Sunday 28 February 2010

POSITIONING KUALA LUMPUR CITY REGION IN THE GLOBAL CITIES NETWORK: ANALYSING MALAYSIAN URBAN GOVERNANCE STRATEGIES IN THE MILLENNIUM ERA

In the age of globalization, it was argued that major cities in the region should be positioned in the global city system, in order for these cities and their immediate regions are effectively developed. As the urban and regional economic prospects increase reliance on the participation in the fast moving international and global economy, cities that are unable to adapt to these globalchanges and requirements would be marginalized. The marginalisation of major cities from the mainstream of global development will affect their progress and in most cases be determined by exogenous forces. At the same time, the emergence of new global economic and informational societies has created a new form of spatial development, the global cities. Such status was achieved only when a city and its region becomes a major center of international finance, transnational corporate headquarters, related high-level and specialized services, information processing and advanced telecommunications, a city with an international command and control functions (Sassen, 1991).

To what extend the above criteria and indicators really described the position of cities in underdeveloped and developing economies? It is the intention of the paper to deal with such a question, with particular reference to the city of Kuala Lumpur. Although Kuala Lumpur has substantially part of the international economy for the past three decades, it was argued that the city exercises little of the global or even regional control functions that world cities proposes. For this reason, the authors argued that Kuala Lumpur and possibly other cities in the rapidly developing economies be positioned in a different setting, and with different criteria and indicators, as compared to the existing global cities. Regional disparity has long been recognized in Malaysian development scenario, particularly between the more-developed western region and the less-developed eastern and northern regions in Peninsular Malaysia.

All the Five Year Malaysia Plans, starting from the Third Malaysia Plan (1976-1980) have placed special emphasis on the objectives and strategies of regional development. However in the decade of nineties, in conjunction with globalisation era, the direction of Malaysian development plans have been changed, towards becoming more competitive in the global economy. To some extend after 30 years, the issue of regional disparity is remains unsolved, and yet new emphasis on global competition has been dominated in development strategies and plans. However, analysing from the current achievement of national development, the position of Kuala Lumpur in the global cities network still unsignificant, reflecting the uneffectiveness of the strategies toward strengthening Malaysian competitivenes in global era.

Malaysian's Development Vision, particularly toward achieving the status of developed country in the year 2020. Affirmative action as a policy response to ethnic riots is a fairly unusual, indeed unfashionable, policy response, partly because inequality and conflict have a complex and much debated relationship. General vertical income inequality, measured as the gap between poor and rich, has not been found to have a statistically significant relationship with the onset of civil unrest or conflict (Collier & Hoeffler, 2000; Fearon & Laitin, 2003). And yet, an accumulating body of evidence suggests that horizontal inequality, inequalities between identity or ascriptive groups on the multiple and inter-related planes of the political, the socio-economic, and the cultural, may be politically explosive (Stewart, 2001).

These links between ethnicity, inequality and conflict among ethnic groups using a multidimensional approach, with a view to identifying those policies which might work in other situations of ethnic conflict. Taking Malaysia as the model for my research, I investigate and measure to what extent inequalities between ascriptive groups have fallen in that country between 1970 and 2000, a period during which various affirmative action policies were applied in fields ranging from education and government employment to business. Horizontal inequality in the key indicator of income is re-assessed. In addition, changes in access by ethnic group to educational opportunities; the distribution of employment by sector and by occupation; urbanisation and housing distribuition; ownership of household assets such as houses and cars; and infant, toddler and maternal mortality rates are all considered individually, while a multi-dimensional index of socio-economic inequality is subsequently constructed for comparison purposes.

Sunday 21 February 2010

CONGRATULATION TO MY FRIENDS WHO ARE HONOURED WITH PHD DEGREE 2009-2010

While I am in Loughborough University, I have met a few Malaysian students who pursue their PhD in the Loughborough University. Last year in 2009, Najib Salleh had completed his PhD. This year I had received a good news that Farrie Akma Othman also completed her PhD. The completion of their journey in discovering a new knowledge had inspired and motivated me to keep going with my research. CONGRATULATION TO DR NAJIB SALLEH AND DR FARRIE AKMA OTHMAN....Thank you to your lovely family and friends for their support and encouragement...

DR FARRIE AKMA OTHMAN






DR NAJIB SALLEH




Friday 19 February 2010

FEBRUARY 2010 - MY THESIS PROGRESS..PROPOSAL CHART


I am now reviewing my chapter 2...literature review. Based on my discussion with my supervisor and lectures in Loughborough University, the content of my literature review should consist the evolution of urban governace from good urban governance to efficient urban governance. This must relate to why efficient urban governance is so importance in the context of globalization issues. Based on my reading , latest journal, the role of city stakeholders in urban governance is so significant. They are actully determine the successful development of the city.According to Harrison (2009) the success of implementation of urban governance in certain states is not just focus to capital city but the whole of city-region of the state. This is due to the role of city-region as command and control function. I must prove that the efficient urban governance has the vital role and colleration to the competitiveness of the city-region.

JANUARY 2010... MY THESIS PROGRESS


MY 3RD YEAR IN UKM - THE END STAGE OF MY THESIS

This year is my last year in UKM. The time is flying so fast and I did not realise that I have been here almost 3 years. I have 10 months to go. Eventhough PhD student under JPA scholarship can extend another 1 year to continue their research, for me I try and hope to finish end of this year. I must push beyond my limit. I have to report back to JPBD on 27 Dec 2010.

With amount of my literature reviews analysis and data survey finding I hope I can complete my PhD on time. My attendance for 3 months attachment programme in Loughborough University really gave a valuable experience how to manage my research. I will use that enhance and organize my thesis preparation. Therefore I reschedule my progress chart and I will inform you all monthly via my blog how my thesis progress. This is my proposal progress chart.


Thursday 4 February 2010

URBAN GOVERNANCE AND DEMOCRACY

Urban governance in most western democracies has seen various forms of public-private concerted actions becoming increasingly important instruments for local governments. These new features of urban governance are often seen as local governments trying to enhance their "capacity to act" by fusing their capabilities with those of other major societal actors. At the same time such transgressions of the border between the public and the private spheres of society make local governments more susceptible to political pressures from those actors. This volume looks at the historical development and present performance of public-private partnerships for local economic development in western Europe and the United States. Local governments in Western Europe have become increasingly involved in network building with the local business community. The author suggests that governance processes are not value neutral but reflect and sustain political values beyond partisan conflict. Comparing managerial, corporatist, progrowth, and welfare governance models of urban governance, the author argues that nation-state factors play an important role in shaping urban governance. Different sectors in urban politics display different models of governance and local political choice matters. Also, cities within the same national context differ significantly with regard to the degree of inclusion of organized interests in urban governance, which, in turn, is reflected in urban policy outcomes.

It remains to be asked how this emergence of urban governance is to be interpreted in terms of democratic legitimacy and accountability. Undoubtedly, governance networks are usually organised in a less hierarchic manner than governments and can be joined by a multitude of different actors much more spontaneously. Yet, this does not automatically render them more democratic. As a matter of fact, urban governance arrangements are usually neither democratically elected nor controlled. Due to their project orientedness and often ephemeral character, these networks are hard to grasp and control for outsiders. Aren’t these features interpretable as a perfect precondition for alarmingly undem ocratic policies thrusting aside governing by government, which – at least to a larger extent – was based on transparency, electoral legitimacy and accountability? In fact, manyscholars have been deeply worried about these developments. They have regarded urban governance networks as the ideal breeding ground for short-term, particularistic and profit-oriented interests. Indeed, these are the main concerns of the authors who fear that European cities run the risk of becoming “Americanised” in the long run. Are these concerns well-founded? Are governance and democracy two contradictory phenomena? At this point, it is helpful to bring to mind the contextual argument again! As the example of the local state debate has shown, we should be careful with universalistic and functionalist conclusions and implications. However, note that asking the question “What kind of effect does a shift from urban government to governance have on the aspect of urban democracy?” clearly does imply these universalistic and functionalist assumptions:

Firstly, it entails that there is a direct causal link between the rise of governance and the issue of urban democracy. Secondly, it suggests we can hope to find a generally and universally applicable answer to this question. In what sense does context matter also for the question of urban governance arrangements? Most importantly, like many other concepts in urban studies the discussion on urban governance has emerged in an Anglo-American context. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was in the United States where public- private partnerships (PPP’s) first came to dominate urban politics.4 Instead of referring to a terminology of “governance”, scholars started to deal with this phenomenon using the labels “urban regimes”, “public private partnerships” and “entrepreneurialism”. Soon it became evident that these non-elected public-private arrangements were chiefly dominated by economic interests such as growth, profit, competitiveness and efficiency (see for example: Kearns and Paddison 2000). When in the 1980s, scholars started to recognize that also in European cities elected officials were about to become increasingly dependent on the collaboration with non-governmental actors, it was widely assumed that also the results can be expected to be very similar to those in the USA. In other words, experiences and theories from America have often been directly imported to Europe.

Seen from a contextual point of view, this does not seem compelling at all. The mere dominance of governance networks in politics does not tell us anything about the modes of governance yet, i.e. about the actors involved, the power constellations among them, the political goals prevailing within these networks as well as the final outcomes. “Governing by governance” does not per se imply or favour any specific normative political goals – it rather is an empty shell to be filled with content first. As a term, it merely describes the trend of a partial destatisation, multiplication and informalisation of the collective actors in charge of political decision making. As a consequence, the point is that the political and social consequences of such a shift from urban government to governance will differ decisively, depending on the context these arrangements are embedded in and confronted with

PEOPLE AROUND ME..FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

PEOPLE AROUND ME..FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
To my Wife, Zulaini, my sons Zulazlan, Zulazman, Zulazmir, Zulazmin dan my daughter, Nuris Zulazlin...I love you all..thank you being with me

CIRCLE OF FRIENDS... KUALA LUMPUR PROJECT OFFICE

CIRCLE OF FRIENDS... KUALA LUMPUR PROJECT OFFICE
Thank you guys...for your support and encouragement

2007 / 2008 METHODOLOGY AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH COURSE FOR PHD CANDIDATES

2007 / 2008 METHODOLOGY AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH COURSE FOR PHD CANDIDATES
My new friends during my course in INTAN 9 Jan -2 Mac 2007

KUALA LUMPUR PROJECT OFFICE, JOURNEY TO MOUNT OF KINABALU SABAH 21-22 JANUARY 2006

KUALA LUMPUR PROJECT OFFICE, JOURNEY TO MOUNT OF KINABALU SABAH 21-22 JANUARY 2006
WE CAME, WE SAW, WE CONQUERED 4095.2 METER ABOVE SEA LEVEL

How are you, guys? Where you are now?

FOOD CLOCK