Malaysia can move away car-centric infrastructure, focus on transit oriented developments – Nik Nazmi

Malaysians love cars. Our car penetration rate is among the highest in Asia, and that’s despite having a decent public transport network. Can we ever move away from cars, or do we even want to?

Minister of natural resources and environmental sustainability Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad believes that Malaysia can have cities that are not car-oriented, focusing instead on the concept of transit-oriented developments (TOD). He says that public transport in the Klang Valley is very good and it’s possible for Malaysia to move away from car-centric infrastructure in cities.

The Setiawangsa MP said that among the measures taken to realise this is the government’s effort in providing easier asses to public transport. He explained that the effort is being taken up by local councils to provide better connectivity from the start point to the destination.

“For example, if we look at London, mayor Sadiq Khan focuses on Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) and the pattern of development in the city changes. In Seoul, many roads have been transformed into parks for city folks. So, Malaysia can also change, but it needs a big push and policy change from the authorities,” he told Astro Awani.

“If awareness can be raised in the community, we can achieve a change in how we develop areas for green sustainability,” he said, adding that such areas will minimise the urban heat island effect, and that will filter pollution and preserve water sources.

Nik Nazmi was previously quoted as saying that the government is committed to achieve nett zero carbon emissions by 2050 and increase renewable energy capacity in power generation from 25% to 70%. All these are in Malaysia’s National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR), which also contains plans for EVs to form 80% of TIV by 2050.

“To achieve this goal, Malaysia needs to carefully balance the energy trilemma to ensure energy that’s sustainable, safe and affordable for the future,” he added.

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