EARTH DAY - 22 APRIL 2008

Earth Day was started in 1970 by a man named John Mc Connell. It was originally held on the annual celebration of the March Equinox and still is by many people. On April 22, 1970, 20 million people across America celebrated the first Earth Day. It was a time when cities were buried under their own smog and polluted rivers caught fire. Now Earth Day is celebrated annually around the globe. Through the combined efforts of the U.S. government, grassroots organizations, and citizens like you, what started as a day of national environmental recognition has evolved into a world-wide campaign to protect our global environment. However, now it is generally celebrated on April 22nd worldwide.Earth Day is a day to celebrate our Mother the Earth, this planet of ours that is unique certainly in our solar system and probably rare in our galaxy and universe, in that it can sustain life. It is a day to say a special thankyou to Nature by doing something nice for her.

SOCIOLOGY + ANTHROPOLOGY + GEOGRAPHY = URBAN PLANNING ?

I have been taught a subject on TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING for 7 years in my first and master degree. I am working as a Town Planner for more than 16 years in private and public sector. In my personal view, urban or town planning is only related to physical and land use planning. However indirectly, social, economy and environment sector are also relevant to urban planning . Now I am studying in a School of Social, Development and Environmental Studies of UKM to pursue my PHD. In order to gain more knowledge and assist my thesis writing, I read a lot of books on sociology, anthropology and urban geography. Prior to my discussion with Dr Hamzah and Dr Juneinah, I think these three subjects are related to Urban Planning. Below is my conclusion and understanding how SOCIOLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY , GEOGRAPHY ARE RELATED TO URBAN PLANNING.

SOCIAL SCIENCES

Firstly, lets take a look the SOCIAL SCIENCE aspect before we go in depth the above topic. The social sciences are a group of academic disciplines that study human aspects of the world. They differ from the arts and humanities in that the social sciences tend to emphasize the use of the scientific method in the study of humanity, including quantitative and qualitative methods.The social sciences, in studying subjective, inter-subjective and objective or structural aspects of society, are traditionally referred to as soft sciences. This is in contrast to hard sciences, such as the natural sciences, which may focus exclusively on objective aspects of nature. Nowadays, however, according to proponents of this view, the distinction between the hard sciences and many of the so-called soft sciences is blurred. Currently, it is a matter of fact that some social science subfields have become very quantitative in methodology. Conversely, the interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary nature of scientific inquiry into human behavior and social and environmental factors affecting it have made many of the so-called hard sciences interested on some aspects of social science methodology.

SOCIOLOGY

Sociology is the scientific or systematic study of society, including patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and culture. Areas studied in sociology can range from the analysis of brief contacts between anonymous individuals on the street to the study of global social interaction. Numerous fields within the discipline concentrate on how and why people are organized in society, either as individuals or as members of associations, groups, and institutions. Sociology is considered a branch of social science.

Urban sociology is the sociological study of social life and human interaction in metropolitan areas. It is a normative discipline of sociology seeking to study the structures, processes, changes and problems of an urban area and by doing so providing inputs for planning and policy making. Like most areas of sociology, urban sociologists use statisticial analysis, observation, social theory, interviews, and other methods to study a range of topics, including migration and demographic trends, economics, poverty, race relations, economic trends, and etc

ANTHROPOLOGY

Anthropology consists of the study of humankind, Central to anthropology is the concept of culture and society, and that our species has evolved a universal capacity to conceive of the world symbolically, to teach and learn such symbols socially, and to transform the world (and ourselves) based on such symbols.

Urban anthropology is a branch of anthropology that focuses on cultural and social processes in urban areas. The cultural systems of cities as well as the linkages of cities to larger and smaller places and populations as part of the world-wide urban system.

GEOGRAPHY

Geography is defined as the discipline that describes and analyses the variable character, from place to place, of the Earth as the home of human society. As such, geography is an integrating discipline, studying many aspects of the physical and cultural environment that are significant to understanding the character of areas or the spatial organziation of the world. Geography provides a basis for understanding the world in which we live. Geography is also the study of the past and its features, inhabitants, and phenomena. Nonetheless, modern geography is an all-encompassing discipline that foremost seeks to understand the world and all of its human and natural complexities-- not merely where objects are, but how they have changed and come to be.

Human geography is a branch of geography that focuses on the study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction with the environment, with particular reference to the causes and consequences of the spatial distribution of human activity on the Earth's surface.

Urban geography is the study of urban areas. That is the study of areas which have a high concentration of buildings and infrastructure. These are areas where the majority of economic activities are in the secondary sector and tertiary sectors. They probably have a high population density. It can be considered a part of the larger field of human geography. However, it can often overlap with other fields such as anthropology and sociology. Urban geographers seek to understand how factors interact over space, what function they serve and their interrelationships. Urban geographers also look at the development of settlements. Therefore, it involves planning city expansion and improvements. Urban geography, then, attempts to account for the human and environmental impacts of the change. Urban geography differs from urban studies where it focuses on the city in the context of space throughout countries and continents

URBAN, CITY, OR TOWN PLANNING

Urban Planning is the discipline of land use planning which explores a very wide range of aspects of the built and social environments of urbanised municipalities and communities. Urban planning can be described as a technical and political process concerned with the welfare of people, control of the use of land, design of the urban environment including transportation and communication networks, and protection and enhancement of the natural environment. Town and Country Planning is the land use planning system by which governments seeks to maintain a balance between economic development and environmental quality. Another key role of urban planning is urban renewal, and re-generation of inner cities by adapting urban planning methods to existing cities suffering from long-term infrastructural decay.

THEREFORE, I REALLY APPRECIATE AND PASSIONATE URBAN AND COUNTRY PLANNING MORE THAN BEFORE. SOCIOLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY ACTUALLY PLAY SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN HUMAN ACTIVITIES AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT FOR THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE. THROUGH THIS LEARNING AND PHD PROCESS, I HOPE AND WILL GAIN MORE KNOWLDEGE ABOUT HUMAN WELL BEING IN THE CONTEXT OF SOCIAL, NATURE, ECONOMIC AND PHYSICAL.

References

· Wallace, Ruth A. & Alison Wolf. 1995. Contemporary Sociological Theory: Continuing the Classical Tradition, 4th ed., Prentice-Hall
· Wallerstein, Immanuel. (2003) "Anthropology, sociology, and other dubious disciplines." Current Anthropology
· Sydel Silverman Introduction Current Anthropology, Vol. 33, No. 1, Supplement: Inquiry and Debate in the Human Sciences: Contributions from Current Anthropology, 1960-1990 (Feb., 1992)
· Wheeler, Stephen (1998). "Planning Sustainable and Livable Cities", Routledge; 3rd edition
· The City is the Frontier, Charles Abrams, Harper & Row Publishing, New York, 1965.

THE THEORY OF NETWORK SOCIETY

On 4 April 2008 lecture on Globalization and Development by Assoc Prof Dr Hamzah Jusoh of National University of Malaysia (UKM) had mentioned about Manuel Castells and The Network Society. He explained how a network society is a society where the key social structures and activities are organized around electronically processed information networks.The network society goes further than the information society that is often proclaimed. Castells argues that it is not purely the technology that defines modern societies, but also cultural, economical and political factors that make up the network society. Influences such as religion, cultural upbringing, political organizations, and social status all shape the network society. Societies are shaped by these factors in many ways. Below is my summary preliminary study and findings about MANUEL CASTELLS :THE THEORY OF NETWORK SOCIETY.

INTRODUCTION
Information has been a central theme in 21st century research, just as capital was in the 20th century. It is frequently said that society is now living in an information age, which has provided various information technologies (i.e. the internet and cellular phones). However the "information age" has not been clearly defined. Although many define the current economy as an information economy, there is still no universally accepted definition to refer to the current society. Currently, over thirty different labels for referring to contemporary society are used in academic fields and casual conversation (Alvarez & Kilbourn, 2002). Some of these labels include: information society, global village, digital society, wired society, post-industrial society, and network society. Some of the terms describe the same phenomena, while others do not.

WHO IS MANUEL CASTELLS?

Manuel Castells was born in Spain in 1942 and grew up in Valencia and Barcelona. He studied law and economics at the Universities of Barcelona and Paris. He received a doctorate in sociology and a doctorate in human sciences from the University of Paris-Sorbonne. He moved to the United States in 1979. Among the numerous scholars trying to define this new society, he is the most foremost and unique, in terms of at least two aspects:

a. He is an incredibly prolific and energetic theorist on the subject of the information age. He has written over twenty books, published over one hundred academic journal articles, and co-authored over fifteen books. He is currently a professor of Sociology and City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley. He has also served on many national and international organizations such as: the Advisory Council to the United Nations Task Force on Information and Communication Technology, the International Advisory Council to the President of South Africa on Information Technology and Development, the United Nations Secretary General's High Level Panel on Global Civil Society and the United Nations, and UNESCO.

b. His critical viewpoint toward networks and the information economy has made him more unique than other information economists and sociologists. Castells is distinguishable from “the Utopians who have taken over the information society camp” (Duff, 1998, p. 375), since he believes that the dark side of a new economy is embedded in the intrinsic characteristics of new technologies. Thus, Castells maintains a deterministic view of technology, whereas the Utopians regard information technologies as instruments for human evolution.

THEORY OF THE NETWORK SOCIETY

Manuel Castells’s theory of the network society has a unique place among the many attempts by social scientists to come to terms with the contemporary dynamics transforming the fabric of everyday life around the globe. It provides the single most comprehensive framework through which to connect, in an integrated analysis, very diverse phenomena, from the globalization of production to the renewal of democracy at the local level. This makes it the lone contender as the grand narrative of the present, signaling the return of sociological macrotheory after years of postmodern pessimism about the possibility, or even desirability, of such a project.

It brings to a close three decades of research on the “postindustrial” or “information society,” two concepts which, as Castells convincingly argues, are inadequate to frame the present. In their place, the theory of the network society opens up new perspectives on a world reconstituting itself around a series of networks strung around the globe on the basis of advanced communication technologies. Indeed, networks, as the name indicates, are what the theory is all about. Its central claim is that in all sectors of society we are witnessing a transformation in how their constitutive processes are organized, a shift from hierarchies to networks. This transformation is as much an organizational as a cultural question. There is a deep relationship between how social processes are organized and the values they embody. An uneasy adaptation of the structural and cultural logic embedded in a myriad of projects, each reflecting imperfectly the particular agendas of its members, is what drives the evolution of the network society.

SPACE OF FLOWS

Traditionally we find a prevalent idea of space being a passive form, while time is considered a separate and active entity. Castells makes the argument that space should not be disconnected from time. He asserts that space is a dynamic entity related to time, and rejects the concept that it will disappear as to create a global city. Space is defined by this idea as "the material support of time-sharing social practices". He goes on to define the space of flows as "the material organization of time-sharing social practices that work through flows" The concepts of the “space of flows” and, somewhat less developed but equally consequential, “timeless time.” Space and time are the foundations of all aspects of social life, and the analysis of their transformations goes a long way toward unifying the theoretical framework. Despite the structural dominance of flows, places do not become obsolete as long as people have bodies as we know them.

Rather, the space of flows and the space of places interact, transforming cities and creating entirely new urban agglomerations, the metropolitan regions. This interaction is at the core of the new, nonlinear character of (urban) geography and the fragmented character of contemporary societies held together less by physical contiguity than by informational networks.

CONCLUSION

Manuel Castells argues that the technological revolution that began in the late 70s in Silicon Valley has had a profound impact on all aspects of society. The changes, he argues are most apparent in the new relationships between the economy, state and society that have been formed. He suggests that an increase in the flexibility of management, a decentralization of production and an increased reliance on networking has caused many of the immediate changes taking place. Castells suggests that it is through the decline in the labor movement and the devaluing of the laborers that capital has become an increasingly powerful network. This, he suggests has caused networks such as labor, criminal or mafia groups, and financial markets to be realized on a global rather than local scale. By looking at how new relationships and identities are being conceived of in what he calls the informational age, Castells is able to theorize about the ways in which technology and information have will continue to transform society.

Through the globalization of the production and consumption of goods, the energies going into the process have become decentralized and fragmented. This is what Castells suggests is a major factor in the uneven development of differing regions. Since productivity and development depend on symbolic communication, information processing and a technological skill, information and technology become the crucial factors in a developed society. From this, he is able to suggest that the new mode of development is informational. Rather than conforming post-industrialism as a way to describe the current period, Castells argues for what he calls informationalism. He suggests rather than being concerned with economic growth or marketing output as the industrialism was, the informationalism era is primarily concerned with technological development. Increased technological development is clearly expected to take place via increased knowledge.

Castells argues that the government or state is one of the primary motivators of technological progress. He uses Russia as an example of how stasis can cause a lack of technological development and therefore a lack of overall development. He suggests that during the 1980s, capitalism went through a restructuring that produced what he calls, "informational capitalism". He shows how the new capitalism has moved beyond the boundaries and space and time to incorporate a global economy based on technology and knowledge.

SOURCES

· The Network Society: A Cross-Cultural Perspective by Manuel Castells,Cheltenham, UK; Northampton, MA, Edward Edgar (2004), (editor and co-author)
· The Network Society: From Knowledge to Policy. Center for Transatlantic Relations by by Manuel Castells (2006) (co-editor)
· The Rise of the Network Society, The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, by by Manuel Castells Vol. I. Cambridge, MA; Oxford, UK: Blackwell (1996) (second edition, 2000)

ECONOMIC CORRIDORS OF PENINSULAR MALAYSIA

On 4 April 2008 I have a great opportunity to attend half day seminar on Economic Corridors of Peninsular Malaysia organised by MALAYSIAN INSTITUTE OF PLANNERS (MIP) at Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre. In 2007, we have witnessed the birth of 3 corridor development master plans in Peninsular Malaysia i.e Iskandar Development Region (IRDA), Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) and East Corridor Economic Region (ECER). The master plans are long term plans and are aimed to unleashed the economic potential of the corridors and enhances the people's quality of life and their income level.

This was partly the resultant of the identification of growth conurbations in the National Physical Plan and the call for a more balanced development growth in the country. All three corridors of the Peninsular Malaysia will bring about great change to development and allocation of funds and budget is based on these master plans projects. This seminar have explored and udpated planners in its current progress. 3 main speakers involved in this seminar are :

a. Encik Ismail Ibrahim from IRDA with the topic of "The Comprehensive Development Plan of Iskandar Development Region" have explained that aims of IRD to be a sustainable region of international standard. The beacon of new growth, IDR will spur economic developments that actuate Malaysia's global potential. Recognising the need for sustainable development, social and environmental issues features heavily on its agenda. IDR's commitment to these causes are evident in its manifestation within the IDR Masterplan.IDR is the ideal place to do business within the Johor-Singapore-Indonesia (JSI) Triangle. It offers state-of-the-art physical infrastructure and a world-class business environment like excellent logistical facilities, cyber cities, and central business administration. South Johor as a whole complements Singapore's growth strategy with an environment that provides an alternative "quality of life" that is not readily available in the Island State.

b. Y Bhg Dato' Jebasingam Issace John from ECER with the topic of East Coast Economic Region Master Plan had explained that ECER is covering the states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and the district of Mersing in Johor, is set to become Malaysia's latest and most exciting region offering diverse business opportunities to potential investors.Located strategically in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, the ECER is well placed to become a major trade and industrial gateway, offering investors access to the vast, burgeoning markets of the Asia Pacific region and beyond, encompassing a vibrant market of about two billion people. The main objective of the ECER Master Plan is to accelerate the growth of the East Coast Economic Region in a viable, equitable and sustainable manner. This is undertaken via programmes and projects to raise incomes and reduce poverty by expanding employment prospects through the introduction of high impact, catalytic projects to spur development in the region

c. Encik Azli Razali from NCER with the topic of Northern Corridor Economic Region Master Plan had explained thatNCER development programme is a Government initiative to accelerate economic growth and elevate income levels in the north of Peninsular Malaysia – encompassing the states of Perlis, Kedah, Pulau Pinang and the north of Perak. The NCER initiative will span from 2007 to the end of the 12th Malaysia Plan period, i.e. 2025.There are a number of objectives behind the NCER initiative. Firstly, the programme is part of the Government’s commitment to helping the Region maximise its economic potential and closing the development and income gap between the different regions in Malaysia. Secondly, the Malaysian economy aims to move towards higher value-add and knowledge-based economic activities to drive further increases in per capita income. The NCER has the potential to make Malaysia a regional leader in a number of these sub-sectors.

The overall theme for the Northern Corridor initiative is “increasing value add from existing industries”, emphasising transformation and expansion of the agricultural, manufacturing, tourism and logistics sectors in the Region. The North, already the rice bowl of the country, has the potential to be at the forefront of the transformation of Malaysia’s agricultural sector, embracing commercial-scale farming and the latest technologies to become a modernised food zone, increasing exports of premium fresh and processed agricultural products and helping Malaysia to meet its food self-sufficiency objectives in staple foods such as rice. Already a home to one of the most important sectors of the economy – namely the electrical & electronics (E&E) sector – the NCER initiative will seek to accelerate the sector’s move towards higher value-add activities such as design and R&D.

Key tourism assets such as Langkawi and Pulau Pinang will be enhanced to attract higher-yielding tourists, thereby increasing per capita tourist spending and the size of the tourism industry in the Region. Together with the strengthening of existing sectors namely agriculture, manufacturing and tourism, the NCER initiative will also seek to develop new industries in the Region, such as the cultivation of new commercial crops and the promotion of downstream activities in the agricultural sector, the promotion of new manufacturing activities such as biotechnology, sustainable materials and oil and gas, and the leveraging of the NCER’s well-established transport infrastructure and geographical proximity to Thailand and Sumatera to become the processing, logistics and trade centre for the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT).

QUESTIONS

a. How are them these plans incorporated into Federal Department of Town and Country Planning (FDTCP) of Peninsular Malaysia's Development Plan system?

b. What is the legal status of these Master Plan?

c. Who is the custodian of these Master Plans?

d. Will they create competing markets?

e. Are these plans competing or complementing each other?

f. Will they boost Malaysia economy for next 10-15 years?

g. Will Penang and Johore Bahru are globalization cities for the next 10 years?

h. The 3 economic corridors will provide international standard of facilities and infrastructures to attract foreign investors... Will our local authorities and cities (which fall in the economic corridors) are more efficient?

The ironics about this seminar are :

a. 2 of the paper presenter are FDTCP senior town planner officers (Encik Ismail Ibrahim and Y Bhg Dato' Jebasingam Issace John) - I am so pround for both of you. I can see you so passionate of your job thats why you can deliver your paper and anwer the questions so confident.

b. These 3 economic corridors are sitting in one place and try to 'talk and communicate each other'- I hope they do not competing but complementing each other.

Thank you MIP for organising this seminar and 3 papers presented will assist my research. I hope MIP will organise a Seminar on Sabah and Sarawak Economic Corridors.

SHOULD RESEARCH QUESTION IS RELEVANT AND CLEAR?

The Research Question Should Be Relevant

Questions that clearly demonstrate their relevance to society, a social group, or scholarly literature and debates are likely to be given more weight by reviewers. Of course the relevance of a research question, not to mention the question of who finds it relevant, will vary widely according to the funding source. As a general rule, research is more likely to be funded if it is seen as part of a larger intellectual project or line of inquiry, not just a way for the researcher to get a degree. Below are two common ways to demonstrate this in your proposal.

Fill in the missing piece. If your proposal can lay out a given field or dilemma and then point to a specific portion that is missing in that field or dilemma -- a gap which will be filled by the answer to your research question -- your research is likely to garner a great deal of support. Reviewers will note its importance and recognize its relevance to a larger community of researchers.

Make connections. Even if you are working on a narrow topic or in a specific place, ask questions that help relate the research to broader trends, patterns, and contexts. Doing this will help show how funding a seemingly distinct research project helps fuel larger debates. For example, show how someone working in a small town in Outer Mongolia will help understand the broader process of post-Soviet economic transformations.

The Research Question Should Be Clear

Clear questions tend to be short, conceptually straightforward, and jargon-free. This does not mean they have to be overly simplistic; but save your theoretical gymnastics and abstract disciplinary language for the analysis. Work to keep your questions as lucid and simple as possible. This may be easier in some cases than in others, but some of the strongest and most theoretically sophisticated proposals we reviewed were framed by some of the simplest, most straightforward research questions. In contrast, the most complicated questions tended to appear in proposals where the researcher seemed more interested in demonstrating his/her theoretical knowledge than in engaging the research itself. Below are simple ways to keep your question clear.

Ground the questions. Keep your questions close to the topic or place you are researching. Questions that are too abstract or obtuse make it difficult for the reader to determine your question's relevance and intent. You must still link your question to a larger context, but ground that connection in temporal and spatial specifics.

Limit variables. If a question is burdened with too many variables or too many clauses it becomes both difficult to read and difficult to research. Here are two contrasting examples from the SSRC web site: a question like "Was the decline of population growth in Brazil the result of government policies?" is much easier to understand than "Was the decline in population growth in Brazil related more to sex education, the distribution of birth control, or resource depletion?" You may talk about all these factors in your proposal, but the first question allows the reader to focus on the central aspect of your research rather than the variables surrounding it.

The Research Question Should Be Researchable

Research questions need to be clearly "doable." One of the most common rationales for rejecting proposals is that the question is simply too expansive (or expensive) to be carried out by the applicant. There are many questions that you will need to ask yourself to avoid this pitfall. Above all else, consider your limitations. Many very practical questions need to be considered when choosing your research question. First among them is: How long will the research take to carry out? Next, do you have the appropriate background to carry out the research? Are there ethical constraints? Is the project likely to be approved by your advisor and your university's committee for the protection of human subjects? Can you obtain the cooperation from all the necessary individuals, communities and institutions you need to answer the question you have asked? Are the costs of conducting the research more than you will be likely to raise? If I can't complete this project well, can I break it down and address the most important component? Remember that writing a research question is an iterative process and such concerns need to be carefully considered in your research design and budget.

source : University of California, Institute of International Studies