Locational Stress on Kuala Lumpur's Urban Fringe: Bandar Tun Razak Case Studies
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
LOCATIONAL STRESS ON KUALA LUMPUR'S URBAN FRINGE: BANDAR TUN RAZAK CASE STUDIES Peter J. Rimmer, George C.H. Cho Australian National University Canberra College of Advanced Education Canberra, A.C.T., Australia Belconnen, A.C.T, Australia ... to ascertain the needs of people, we must rely on what they themselves believe to be their needs in the light of their own values, aspirations and experiences. In turn, this implies that the emphasis should be placed on micro-level studies which examine the dual effect the distribution of resources has on behaviour and the levels of satisfaction achieved ... The potential of the stress game technique as an aid to the exploration of human behaviour and the needs at the micro-level is demonstrated ... Yet, the potential of this approach has not been fully realised especially in the way it enables householders to nominate the changes necessary to remedy the problem (1: 288). 1. AN EXPLORATORY STUDY Researchers examining accessibility to jobs in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, have been well-served by data derived from conventional surveys undertaken as part of comprehensive transport studies of the conurbation and the Klang Valley of which it is part (see, for example, 2,3). An examination of access to educational and retail facilities within eight local areas chosen because of their distinctive socio-economic characteristics, however, has exposed the limitations of the coarse zonal data. Indeed, the zonal information masks important differences in the travel patterns of various social classes, ethnic groups, and males and females. As a means of supplementing metropolitan and local area surveys an exploratory study was undertaken in January 1987 of individual households in one of the eight areas studied -- Bandar Tun Razak -- to provide information on travel behaviour and preferences in a residential setting, travel decision-making processes and travel patterns (Fig. 1). Bandar Tun Razak, an incipient suburb, was chosen for this exercise because it was one of four new 'growth centres' being undertaken by City Hall on the periphery of Kuala Lumpur in a bid to accommodate the capital's very rapid growth in population. At present, Bandar Tun Razak's 1814 hectare site is predominantly residential with both public and private housing schemes though there are plans for institutional and educational development, industrial zones and a metropolitan park. In 1987, it had a population of over 65,000 but by the year 2000 it is expected to reach 140,000 and provide 72,000 jobs (Dewan Bandaraya, 1984). Already, City Hall has been active in improving the immediate residential environment by offering better quality, low- and medium- cost, high and low-rise public housing with carefully-planned thoroughfares to reduce traffic and noise pollution. Although the site is being developed by City Hall for permanent residence a large proportion of the multi-storey flats is being used to 'park' families that have been displaced from inner-city squatter areas while private developers replace the existing single-storey dwellings with new five-storey flats. 407 1-5-2 P.J. Rimmer, G.C.H. Cho BANDAR TUN RAZAI< Q Residential ® Education Commercial . Community lacililies ® Public utilities Open space 0. Mosque o loo no A Sumo Figure 1. Location of Bandar Tun Razak The privatisation project -- one of many -- is intended to dispel locational stress associated with the dwelling itself and noise and air pollution that are all-too-familiar features experienced by families in squatter dwellings adjacent to major thoroughfares in Kuala Lumpur. T.ie temporary displacement of families to Bandar Tun Razak, therefore, has done much to overcome their previous site-related locational stress associated with dilapidated buildings, restrictions on water supply and poor sanitation. The displaced families, however, are experiencing another variant of locational stress in Bandar Tun Razak. It is attributable to the disparity between travel demand and transport availability. This situational-type of locational stress and its associated transport factors in Bandar Tun Razak is affected by permanent and temporary residents having to travel by the congested Cheras Road bottleneck to reach workplaces, schools and major shopping centres in other parts of the Kuala Lumpur conurbation. This relative physical isolation has been aggravated by the lag between the construction of residential units and the realisation of the new town centre, promised jobs in government, institutional, commercial and industrial activities, and an inadequate and inefficient public and private transport system. Before discussing the policies for alleviating locational stress we need to question: how have individual households adapted to the current situation? Then we can explore metropolitan and local infrastructural policies for redistributing urban activities and modifying the transport system. A major problem in exploring these issues is the difficulty of measuring the situational variant of locational stress because of the lack of information provided by conventional surveys on individual households. Consequently, there is a scarcity of data on the nature, causes and effects of this type of stress. 408 P.J. [Zimmer, G.C.H. Cho The search for an appropriate approach to bridge this information gap resulted in the further development of Faulkner's game technique for identifying the nature and degree of locational stress experienced by individual households (1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9). This technique and its application in case studies of individual families in Bandar Tun Razak is described (Section 2). Initially, the results of the case studies are discussed with particular emphasis being given to identifying symptoms of locational stress and the way families adjust travel behaviour to cope with the characteristic remoteness of new, transport-deficient residential estates and make use of secondary bases (Section 3). Then attention is given to how the chosen households reacted in a game situation to policies that: (a) progressively heightened locational stress through the imposition of additional constraints on their lifestyles; and (b) reduced locational stress brought about by new transport modes and an increase in income. We are then in a position to comment on strategies for relieving locational stress and gauging the value of the game technique (Section 5). Before making these assessments we need to outline the key features of the stress game and report on the response,.. 2. PLAYING THE LOCATIONAL STRESS GAME Two preparatory steps were necessary before the stress game technique could be applied to identifying transport issues in Bandar Tun Razak. Initially, a conventional survey employing a travel diary was carried out to gather information on the typical daily routines and social attributes of fifty-four households. Then, a further twenty-four households were selected for playing the stress game -- each game being regarded as a case study rather than part of a representative sample. Instead of exploring the travel diary information in this study attention is concentrated on the results of playing the game with the selected families. Prior to discussing the game the latter's family structure, household income and mobility characteristics are summarised. Family structure. Not surprisingly, as it was City Hall's policy to give priority to ethnic Malays (bumiputra) on fringe public housing estates, they were heads of twenty-three of the households studied -- the other being Indian (Table 1). Reflecting the recency of Malay urbanisation all household heads had been born outside Kuala Lumpur. Their shift to Bandar Tun Razak, therefore, was but one of a series of moves carrying them from the countryside through squatter areas to permanent residence in the capital. Almost two- thirds of the households that played the game, however, has been temporarily displaced from inner-city squatter areas and would return there. The remainder had permanent residence in Bandar Tun Razak. In at least one instance there was evidence of a reverse cycle as unemployment rendered the hold of one family on city life tenuous and a return to their former rural area was imminent. Clearly, the overall effect of the predominance of a large number cf displaced inner-city households is reflected in the array of households at all stages of the family life cycle. Their presence has counteracted the usual predominance of families with pre-school children (Group B) in fringe locations. Household sizes are large averaging over 4.5 persons in groups with primary school children (Group C), secondary schoolchildren (Group D) and with children over 18 years of age (Group E). The other marked feature is the presence of extended family members which include aged parents and various relatives from rural areas working or attending school in the city. P.J. Rimmer, G.C.H. Cho TABLE 1 CHARACTERISTICS OF CASE STUDY HOUSEHOLDS IN BANDAR TUN RAZAK, 1987 Life cycle Households Household head Average Male Female Children Extended Total 0-5 6-11 12-18 18+ family no. age age no. no. no. no. no. A. No children 1 30.0 28.0 - - - - 2.0 B. With children 9 31.8 28.6 1.7 1.0 0.2 - 0.4 5.3 under 6 years C. With children 6 40.2 36.8 - 1.3 0.8 0.5 - 4.6 6-12 years D. With children 5 46.0 44.2 - - 2.0 2.2 0.4 6.6 12-18 E. With children 3 70.2 60.2 - - - 3.0 1.3 6.3 over 18 years Household income. The case study households in Bandar Tun Razak were in the low and lower-middle income brackets reflecting the employment of male household heads as drivers, military personnel, factory hands and gardeners and their spouses as clerks, factory hands, cleaners and unpaid housewives (Table 2). On occasions, their income was augmented by other family members (including relatives) though those family groups with adult children also had to contend with unemployment.