's needs and through the building of balanced new settlements rather than the single-use unbalanced extensions to existing settlement. The key players for new town development, such as developers, town planners and approving authorities, must ensure that balance is achieved between the conflicting demands of community needs, industrial needs and sustainable environment. In Malaysia, initiatives have already been taken within the existing planning framework when the Central Government adopted the Total Planning Doctrine in 1997. The Total Planning Doctrine, is a new approach to the planning and design of the physical development that should lead to sustain progress economically, socially, culturally, spiritually and environmentally.