MAQASID AL-SHARI’AH AND MALAYSIAN URBAN-RURAL NATIONAL INDICATORS NETWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (MURNInets).

1.		What do you understand about MAQASID AL-SHARI’AH (MAS)-Objectives/Purposes of Islamic Law; in Town Planning and Architecture works?
		The Maqasid Al-Shari’ah’s (MAS) key objective is to achieve welfare and social justice for the Muslim ummah. It concerns the preservation of five (5) key components comprising of (i) faith, (ii) self, (iii) intellect, (iv) lineage, and (v) property. In the context of Malaysia, the Government’s effort to embrace MAS in its policies and actions has been obvious and rigorous, the latest effort being the introduction of the Malaysian Shari’ah Index. “We measure and review whether the policies and programmes set by the government through the ministries and related agencies met the requirements of MAS itself” (Prime Minister, February 10, 2015, BERNAMA)
		In the urban planning or built environment,  MAS may be viewed through the presence of a strong relationship between the terms din (religion) and madinah (city). Din refers to a way of life encompassing all practices of Man’s submission to Allah, the Creator, and his/her interactions with other human beings and with the environment. Madinah refers to a place wherein those practices and interactions are being carried out. The most significant event that is thought to illustrate the strong relationship between MAS and urban planning is the Prophet S.A.W’s migration from Makkah to Madinah.
		In addition, the Prophet S.A.W. immediately laid the foundation for the establishment of a masjid and that during his time a masjid functioned beyond that of a place for worship. A masjid and its vicinity saw other activities of the community taking place including administration, business, social activities, learning, etc.
2.		Do you think that MAS is important in creating Liveable Cities and Quality of Life in Cities?
		Yes MAS is important in creating Liveable Cities and Quality of Life in Cities.   Livability is defined as “quality of life” as experienced by the residents within the city or region. Therefore, the livability and quality of life is more subjective and intangible, as people perceive many different things when they speak of quality of living. Hence, it is crucial to explore the concept of livable city from the western viewpoint and Islamic viewpoint. In addition, it is also important to discover the criteria or factors of livability which are consistent with MAS to give a clear picture of livable city in Islam.
3.		Out of the 5 core jurisdictions of MAS (the protection of Religion, Life, Intellect, Lineage and Wealth), as a professional, which one /ones is/are most important, you think? Why?
		The protection of Religion is most important because as a professional then the duty to put the interest of religion in the top. All things that destruct the religion should be avoided. Deviation of faith should be tackled. In charge of religious leaders would be a fair and integrity, will not allow anything happen that will damage the morality. Those who are not religious are weak character and lose the spirit of patriotism and national identity, and not impossible mortgaging national interests for the sake of fulfilling their own desires. But remember in keeping the religion, many challenges need to be overcome such as thought of pluralism, liberalism, LGBT and others.
4.		What do you think about the Most Liveable Cities Ranking? For example Melbourne and Singapore?
		As an urban planner, I am much more interested in what it is like to live in a city and how urban life compares in different parts of the world. The three rankings I look at here are the Liveability Ranking by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Mercer’s Quality of Living Ranking and Monocle Magazine’s Quality of Life Survey. For what I can tell, these are the only rankings looking at how liveable our cities are. One such town is Melbourne, which has been ranked the world’s most liveable city by the Economist since 2011. It is really interesting to see that it covers thirty indicators in five categories weighted as follows: stability (25%), healthcare (20%), culture and environment (25%), education (10%) and infrastructure (20%). One criticism of the ranking is that it does not take into consideration the cost of living in the cities, even though, ironically, the EIU produces a worldwide cost of living survey.
5.		In your opinion, contemporary needs of man and its society should encompass also Justice (Human Rights) and Harmony?
		Functionally, “justice” is a set of universal principles which guide people in judging what is right and what is wrong, no matter what culture and society they live in. Justice is one of the four “cardinal virtues” of classical moral philosophy, along with courage, temperance (self-control) and prudence (efficiency). (Faith, hope and charity are considered to be the three “religious” virtues.) Virtues or “good habits” help individuals to develop fully their human potentials, thus enabling them to serve their own self-interests as well as work in harmony with others for their common good. The ultimate purpose of all the virtues is to elevate the dignity and sovereignty of the human person.
		Social justice is the virtue which guides us in creating those organized human interactions we call institutions. In turn, social institutions, when justly organized, provide us with access to what is good for the person, both individually and in our associations with others. Social justice also imposes on each of us a personal responsibility to work with others to design and continually perfect our institutions as tools for personal and social development.
6.		To protect man’s overall Life System, MAS should be incorporated in Town Planning and Architecture?
		Yes definitely, MAS should be incorporated in Town Planning and Architecture
7.		What do you think about MURNInets? What about the Happiness Index in MURNInets?
		MURNInets
		Federal Department of Town and Country Planning (FDTCP)  being the a focal point for Sustainable Development Indicators for Local Authorities through MALAYSIAN URBAN-RURAL NATIONAL INDICATORS NETWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (MURNInets). This is in line with the Department’s vision to be a “Leader in Town and Country Planning towards achieving a Quality and Sustainable Living Environment by 2020.
		The evaluation of towns and cities performance towards achieving  sustainable development and wellbeing of the people can be done through the implementation of MURNInets which uses a set of indicators that reflects their sustainability level through MURNInets. Its give a better reflection on the progress towards sustainable development in Malaysia. The role of local authorities is seen as crucial in planning for sustainability with a bottom up mechanism for support of the local authorities to ensure strategic plans; development control and enforcement are incoherent with the sustainability objectives. MURNInets can be monitored using the developed indices in a wider sense in terms of urban development and work as a guideline for urban managers towards sustainable cities.
		MURNInets include 36 sets of compulsory indicators grouped under 21 themes under 6 dimensions. Most of the targets and standards for the selected indicators were adjusted according to hierarchy of local authorities. Based on SDG, 6 dimensions have been identified from which the 36 indicators have been derived. These dimensions are Competitive Economy, Environmental Quality, Sustainable Community, Optimum Use of Land & Natural Resources Efficient Transportation & Infrastructure and Effective Governance. The assessment of a sustainable city is always related to the selection of sustainable development indicators with a set of indicators to develop a sustainability index.
		MURNInets shall give a better reflection on the progress towards sustainable development in Malaysia. MURNInets can be monitored using the developed indices in a wider sense in terms of urban development and work as a guideline for urban managers working towards attaining and maintaining sustainable cities. MURNInets has been recognised as a very important tool to measure sustainability of towns and cities in the country by the National Physical Planning Council  (NPPC) which is the highest authority on physical planning in Malaysia which is chaired by the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
		Happiness Index in MURNInets
		Happiness index is an indicator introduced under the quality of life theme to meet the current development trend that emphasises on the well-being of communities. A good physical environment provides the foundation for a well-ordered city conditions, that can cater for the physical and economic needs of the people. However such provision may not necessarily ensure a city is spiritually or socially sustainable. Most people tend to associate happiness with feeling good, that is, with a life that offers a variety of pleasures and comforts. Some tend to associate happiness with being able to do whatever they want to do, still others associate it with achieving everything they have set out to achieve in life. And such definitions of happiness could not be captured through quantitative measure of physical and environmental indicators. Hence the need for a qualitative procedure or method to derive at the Happiness Index as an indicator of Happiness level of the community to be included in the overall framework of MURNInets. Happiness Index Study is a primary data collection - survey carried out jointly between local authorities and residents. The aspects taken into account are the relationship of the individual with family, neighbourhood and environmental atmosphere, the interaction between people, the safety of the population, the level of health facilities and the level of local authority services in his/her respective areas.

MARKET RESEARCH ARTICLE REVIEW ON SPATIAL ECONOMICS: THE DECLINING COST OF DISTANCE BY BAIN AND COMPANY (2016)

SPATIAL ECONOMICS: THE DECLINING COST OF DISTANCE

SPATIAL ECONOMIC 

Producers and buyers are dispersed in space, and overcoming the distances between them can be costly. Much commercial activity is concerned with “space bridging,” and much entrepreneurship aimed at making good use of locational opportunities and cutting the costs of transport and communication. Spatial economics is the study of how space (distance) affects economic behaviour. Throughout history, transport costs have hampered specialization, and improvements in transport and communications have been among the main driving forces of economic progress. In medieval Europe and China, most ordinary people never moved farther than twenty miles from their birthplaces, and before the advent of book printing, most people knew very little about what happened beyond those narrow horizons. Firms that depended on heavy inputs, such as steel makers, used to locate near the source of major inputs—coal mines, in particular. By contrast, firms that interacted intensively and frequently with customers tended to locate near the demand. Thus, gasoline stations are still found near busy intersections.

Spatial economics deals with what is where, and why. The “what” refers to every type of economic entity, i.e., production establishments, other kinds of businesses, households, and public and private institutions. “Where” refers basically to location in relation to other economic activity, i.e., to questions of proximity, concentration, dispersion, and similarity or disparity of spatial patterns. The “where” can be defined in broad terms such as regions or metropolitan areas, or in micro-geographic terms such as zones, neighbourhoods, or sites. The “why” refers to explanations within the somewhat elastic limits of the economist‘s competence. Location theory describes this kind of analysis when the emphasis is upon alternative locations for specified kinds of activities, such as industry. Regional analysis is concerned with groupings of interrelated economic activities in proximity, within specified areas or types of areas; and the theory of interregional trade refers to the economic relationships between such areas. 

The cost of distance is highly impacting both business and personal decisions. For example, it is one of the considerations companies are taking into account when deciding on the location of their production site(s). According to Bain research, the cost of distance will decrease sharply within the next decades whereas the majority of the companies have not yet thought about the implications for their business. On the other hand, it is also an important factor for families deciding where to live (e.g. proximity of the company they work for). The article gives a very clear overview on the main catalysts driving the drop in cost of distance and can be summarized as follows: 

 1) High-speed connectivity will increase productivity of working at a distance (think about the cloud-based collaboration) 

 2) The cost of physical transport will drop. New technologies, such as autonomous vehicles and drones will improve transportation efficiency 

 3) Increasing efficiency in small-scale production. Increased automation in the production process (robotics, 3-D printing,..) will decrease labor cost, lowering the number of households to be served to break even 

URBAN PLANNING THEORY AND SPATIAL ECONOMIC 

Many urban planners believe that population densities can be fixed by design as cities expand. Many urban development plans aim at compact cities growth. However, compact cities are possible only with very high land prices produced by constraints on land supply. My view that the spatial distribution of land prices and densities are closely correlated and that they follow a predictable pattern produced by market forces. By using models developed by economists, planners could better understand both the pattern of densities in existing cities and how these densities are likely to respond to changes in size of population, households’ income, and transportation speed and cost. 

Concerns for an over-consumption of land by cities are best addressed by identifying possible distortions in the land market caused by an abusive use of eminent domain that under-prices agricultural land. Setting arbitrary spatial barriers to urban expansion, such as green belts and urban growth boundaries, results in higher land and housing prices. Land prices and population densities are closely related and are produced by market forces. We have also seen that there is no optimum density for urban development and that within the same city densities may vary by order of magnitude from the centre to the periphery. The population density in a particular neighbourhood is determined by trade-offs between households’ desire to consume more land and floor space and the commuting cost in time and money. 

Households with different preferences and incomes make different trade-offs. Some low-income households prefer to reduce drastically their land and floor space consumption in order to reduce commuting costs. Other households with similar income may make different trade-offs. Planners cannot possibly know the reasons that households may have in selecting a specific housing location and land consumption. Therefore, planners should abstain from arbitrarily fixing densities through regulations. Neither should they try to distribute population according to a designed spatial pattern no matter how clever the geometric arrangement appears to be. Planners should use the standard urban model to better understand how markets work in the city they are managing. They can use the model to anticipate the effect of regulations and infrastructure on land prices and rents.

They can plan, finance and build the infrastructure that would increase the supply of land and therefore decrease housing cost. They can design transport systems that decrease commuting time and cost, another way of increasing the supply of land and increasing mobility. They should design transport systems that are consistent with the densities set by the land markets rather than design densities that would make a preselected transport system feasible. In general, fixing minimum consumption for land and floor space through regulations such as minimum plot size, maximum floor area ratio, and maximum number of dwelling unit per hectare introduces rigidities in the market that have negative impacts on poorer households for whom these regulations are binding. Urban planner should therefore, abstain from using these regulatory constraints on minimum land and housing consumption as they hurt the poor the most and trigger the growth of informal markets.

Only after they have a good understanding of how local real estate markets function can planners anticipate future land market values to plan infrastructure networks that will be consistent with anticipated densities. Constant monitoring of land prices and rent could provide planners with feedback that could help them amend their infrastructure plans if their projection appears to diverge from reality. Unaffordable housing is a plague affecting many large cities. Monitoring the ratio between median income and median housing price allows us to constantly measure housing affordability. When the price to income ratio becomes higher than 4, planners should take immediate action. This action could be to increase land supply through new infrastructure development or to audit land use regulations and building permit practices that may make developed land and housing prices abnormally high.  

Urban planners should be held responsible for unaffordable high price/income ratios in the same way that public health officials are held responsible for infectious disease epidemics, or police are held responsible for high crime. The standard urban model is a very crude instrument that provides an understanding of the basic movement of land prices and rent when income, transport costs, and land supply change over time. Planners could design more complex models to anticipate price movements or commuting patterns in cities with specific constraints, in particular topographical constraints like bodies of water or steep mountains. However, no infrastructure or regulatory design decision should be taken without accounting for its impact on the land market.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND MALAYSIAN URBAN-RURAL NATIONAL INDICATORS NETWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (MURNInets)

1.	What is the state of awareness of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in government? (national and local policy, as well as any institutional re-structuring in response to SDGs)
	Malaysia has manifested her strong support in promoting Sustainable Development Agenda since the idea was first mooted in early eighties through the Brundtland Report in1987. Malaysia recognized the importance of protecting the environment through spatial development mechanism i.e. through sustainable use of land or natural resources. The Town and Country Planning Act was drafted and endorsed in1976 in the Parliament and is being used to regulate land use activities in the country.
	Malaysia has pledged her commitment to implement Sustainable Development Agenda through the Rio +5 in 1992. This has resulted in the formation of the National Environmental Policy that gives emphasis on the importance of environmental consideration in related plans policies and programmes. Malaysia is committed to strive for “a balance between economic development, social development and environmental protection as these are interdependent and mutually reinforcing components of sustainable development”.
	Malaysia is on track to achieve most of the sustainable development goals (SDG) in aggregate terms by 2015. At the national level, government commitment to the SDG agenda is reflected in its Eleventh Malaysia Plan (11th MP), 2016–2020, which is the final phase in the journey towards realising vision 2020. 11th MP is a five-year development plan that focuses on nation’s prosperity and the success will be shared among the communities. It focuses on enhancing social inclusion, improving wellbeing, creating a sustainable development and identifying new sources of growth.
	Since  early 2002, many efforts  were carried out  by various  authorities at the federal, state and local levels to foster development growth sustainably, such as introducing  the concept of  a healthy city, liveable city,  harmonious  city  and  many other concepts in  the  planning and development  of  towns and  cities in the country. These concepts that have been carried out incorporate and are interrelated with the sustainable development concept. Here, the development objectives are carried out by having plan that places emphasis on the preservation and conservation of environmental resources without jeopardising the people to meet their social, cultural and spiritual needs as well as their economic needs.
	At the local level, Malaysia is aiming to achieve SDG in its cities. The Federal Department of Town and Country Planning (FDTCP) in its roles as the enabler of SDG has developed and formulated various planning instruments such as development plans, planning guidelines and assessment tools such as Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Sustainability Assessment (SA), Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and Malaysian Urban-Rural National Indicators Network for Sustainable Development (MURNInets). These instruments developed have used various methodologies that incorporate aspects of sustainable development in their preparation and implementation process. FDTCP are the focal point for Sustainable Development Indicators for Local Authorities through MURNInets. This is in line with the Department’s vision to be a “Leader in Town and Country Planning towards achieving a Quality and Sustainable Living Environment by 2020”.
	The evaluation of towns and cities performance towards achieving  sustainable development and wellbeing of the people can be done through the implementation of MURNInets which uses a set of indicators that reflects their sustainability level. It gives a better reflection on the progress towards sustainable development in Malaysia. The role of local authorities is crucial in planning for sustainability to ensure strategic plans; development control and enforcement are coherent with the sustainability objectives.
2.	What will be the priorities for Malaysia?
	FDTCP is committed in applying the concept of SDG and has therefore developed indicators of sustainability that are systematic, comprehensive and continuous. These indicators formulated are categorised and monitored under the MURNInets. MURNInets include 36 sets of compulsory indicators grouped under 21 themes covering 6 dimensions. Most of the targets and standards for the selected indicators were adjusted according to hierarchy of local authorities. Based on SDG, 6 dimensions have been identified from which the 36 indicators have been derived. These dimensions are Competitive Economy, Environmental Quality, Sustainable Community, Optimum Use of Land & Natural Resources, Efficient Transportation & Infrastructure and Effective Governance. The assessment of a sustainable city is always related to the selection of sustainable development indicators with a set of indicators to develop a sustainability index.

The Summary of Dimensions, Themes and Indicators for MURNInets

Dimension	Themes		Indicators
COMPETITIVE ECONOMY	ET1	Economic Growth	ET1-P1	Employment growth rate
	ET2	Poverty	ET2-P1	Urban Poverty Rate
			ET2-P2	Poverty Rate
	ET3	Private Investment	ET3-P1	Growth rate of private investment
SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY	ST1	Environmental Quality	ST1-P1	Cleanliness level of the river
			ST1-P2	Environmental air quality conditions
	ST2	Risk Management	ST2-P1	Percentage of population living in flood prone area
	ST3	Environmental Management	ST3-P1	Percentage of per capita solid waste generation
			ST3-P2	Total programs / environmental campaigns carried out in the local authority area
SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY	KT1	Residential	KT1-P1	Percentage of quality affordable housing units
	KT2	Community and Recreational Facilities	KT2-P1	Percent residential coverage within 400 meters of community facilities
	KT3	Quality of Life	KT3-P1	The ratio of cases relating to public nuisance complaints per 10,000 population
			KT3-P2	The ratio of cases of water and vector borne diseases per 10,000 population
			KT3-P3	Percentage of Grade A food premises
			KT3-P4	Percentage of Grade A public toilets
			KT3-P5	Happiness Index
	KT4	Security	KT4-P1	The ratio of index crimes per 10,000 population
	KT5	Demography	KT5-P1	Dependency Ratio
OPTIMAL USE OF LAND AND AND NATURAL RESOURCES	GT1	Land Use Change	GT1-P1	The rate of change in land use from non-built-up to built-up
	GT2	Urban Development	GT2-P1	The urbanisation rate
			GT2-P2	The ratio of public open space per 1,000 population
			GT2-P3	Unsold residential properties
	GT3	Heritage Conservation and Tourism	GT3-P1	Percentage change in the forest area
			GT3-P2	The number of tourism attractions and recreation centres
EFFICIENT INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSPORTATION	IT1	Efficiency Utility	IT1-P1	The volume of domestic water consumption per capita.
			IT1-P2	Total electricity consumption  (KW) per capita
	IT2	Solid Waste Management	IT2-P1	Percentage of total waste recycled
			IT2-P2	Percentage of domestic solid waste collection on schedule
	IT3	Transportation	IT3-P1	Number of integrated public transport terminals / stations
	IT4	Sewerage Management	IT4-P1	The percentage of homes with centralized sewerage services
EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE	UT1	Delivery System	UT1-P1	Residents' satisfaction level on local authority services
			UT1-P2	Number of community programs implemented by local authority
	UT2	Strengthening Institutions	UT2-P1	Percentage of local authority revenue collection performance
			UT2-P2	Percentage of total maintenance expenditure compared to the overall Local Authority  spending
	UT3	Enforcement And Monitoring	UT3-P1	Percentage of approved planning applications that comply to the development plan / local plan
			UT3-P2	Number of enforcement operations executed accrding to schedule by local authority

The priorities SDGs for Malaysia are:

Goal 1	End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal 3	Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Goal 6	Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Goal 8	Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all
Goal 11	Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable
Goal 15	Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss

3.	What is the practical interpretation of Malaysians, for SDGs?
	Malaysia is now about to embark on its next five-year development plan - the 11th MP, from 2016 to 2020. In many aspects, the plan mirrors the multi-dimensional nature of the SDG, and has been formulated with the people at the centre of all development efforts. Under 11th MP, we are working towards providing equal access to quality healthcare, affordable housing, and will be building many more clinics and hospitals and affordable homes over the next few years. We want safer neighbourhoods and public spaces, and improved education. 11th MP is also determined to be good custodians of our environment so that we preserve our natural resources and beautiful landscape for future generations. Green growth is no longer an option for idealists, but a practical necessity for us and for other governments around the world.
	The progress of sustainable development in Malaysia are better reflected by analyzing the outcome of MURNInets.. MURNInets can be monitored using the indices that are developed in wider sense of urban development  and work as a guideline for urban managers working towards attaining and maintaining sustainable cities. National Physical Planning Council (NPPC) has recognised MURNInets as a very important tool in measuring sustainabilities of towns and cities in the country. The recognition given by NPPC, as the highest authority on physical planning in Malaysia and  chaired by the Prime Minister of Malaysia to MURNInets shows that we place high importance in ensuring smooth path towards sustainable development
4.	Any implications for future international cooperation projects?
	There is no implication for future international cooperation projects to implement SDG in Malaysia. Sustainable development of urban areas requires integration and coordination, including land-use issues, food security, employment creation, transportation infrastructure development, biodiversity conservation, water conservation, renewable energy sourcing, waste and recycling management, and the provision of education, health care and housing.
	Investment in the reduction of waste production and improvement of waste collection and recycling systems is needed in most cities in Malaysia. Providing access to modern energy services is a real challenge to urban authorities in developing countries which often do not have enough capacity to respond, nor the ability to raise the needed long-term financial resources for investment.
5.	Data collection linked to the SDGs is a hot topic currently. How well do you think Malaysian cities are conducting regular data collection?
	I am confident that we are equipped and ready to collect data related to sustainability at cities in Malaysia. Throughout several years, Malaysia has developed a comprehensive website that collects data related to sustainability that can be used by local authorities to monitor their sustainability achievement. In order to implement the SDG in Malaysia, assessment of the sustainability of cities is done through the web site known as the MURNInets Portal. This website has been reviewed thoroughly and improvements were made to enable users such as Local Authorities and Data Providing Agencies, MURNInets National and States Operations Centers and the public to access and view data or obtain information relating to sustainable urban indicators by cities. The main purposes of this portal are:
	a.	To centralise data and information of all participating towns and cities in one database centre;
	b.	To provide easy access for data input by each participating local authority;
	c.	To improve monitoring and management process which involve a large number of cities and towns all over the country;
	d.	To encourage and improve the sharing of information among towns and cities on their performance; and
	e.	To provide public access concerning towns or cities achievement in sustainable development
	The sustainability level of cities will only be computed until all data for each indicators are fully keyed in. The new features of MURNInets Portal. are:
	a.	More structured interface design, easier to access & more user-friendly;
	b.	Applied open source platform (php) that is stable and there is expertise;
	c.	Index generation process is more scientific and ‘analytic’;
	d.	'Mandatory fields' is introduced which requires all local authorities to enter data for all indicators before sustainability index can be generated;
	e.	Entry information is more flexible / easy to maintain; and
	f.	Additional feature for verification of data sources by the state and authority and image display is also included.
	g.	Another important feature of the MURNInets is the ability to extract certain relevant indicators to measure the performance of certain governments  campaign or initiatives such as the 1Malaysian Green and 1Malaysian Clean Campaign.
	So, to reiterate to that, we are confident and well equipped on tools for collecting sustainable data in Malaysia.
6.	Which cities in Malaysia have been most successful at data collection and M&E, and what do you think are their success factors which can be lessons learnt for other ASEAN cities?
	Major cities and local authorities  participation in MURNInets  and data collection since 2007 until 2015 has increased from 47 to 108 out of 151 cities and local authorities in Malaysia. Number of participation are increased concurrent with number of sustainable cities. Example in 2012, 27 cities were achieved sustainable but in 2014 increase to 54 cities. In 2012,  36 local authorities achieved sustainable which  62.50% urban (city & municipal) and  37.50% rural (district). In 2013, 54 local authorities achieved sustainable which - 53.70% urban (city & municipal) and 46.30% rural (district).

	The success factors which can be lessons learnt for other ASEAN cities are:
	a.	MURNInets  is  recognised nationally as  one of the  most  important programs  ever undertaken in the country  to  measure urban sustainability;
	b.	The program enables to track the sustainability status of an urban area whether it has increased, reduced or no changes at all;
	c.	In the context of MURNInets, a sustainable urban area is defined as an area that is capable of sustaining its social, economic and physical development achievements whilst maintaining its excellence in culture and environment.
	d.	A sustainable city are able to provide the basic needs of city inhabitants such as infrastructure, civic amenities, health, housing, transportation, employment, good urban governance and ensure the population needs are met benefiting all sectors of society.
	e.	At the national and state level, MURNInets can function to evaluate city performance, to improve services for the public, the indicators can be made as a basic evaluation to upgrade  an urban areas’s status (district/municipal/city); and
	f.	Urban indicators can be made as a measurement for government to channel investment.