Environmental Protection in Land Use & Development Control System in Malaysia

15 Pages Posted: 4 Mar 2012

See all articles by Ainul Jaria Maidin

Ainul Jaria Maidin

International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM)

Date Written: March 2, 2012

Abstract

The importance of environmental protection and conservation has drawn much attention, in Malaysia and internationally, since global environmental problems first emerged as a common worldwide concern at the United Nations Conference on Human Environment since 1972. In 1992, Malaysia participated in the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit), which upheld sustainable development as its central theme in environmental preservation and conservation. The highlight of the Earth Summit was the adoption of the Rio Declaration, which stipulates 27 basic principles to harmonise environment with development. Agenda 21, a specific implementation plan, was also established by the Earth Summit, followed by the establishment of the Commission on Sustainable Development under the auspices of the United Nations Economic and Social Council to evaluate and monitor the implementation of the Rio Declaration and Agenda 21. The general belief that development and environmental protection are opposed to one another where priority is given to the economic development without due consideration to the environment may no longer be valid. Malaysia is also moving on to encourage proper land use control measures and legislation in carrying out physical development towards an integrated approach in environmental planning and management, thus ensuring sustainable development. Simple as it sounds, the concept is in fact a demanding one in the light of expanding population and diminishing non-renewable resources such as minerals, oil and gas. In many developing countries like Malaysia, there is a tendency to accord greater emphasis on employment generation and income improvement, to the extent that environmental concerns are often ignored or suppressed as a result of socio-economic pressures. There is also increasing awareness that many of the present day pursuit of economic progress are occurring at the expense of the environment and hence are inherently non-sustainable. This has resulted in many cases where the environment has deteriorated to such an adverse level that the remedial repair costs are exorbitantly high. There is an urgent need therefore to identify appropriate development strategies which will aim at achieving developmental goals through a combination of economic efficiency and environmental conservation. This article seeks to examine the existing legal, regulatory and institutional framework for land development and its role in facilitating the integration of environmental considerations so as to promote sustainable development in Malaysia.

Keywords: environmental protection, land use planning, development control, Malaysia

Suggested Citation

Maidin, Ainul Jaria, Environmental Protection in Land Use & Development Control System in Malaysia (March 2, 2012). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2015082 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2015082

Ainul Jaria Maidin (Contact Author)

International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) ( email )

Jalan Gombak
Jalan Gombak
Kuala Lumpur, 53100
Malaysia

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
504
Abstract Views
2,316
Rank
103,005
PlumX Metrics