Waterfront development for residential property in Malaysia
Abstract
Rivers and water are valuable natural resources for human life, environment and national development.
Recognition of water resources as national heritage will contribute towards more long term sustainable
property development. Waterfront development is already a well-established phenomenon internationally.
In Malaysia, as the economy began to change in 1980s, so did the land uses along many of the river and
waterfront locations. The pressures of new technology coupled with an urban population growth and
urbanization began to force a transition from water dependent industry to a variety of non-water
dependent developments such as apartments, offices, and retail shopping areas. Residential waterfront
development has taken advantage of available land and water amenities and incorporated as a feature or
“selling point” of the development. It has been found that wide views of water add an average of 59% to
the value of waterfront property, as well as providing attractive landscaping and better property
neighborhoods respectively. Development of waterfront lands in Malaysia occurred with limited federal,
state, or municipal planning guidance; resulting in cost aspects like flooding and pollution. Although some
waterfront development projects continue to remain profitable with a maintained successful public access
component, many have not. This paper provides a brief introduction to the research project to address
this issue, which is currently on-going. The result will give a significant contribution to the final output of
this research.... [Show full abstract]