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INTEGRATED LAND USE ASSESSMENT (ILA) FOR SUSTAINABLE METROPOLITAN DEVELOPMENT Ahris Yaakup, Haibenarisal Bajuri, Siti Zalina Abu Bakar, Susilawati Sulaiman Department of Urban and Regional Planning Faculty of Built Environment Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Skudai, Johor Email: [email protected]

Abstract The tremendous pressure of rapid development has created a greater and massive development growth just to fit human needs physically, socially and economically. The human need is surrounded with man-made environments (e.g infrastructure and facilities) of which at some point, ignores the right of natural environment itself that consequently affects the environmental quality. Either directly or indirectly, it also contributes to the degradation quality of urban life. The Klang Valley Region which is experiencing the highest rate of urban growth in the country, has of late shows all the evidences of going through the metropolisation process including urban sprawl and scattered development, land use conflicts, squatters and slum housing development, inadequate network facilities, land shortage, inevitable high land prices and the degradation of environmental quality. This has set the need for a ‘tool’ for continuous evaluation and analysis of the current environment as well as the capacity for future development. In response, the Integrated Land use Assessment (ILA) concept per se is introduced as an integrated land use planning approach that exploits the GIS analysis capabilities, supported by the use of planning support systems is seen as a good mechanism for monitoring urban development especially in environment-sensitive areas (ESAs). Finding that ILA could exploit GIS capabilities accurately in spatial analysis, it would be useful for decision makers to achieve sustainable development through incorporation of the use of Spatial Multi-Criteria Evaluation (SMCE) and base on Development Scenario Assessment. The paper will discuss the issues faced by the Klang Valley Region while undergoing the process of metropolisation and the need for a mechanism to facilitate development planning and monitoring toward sustainable metropolitan development. The paper will next explain the concept and ILA model development and further emphasize on the case study concerning the use of ILA for defining and mapping of ESAs.

Keywords : Integrated Land Use Assessment, Environmental Sensitive Area, GIS

INTRODUCTION The key term on sustainable development as defined by the World Commission on Environment and Developments is ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own need (UNCED, 1987: pp 43). Development, on the other hand, attacks the environment in another way. Economic gains motivate the destruction of forests and the maximal exploitation of natural resources. Industrialization pollutes the air, water and atmosphere through toxic and chemical discharges during production and consumption, all in the name of development. The increasing demand for housing, employment opportunities, institution and other urban facilities and services from the city dwellers became the main factors contributing to the deterioration of environmental quality and increase the environmental problems in urban areas. The Town and Country Planning Act 1976, (Act 172), stipulates that the local government is the local planning authority for the area. As land is a State matter, thus any urban problems associated with development such as transportation, flash flood, landslides and siltation, lack of housing and facilities need to be tackled at the planning authority level. As a reflection of the practice of sustainable development, and given the importance of environmental protection, it is imperative that environmental concerns be incorporated into development planning. Therefore it can be agreed that ‘the quest for sustainable development means that local authorities have to maintain comfort, convenience, efficiency, and preserve their built and natural environment’ (Mohamad Saib, 2002). Planning and monitoring of the urban area are important as it involve the need to understand and review current development scenarios to predict changes that will occur, formulate policies and strategies, as well as control the urban development. The identification of environmental sensitive area (ESA) should become a major concern to verify the areas that need to be preserved and areas that can be developed while monitoring of environmental aspect would help improve the urban quality. Hence, the land use assessment and monitoring is required as the development needs to be controlled. The assessment needs an exact image and related data of the development area so that the evaluation of the development scenario can be made fairly. In the past, the number of alternative planning scenarios was rather limited due to the difficulties in producing them, mainly owing to the time consuming procedures of creating scenarios as well as the evaluation that follows. However, with the advancement of Geoinformation Technology (GIT) these days, having prepared the evaluation model, the operation can be accomplished within a much shorter time frame by computer processing of the data and computer mapping of the results even though huge data and information from various sectors is involved. The Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has long been accepted as the most appropriate solution to address spatially referenced data. The essence of GIS in the plan making process, quoting Calkins (1972), suggested that ‘better planning will be achieved through better information, and better information will necessarily flow from an information system’. The Planning Support System (PSS) which is a combination’s of GIS data, urban model and presentation technique using computer for planning support has also been increasing in use for more enhanced end products.

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The introduction of Integrated Land use Assessment (ILA) concept as an integrated land use planning approach through the use of GIS analysis capabilities supported by a planning support system (PSS) resulted in a more integrated planning and serves as a good alternative in producing more rational decisions. This paper attempts to demonstrate the adoption of ILA for urban control in metropolitan development using PSS/GIS in defining the situation of current development (e.g. environment sensitive area and urban changes) as well the suitability for future development. Following discussions will touch on several metropolitan issues of Klang Valley, explain on the concept and purpose of ILA and the generation of alternative scenarios for metropolitan development with particular emphasis on the Environmental Sensitive Areas (ESAs).

ISSUES CONCERNING METROPOLITAN DEVELOPMENT Metropolitan characteristics were recognized by its rapid development and population growth with high density population, massive building construction, fully equipped with modern facilities and services, infrastructures, road networks, etc. The development of metropolis is induced by the pressures within the city and sprawl outside the territory due to large migration and force of development. This paper looks at the Klang Valley Region which of late shows all the evidences of going through metropolisation process. The region is experiencing the highest rate of urban growth in the country. The Klang Valley Region is made up of five districts including Gombak, Klang, Petaling, Kuala Lumpur and Hulu Langat. However, the City of Kuala Lumpur has long been the center of economic growth activities for the Klang Valley Region. The National Physical Plan (RFN) has also stressed on the Kuala Lumpur Conurbation. Kuala Lumpur urban sprawl extends in all directions well into the surrounding state of Selangor, but particularly to the south and southwest of the Klang Valley (ESCAP Publications). The Klang Valley conurbation is considered the most developed and fastest growing region in the country. The region is faced with the most serious urbanization problems such as urban sprawl and scattered development, land use conflicts, squatters and slum housing development, inadequate network facilities, land shortage, inevitable high land prices and the degradation of environmental quality. Much of the original forest cover has been replaced by urban land use, and development has now encroached into the foothills resulting in surface erosion and increased incidence of flash floods. The region is also well served by road networks whose efficiency is hampered only by traffic congestion.

Urban Sprawl One of the early symptoms of impact of rapid urban growth is the transformation and, in many cases, the deterioration of the natural environment. Forests and other natural vegetation have now been replaced by infrastructure, residential homes, office space and shop houses, industries and other commercial buildings. Apartments and condominiums appeared to have become popular and their number has increased substantially within Kuala Lumpur and surrounding areas and up to the hilly area. The whole of Klang Valley had experience a tremendous growth rate of built up area. Analysis carried out within 1988 to 1998 (Map 1) have indicated a four-fold increase in 3

built-up areas. This might be influenced by the urbanisation process which consequently led to forced and pressured development to further cater for the urban needs. The urban sprawl if not well countered for would promote more problems and issues.

Map 1: The Growth of Built-Up areas in Klang Valley 1988-1998

Lost of Urban Green The expansion of the city due to pressures for new development within the city and urban fringes have systematically seized the limited green area available. In effect, there is a decline in the urban eco-environment. There is an issue regarding the impact of urban green declining within and near the city, and the importance to preserve and value the green area. For Klang Valley, several map layers and GIS spatial analysis have been used to measure the lost of green areas to other land uses. The analysis carried out showed that within the duration of ten years (1988-1998), about 33.18% of the green area were lost to other urban land uses especially housing and industries (Map 2). The green’s database developed has enabled display of the green area distribution according to the predetermined categories and had been further interrogated, among others, to identify the supply and location of open space and recreational area against the demand for recreational facilities.

Map 2: Urban Green Changes in Klang Valley Region (1988-1998) (BKWPPLK, 2001) 4

Table 1: The Loss of Green 1988-1998 GREEN AREAS (Hectares) 1990

1996

1998

Loss of Green 1988 - 1998

%

1988 5,099.3725

1,981.2964

2,448.4904

6,966.6644

16,445.8237

28.98

3,666.9774

2,238.4947

4,490.4468

2,694.5615

13,090.4804

16.70

DISTRICT Gombak Hulu Langat WPKL Petaling Klang TOTAL

368.6260

280.9134

2,565.1901

533.4750

3,748.2045

48.46

9,673.3324

2,020.6212

8,164.9057

1,785.1085

21,643.9678

55.53

4,979.5235

890.8447

4,512.7240

14,262.6627

24,645.7549

42.51

23,787.8318

7,412.1704

22,181.7570

26,242.4721

79,574.2313

33.18

Source: (BKWPPLK, 2001)

Table 1 indicates the total lost of urban green in Klang Valley within the ten years period (1988-1998). The percentage of greenery lost showed that Petaling has the highest percentage of loss compared to other districts in Klang Valley. It is concerned that the reduction of the green area might probably lead to other related problems. Among the important aspect in planning and development control which should be of primary concern is the urban climate and need to identify the changing forms and intensity of heat island effect. Observations carried out over the last several years in the Klang Valley indicated that the commercial centers are usually several degrees warmer than the surrounding countryside (Sham 1973a & b, 1979, 1980). The effect is believed to have a significant relationship with the increase in built-up areas and the lost of green. In addition, with the ever-increasing population, most metropolitan areas such as Klang Valley are faced with a high demand for housing and facilities, and problems such as air and water pollution, and other geo-hazards occurred deteriorating the environmental quality of the area.

Pollution Figure 1 indicates the water quality stations reading of Water Quality Index (WQI) and index for several important parameters such as ‘Biochemical Oxygen Demand’ (BOD), ‘Suspended Solids’ (SS), and ‘Ammoniacal Nitrogen’ (NH3-N). The figure shows the trend of water quality between year 1995-1999. The fluctuation of water quality within the 5 years period suggests that the pollution level at certain locations should be of major concern. Further analysis done showed that the type of land uses mainly contributed to declined water quality was housing, industries and agriculture as well as the illegal development activities such as squatters (domestic waste) and illegal industries (chemical and toxic waste). Only recently, some improvements were shown in certain segments of the Klang River. This could be attributed to the success of several mitigation programs adopted like river upgrading project by the Department of Irrigation and Drainage and relocation of squatter settlements and illegal industries along the rivers.

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G raf P1995 e rb an d in g an In dComparison e ks K u aliti Air 1995 - 1999 – 1999 WQI Graph 100

Indeks Kualiti Air (WQI)

Water Quality Index (WQI)

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10

S te s e n Pe r co n to h an Water Quality Monitoring Stations

W Q I9 9 W Q I9 8 W Q I9 7 W Q I9 6 W Q I9 5

3016607

3016624

3016625

3116630

3117610

3215608

3216621

3215607

3118647

3013601

3014602

3014603

3015632

3015622

3015637

3016623

3118645

3117629

3116620

3116604

3116626

3217619

3217627

3115638

3016631

3117605

3217628

3017612

0

A ir Water Quality Index (WQI)

92.80 – 100 76.63 – 92.8 52.47 – 76.63 29.74 – 52.47