New rules on transit-oriented development

The Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) will implement the new guideline to increase plot ratio for transit-oriented-development (TOD) from 1:4 to 1:8 in the city centre.

However, MBSA will only give approval on a case-to-case basis instead of a blanket approval.

TOD will focus on maximising access to public transportation from developments closer to LRT and bus routes. The plot ratio is measured by the ratio of a building’s total floor area (gross floor area) to the total land size.

Shah Alam mayor Datuk Ahmad Zaharin Mohd Saad said the council had no problems implementing the new guideline with regards to development introduced by the state planning committee (SPC).

Ahmad Zaharin said TOD would be vital with the introduction of two major public transportation lines, the LRT 3 and the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) that would run through Shah Alam.

“Other countries also have TOD but it differs among each location. I have seen good developments near LRTs and MRTs in Japan as well,” he noted.

He said he was impressed with the developments at KL Sentral and would like to see a similar development in Shah Alam.

Ahmad Zaharin was speaking during a press conference after launching the Section 14 Shah Alam City Centre Development Workshop in Shah Alam yesterday.

The workshop was an initiative by the council to gather all stakeholders to provide suggestions for the development of the city centre.

Revolving around public transportation, the discussion centred on connectivity, integration and the low carbon city framework that the council hoped to achieve by 2030.

“Our objective is to identify the issues pertaining to development in the city centre. The points made at the workshop will be used to come up with a comprehensive and holistic urban design study for the city centre,” he added.

Ahmad Zaharin also said a team would be set up to study the details over a six-month period their ideas were presented to MBSA.

“We want all the stakeholders and individual landowners to participate so we can get an idea of their development plans and they will understand our ideas and policies as well,” he explained.

At present, the city centre has 19 developers including several Selangor subsidiary companies and private landowners.

Section 14 is 159.89ha in size and 24.18ha of the area have been used for commercial space, 39.11ha for roads, 11.89ha for public facility, 13.01ha for government agencies and 34.02ha for lakes and green space.

The one-day workshop also saw independent consultant Iktisas Planners Sdn Bhd presenting its study on Section 14, led by chief consultant Md Nazri Mohd Noordin.

In his speech, Nazri said there was a lot of room to enhance the features of Section 14’s city centre status, especially with 17.15ha of empty land.

“We must find a way to integrate everything. It is great to see that there is 34.02ha of green space and lake, but we must find a way to integrate it with the city as well,” he added.

Nazri also said future developments around Section 14 should take into consideration monuments in the state capital, including the Blue Mosque and the palace, when planning new projects. - BY PRIYA MENON (StarProperty)