Home > Geospatial Application Papers > Urban Planning > Urban Sprawl
Overview | Urban Sprawl | Fringe Area Development | Urban Agglomeration | Emerging Technologies | Relevant Links



Monitoring The Implementation Of State Development Plan Using GIS: The Case of Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia


The evolution of computer and information over the last few decades provides significant impact on the planning profession. Among the technological advancements, after microcomputer per se, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is perhaps the one that has been most attractive for spatial representation, as geospatial data and technologies apparently enable more effective and efficient operations, improved communications, and, ultimately, better decision-making. With its powerful capacity for spatial data management, analysis and visualisation, GIS systems enable data from wide variety of sources and data formats to be integrated together in a common scheme of geographical referencing, thus providing up-to-date information (Coulson and Bromley, 1990). GIS provides planners and decision makers with new tools to implement their work more efficiently (Yaakup et al., 2005a).

The Malaysian development planning system was refined in line with the amendment of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1976 (Act 172) in year 2001. The amended Act plays a major role in the reform of the development planning system in the sense that it insists the incorporation of the GIS into the development plan preparation process at all planning hierarchy, be it the macro or micro level. As such, GIS technology has long been applied in planning activities, which essentially include plans formulation as well as development control (Johar et al., 2003). The concern of adopting GIS in the development planning process, especially in the preparation of development plans, had encouraged many local/planning authorities to embark on small scale, multi-faceted GIS applications to suit their functions and work procedures (Yaakup et al., 2006).

Town and Country Planning Act, 1976 (Act 172) (amended in 2001) requires the formulation of plans at various spatial and administrative levels to ensure effective planning. The various plans include:

  • The National Physical Plan (RFN), which outlines the strategic policies for the purpose of determining the general direction and trend of the nation physical development.
  • The Regional Plan, which establishes policies to guide and coordinate development for a region especially in the provision of infrastructure and facilities within the region.
  • The State Structure Plan (RSN), which sets out the policies and proposals for the development and use of the land in a state.
  • The District Local Plan (RTD), which translates the state policies at local level.
The strategic policies which set out the national physical trend of development will be translated at the State Structure Plan. The control of development at the local level is tied to the District Local Plan which is the detailed land use plan that incorporates the national as well as the state development policy. For implementation of the long-term plans and in order to achieve the goals and objectives under the long-term perspective, it is necessary to mobilize all sectors in a systematic manner so as to sustain high rate of economic growth and social progress. As for monitoring purpose, the need for vertical integration of the developed and maintained datasets at the federal, state and local levels should be given due consideration. Effective methods of creating, obtaining and distributing information for the purpose of mid-term reviews, which determined policy and implementation issues for further attention during the remaining plan period are imperative.

GIS FOR MONITORING THE STATE DEVELOPMENT PLAN OF NEGERI SEMBILAN
The State Goverment of Negeri Sembilan had taken an early initiative toward the implementation of ICT in its administrative management through the preparation of Negeri Sembilan ICT Strategic Plan in 2003. Among others, the plan identified the operational supports in term of information systems to be implemented by the state government base on priorities for facilitating implementation of projects (MAMPU, 2003).

The State of Negeri Sembilan (665,374.77 hectares) forms the southern part of the greater KL conurbation identified in the National Physical Plan as the main growth engine of the Malaysian economy. It is made up of 7 Districts with 8 Local Authorities namely Majlis Perbandaran Seremban (MPS), Majlis Perbandaran Nilai (MPN), Majlis Perbandaran Port Dickson (MPPD), Majlis Daerah Kuala Pilah (MDKP), Majlis Daerah Tampin (MDT), Majlis Daerah Jelebu (MDJ), Majlis Daerah Rembau (MDR) and Majlis Daerah Jempol (MDJ). Realising the need for a more dynamic development planning management system at the state level, the State Government of Negeri Sembilan decided to develop its own GIS-based planning support system to monitor the implementation of its development plans over time. Integration and coordination of data developed to bridge the gap between state policies and local circumstances is crucial for planning at state level. This would certainly need a common base of information and data which can help coordinate planning and development programmes at the local authorities level (Yaakup et al., 2006).


Figure 1: GIS9 Development Approach


The use of GIS as the major component of a planning support system is crucial as spatial information concerning planning and development needs to be organized and updated frequently. The development of components of GIS for Negeri Sembilan (GIS9) which comprise the database and system integration essentially took into consideration the different functions and roles of the stakeholders involved, namely JPBDNS and other technical departments (Figure 1). As each department or agency applies rather different administrative and management procedures, GIS9 approach for planning at the state level took into account the needs and functions of JPBDNS as well as other technical departments concerned with planning, implementation, maintenance and management of development programmes in Negeri Sembilan. This is to ensure that the developed data can be shared in attempt to strengthen the development planning management system at the state level. Development of GIS9 was approached in three phases to ensure the success of its implementation and future sustainability especially in the aspects of hardware, software and human resources.

Page 2 of 3
| Previous | Next |