Malaysian Urban Quality Of Life

INTRODUCTION

MALAYSIA witnessed a fast pace of urbanization between 1990 to 2000, largely contributed by rapid economic growth and transformation. The population in urban areas increased at an average rate of 4.6 per cent per annum, about twice the national population growth rate of 2.2 per cent. As a result, the share in the urban population increased from 51.1 per cent to 61.8 per cent during the period. The expansion of urban centres as well as the establishment of new townships and satellite industrial towns also contributed to this increase. Urbanization generated new economic activities and created more employment opportunities as well as provided greater access to modern social amenities.

Components of the Malaysian Urban Quality of Life Index
TABLE 1

CONCEPT

THE Malaysian Urban Quality of Life Index (MUQLI) was constructed to measure the changes in the quality of life in the urban areas. MUQLI is a composite measure comprising 12 areas and 29 indicators for the period 1990 to 2000 (Table 1). The indicators were selected on the basis of their importance and the availability of data on a time series basis, and were assigned equal weightage.

HOUSING

THE housing index, as measured by the average rental to household income ratio and the average price of houses to household income ratio, improved by 6.9 points (Figure1). During the 1990-2000 period, average household income increased by 4.6 per cent compared with 3.4 per cent for average rental, resulting in the improvement of the average rental to household income ratio from 0.30 in 1990 to 0.16 in 2000. The average price of houses to household income ratio also improved from 5.6 to 3.7 (Table 2 and Figure 2). These indicators reflected improved affordability to rent or own a decent house in urban areas. This can be partly attributed to the provision of affordable housing, particularly low-cost housing (Box 1).

FIGURE 1
MUQLI and Housing Index, 1990-2000

FIGURE 2

Housing Index by Indicators, 1990-2000

TABLE 2
Housing Indicators by City, 1990 and 2000

Low Cost Housing Programme in Urban Areas

The low cost housing programme in urban areas is intended to provide adequate and affordable housing for the lower income groups, resettle squatters, redevelop squatters settlements and optimize the use of available land. In this regard, the People’s Housing Programme (PHP) was introduced by the Federal Government in 1994 to build low cost flats. During the first phase of implementation of this programme, a total of RM300 million was allocated through the Low Cost Housing Fund administered by Bank Negara Malaysia. The houses built under this scheme were sold to eligible buyers with financing up to 95 per cent. Under the second phase, an additional RM600 million was allocated to build low cost housing units for rental to urban poor at a minimal monthly rental. In 1998, the Government launched the Integrated People’s Housing Programme (IPHP) based on the same concept as PHP but with improvements in terms of built-up area, design and implementation.The primary objective is the resettling of squatters in Kuala Lumpur and other major towns, especially state capitals. As at the end of December 2001, about 35,000 housing units in Kuala Lumpur and another 17,000 units in other major towns were at various stages of completion. The key features of the PHP and IPHP are as follows:

The most significant improvement in the standard of housing was in Kuala Lumpur with its index increasing by 22.0 points. Kuala Lumpur registered the biggest improvements for both the indicators, with the ratios of average rental to household income and the average price of houses to household income declining by more than two thirds. These improvements were mainly due to an increase in incomes and the expansion in the development of low- and medium-cost houses in the city. The index for Kuching declined by 1.6 points as a result of the increase in both the ratios of average rental to householdincome and the average price of houses to
household income.

Conclusion

THE quality of life in urban areas during the period 1990 to 2000 witnessed an improvement as reflected by the upward trend of the MUQLI. This was mainly due to the significant improvements in family life, income and distribution, culture and leisure as well as education. Other areas of quality of life that witnessed improvements were transport and communications health, working life, housing, urban services and community participation, while the quality of environment and the state of public safety declined. The environment index deteriorated as a result of the decline in the river quality index and the increase in per capita solid waste collection. The decline in the state of public safety was due to the rise in crime rates and the number of road accidents. However, all the four cities recorded an overall improvement in the quality of life.


(Malaysian Urban Quality Of Life 2002)