Wk 7 - Transportation infrastructure VS sustainability

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, faces a challenge in how to grow economically and physically without creating an urban dystopia. The fact current population of the city itself is 1,7 million and is projected to reach 2.2 million by 2020 whilst tripling to 4.8 by 2050. Being a Malaysian citizen myself, I only recall myself taking the public transport no more than 10 times in my entire life (up till today). Evidently, only 20% of journeys in the city are made on public transport (Dudman,2014) On top of that, another 1000 new vehicles are registered in the city every day (Ngah, 2014) In fact, studies showed that people in Kuala Lumpur spend 250 million hours a year stuck in traffic jams.

(Source : http://kl.coconuts.co/2015/06/03/portion-sultan-iskandar-highway-collapses-kl-traffic-gridlocked)

Without the benefit of doubt, the luxury and conveniences of using private transportation are much more sensible in the given context of Kuala Lumpur, factors such as cost, punctuality, and accessibility of public transportation. etc. The World Bank's 12th Malaysian Economic Monitor report reveals that 17% of Malaysians living in cities uses public transportation, estimated two cars per resident compared to Singapore's 62% while Hong Kong's 89%. (Tan,2015) Nevertheless, personally, from my point of view, the there is a strong relationship between an urban sustainability development and its relationship to transportation infrastructure that has to progress simultaneously in order for a city to be sustainable.  

In this study above by Arthur D Little, Kuala Lumpur was ranked below average despite being rank # 27 in sustainability while Sydney was excluded from the study even though being named #1 in terms of sustainability and livability (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2012) Therefore, this report raised an interesting question and correlation between sustainability and mobility.

The irony of Kuala Lumpur being label as the top 30 cities in terms of sustainability has a 21% below average mobility. Whereas, Sydney being excluded from the study despite being ranked top as the most sustainable and livable city. From my opinion, what's more, important that determines the sustainability of transportation is the convenience as well as the diversity of public infrastructure instead of mobility between destinations. Of course being working hand in hand with a proper legislative framework such as taxation on vehicle and fuels, cities with efficient transit would perform more effectively and sustainably. Take for example Singapore, with sensible urban planning, its diversity, and convenience of public transport allows their residents to travel throughout the country,  as Mayor of Bogota, Colombia believes that " An advanced city is not a place where poor move about in cars, rather, it is where even the rich uses public transportation. 

Resource 

http://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2014/sep/16/kuala-lumpur-a-city-in-traffic-gridlock-striving-for-sustainability

http://malaysiaretailnews.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/the-star-towards-sustainable-transport.html