KOTA KINABALU: Persatuan Arkitek Malaysia (PAM) Sabah Chapter chairman Ar Victor Wong has called for a reduction in the number of cars on the roads through good city planning and management, in an effort to create liveable and sustainable cities.
Speaking at the launch of IPEX 2014 property exhibition at the Sabah Trade Centre here yesterday, Wong said the theme of IPEX this year, ‘Liveable Cities, Sustainable Cities’ was not something new.
An identical theme was organized by the Towns and Country Department in December last year in its State Planning Conference 2013 themed ‘Journeying Together Towards Liveable Cities in Sabah.’
One of the elements that have been specially touched on again and again by the speakers was traffic congestion in the cities and the need for an efficient public transport system.
“A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich ride public transportation,” he said, quoting the City Mayor of Bogota, Columbia.
“So if the poor do not have cars and the rich do not drive cars, what will happen to our traffic on the road?” he asked.
“I think this is something that we should dream about, in our creative thinking in the creation of our liveable and sustainable cities,” Wong advocated.
Liveable cities, he said, is a concept on the minds of urban planners, architects and developers around the world. Liveable cities enhance the lives and well being of its citizens, encouraging community and public participation through urban design that brings people together. Additionally, liveable cities embody sustainability – ecologically, economically and socially.
Wong added that studies had shown that liveable cities were ones that are easily navigable by foot and bicycle.
If cities become unliveable, he said then they become unsustainable as people will simply leave.
“In liveable communities, children, adults and the elderly are able to walk to school, run errands or just enjoy the outdoors without having to worry about safety and without having to own cars out of necessity,” he added.
He remarked that it was no longer a joke to talk about taking more than 45 minutes or longer, to get home after work or even a short journey.
Wong believes that what is happening in the cities is the lack of integration of implementation of the different development, and in bringing in a system of public transport.
He said planning based on car ownership and dependence on it, should be discouraged and reviewed. There should be the offer of freedom in the choice of their mode of transport, at the minimum cost.
The citizens, he said, should not be forced to buy cars for them to get around as a result of poor planning. The choice of an alternative system of travel should be made available to them either by foot, bicycle or and organized public transport system.
“It is easy just to suggest that we need a public transport system such as a monorail as in KL. This may be a long-term solution and it will call for an enormous amount of financial resources, time and effort to implement.
“So while waiting for the monorail to materlize, if there is one, and before our city traffic crawls to a snail’s pace, we must consider the options to resolve our current woes economically, through good city planning and management,” he advised.
Wong, in his speech also suggested that the authorities should encourage mixed development which provides the integrated needs of citizens in term of housing, commercial, sports and recreational, educational and industrial requirement.
The IPEX 2014 opening ceremony yesterday was officiated by Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Edward Yong Oui Fah.
Responding to Wong’s speech, Yong, who is also the minister in-charge of City Hall (DBKK), said the second public consultation of the final draft of the local plan by DBKK would be held on May 8 to 22, and PAM Sabah Chapter would be invited to share their suggestions.
“The traffic jam is not only DBKK’s and the road users’ problem. It has became the problem of all of the city folk. However, DBKK is looking at this problem seriously and we will ensure to minimize the problem,” said Yong.