THE Shah Alam City Council (MBSA), Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) said developers are required to allocate green space for their projects.

MBSA Corporate Communications head Shahrin Ahmad said 10% of housing development projects have to be allocated for open spaces.

“This is required by the council before approving the development plan.

“The open space and recreational area has to be centralised and situated on a flat area.”

MPSJ corporate communications officer Muhammad Azli Miswan said parks were important in a development project because it was an avenue for recreational and for the community to interact with each other.

“The developers would suggest the location for playground or parks but it is ultimately up to the council to approve,” he said.

At MPSJ, the guidelines require housing development projects with 50 or more units or more than 2ha, to have 10% of land allocated for open areas.

For housing development projects with 50 or fewer units or less than 2ha, 5% of land has to be allocated for open areas.

As for high-rise residential buildings, for every 1,000 residents, there should be 2ha of open space.

Slope stabilisation areas, utility amenities, buffer zones, and water retention ponds can be counted as part of the 10% green space quota.

All open areas have to be handed over to the state government for it to be gazetted.

DBKL Landscape and Recreation department (horticulture) senior assistant director Sharifah Dora Syed Mohamad said DBKL was set to achieve the World Health Organisation’s index standards to provide at least 16m² of open area for every resident.

“DBKL requires mixed or housing projects to provide 10% to 30% of the project area to be left as open space and developers need to submit landscape plans for DBKL’s approval,” she said.

The location and size of parks depended on areas gazetted as open areas in the Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 2020.

DBKL also allowed retention pond reserves to be developed as public recreational parks.

According to Sharifah Dora, to provide a public or neighbourhood park, several factors must be considered.

They include systematic planning that takes into account factors such as safety, comfort, accessibility as well as basic infrastructure and recreational components.

The place must be easily accessible by the public and gazetted as green lung. It should also be able to function as a natural disaster mitigation area like a retention pond or buffer zone for landslides.

In addition, the design and facility was dependent on the concept that had been identified in accordance with the site conditions. The design should include carparks, shelters, kiosks, sidewalk beside recreational facilities such as outdoor games and playground equipment for children.

Beautification aspect also includes the planting of shade trees and ornamental trees.

Coalition of Puchong Association president Dr Kow Cheong Wei, who is also the former Kinrara assemblyman, expressed his concerns about urbanisation turning towns and cities into concrete jungles.

On the setbacks of park planning, Dr Kow said often the location was not suitable and the size was not according to plan.

“At some places, you see two playgrounds by different developers situated closely.

“Yet in other housing areas it is far away from the houses; I have seen this in mix development areas,” said Dr. Low.

He suggested for the relevant laws to be amended to dictate the distance from parks or playgrounds to houses.

“In high-rise developments, the playground should be at the entrance.

“For landed properties in urban areas, it should be less than 250m from houses to the playground.”

On the observation by Penalosa that parks were an afterthought in some development projects, Eco Majestic Group Landscape senior manager Mohd Feyriyss Md Mohtar disagreed with him.

“This is really not the case for Eco Majestic.

“From the very initial planning stage of the township, the Majestic Park was identified as an integral component to connect the commercial and residential areas.

“We have integrated the park with the commercial area so that there will be a lot of vibrant interaction within the community,” he said.