1.

0 Introduction
The concept of sustainable development was developed in the course of numerous
environmental movements in previous decades. Events such as the Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992 were important international conferences for mainstreaming sustainable
development. Sustainable development is about how human decisions affect the planet's
environment. In other words, when people decide how to use the Earth's resources, including
water, forests, minerals, precious stones, wildlife and so forth, they must not only consider how
much they use, what methods they use to obtain these resources and who has access to them.
Rather, they must also consider future generations and whether these resources will be sufficient
for their grandchildren's use. (United Nations, n.d)

The development plan system is one of the planning instruments that are available to
deliver sustainable development. It offers the basis for land use administration which impacts on
everyone. The development plan system additionally consists of a strategy for the further
development of an area. A strategy for the further development of an area which sets out policies
and proposals to guide future development and land use. Themes are not fixed but usually
include themes in the areas of environment, housing, transport and infrastructure, economic
development and retail. The development plan system is concerned with the achievement of a
balance between striking a balance among the environment, the society and the economy.
(Academia, 2011)

Town planning is the procedure of administering land assets. It relates to the

management of both existing and new developments, and the strategic preparation ensuring the
management of future needs. This is a dynamic procedure that will change depending on
policies, development proposals and local needs.(Designing Buildings,2021) A good planning
preserves shoreline and heritage buildings, rejuvenates a place of decline as well as creating a
fresh new atmosphere. It retains the essence of the past and fosters that will enable the towns
and buildings of the future to be able to keep fulfilling our needs. (Linked In, 2016) The
fundamental rules of town planning are laissez faire method, zoning, green belt, housing, public
buildings, recreation centres, road systems and transport facilities. (Architecture Student
Chronicles, 2013)

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2.0 Importance of the Development Plan System
The purpose of development plans is to promote sustainable and stable development of
the country and to improve the quality of life of the people. Each development plan contains
objectives to guide the people to achieve their development goals. In addition to this, the
development plan system also encourages positive change in our towns and villages, while
preserving special assets such as historic buildings and the countryside. Local development plans
provide certainty and a framework for investment to ensure the needs of future generations.

The development plan system also includes the objective of the ability of the
environment to meet current and future needs. This means that the present generation must
ensure that future generations will enjoy the same resources for the benefit of future generations
as we do today. The development plan system balances competing and often conflicting demands
to ensure that land use and development is in the long-term interests of the community. The
development plan system regulates development through planning applications, granting or
refusing planning permission in accordance with the policies set out in the development plan.
The system must be based on sound evidence and ensure effective and meaningful community
involvement. This means listening to people's views and making concrete plans.

Development planning system in Malaysia has been at the heart of guiding economic
policy making for almost 60 years, with the aim of promoting growth and shared prosperity for
citizens. Good planning and implementation can guide key socio economic reforms and make
some adjustments in the face of a favourable economic environment. For example, the planning
system encourages positive change in our towns and villages. The economy of Malaysia has
gradually changed from one based on agriculture and commodities to one now based on
manufacturing, services and so on. According to statistics, from 1970 to 2017, the gross
economic product of Malaysia increased sixfold and real income increased by 6%.

Development planning in Malaysia is generally done through intensive consultation

within and outside the government, stakeholder buy-in and ownership and with strong support
from the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Development planning is therefore implemented through
programmes and projects coordinated by the country's major governments. Malaysia can explore

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the lessons learnt in terms of higher quality of planning implementation and corresponding
outcomes through national development planning. Malaysian planners can strike a greater
balance between proper planning and quality of implementation by learning lessons from past
implementation and incorporating them into the design of future plans. Planners must ensure that
government or institutional capacity to keep up and coordinate responses to a rapidly changing
and dynamic policy level environment is key while introducing a new reform agenda. Without
proper integration, the effectiveness of interagency coordination can be compromised.

As a result, Malaysia is perhaps more focused on taking a more nuanced and targeted
approach to the challenge of eradicating poverty and inequality by addressing socio-economic
development gaps in regions that are lagging behind. Malaysia could therefore prioritise
interventions to create the right environment for achieving economic growth. There is now a
greater emphasis on economic governance and citizen-centricity. As a result, Malaysia is perhaps
more focused on taking a more nuanced and targeted approach to the challenge of eradicating
poverty and inequality by addressing socio-economic development gaps in regions that are
lagging behind. Malaysia could therefore prioritise interventions to create the right environment
for achieving socioeconomic goals by reorienting the role of the state in industrial policy in the
economic sector.

3.0 Theory and Concept of the Local Plan

A local plan is an actual planning document that interprets the approach and strategic
planning of the design plan as a definite land use proposition map for the Local Planning
Authority. It is ready by the Local Planning Authority endorsed by the State Planning Committee
and concurred by the State Authority. The greater part of the definitions clearly emphasize the
local plan and acts as a guide in settling on choices on planning consent. To guarantee that the
reasoning for choices made and acknowledged, it additionally should be thought of and analyzed
as quickly as time permits. It is upheld by the Local Planning Manual and The Development
Plan. Cullingworth, B. and Nadin, V. specifies the arrangement of neighborhood plan and
characterizes it as a device for the personal satisfaction separated from the approaches and
techniques of the State Structure Plan in making the equilibrium of advancement. As depicted by
People and Planning, the nearby arrangement will fill in the subtleties of the construction plan

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and will be founded on it. They will show what sort of improvement will be permitted and where
in the specialized report. Since the arrangement's fundamental component will be a guide of an
arms overview base, individuals will actually want to see it to perceive how their property is
influenced. Definite in the report, the neighborhood plan incorporates, for instance, an action
area plan showing where significant change is to occur inside the accompanying ten years, or
districts plan, which will unite a firm proposition by which an improvement control strategy can
be worked out. The principal aim of the local plan is to prepare a comprehensive land use plan
and quality of life in accordance with the requirements set out in the TCPA 1976 and the
Development Plan Rules. Based on the previous, local plan is likewise characterized as “Local
plan is a detailed plan for function and purpose, to meet the present and the future identified
community needs within the time frame for which the plan is valid”.

Figure 3.1 : Development plan hierarchy in Malaysia according to Sections of Act 172

Figure 3.1 above shows the hierarchy of the development plan that clarified sorts of the
development plan that comprises the local plan as significant or focuses on the research. As
characterized in People and Planning (1970), the new development plan for every local planning
authority will contain two sections, in particular a structure plan and local plans. The Ministry of
Housing and Local Development brought up the development plan but has not given a
satisfactory instrument to point by point planning at the local level. Further from the report,

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development plans can be prepared which are entirely satisfactory as far as the legal
requirements.

Furthermore, the definitions of the local plan concurred that there are a few elements of the
local plan that provide development direction for the area. The state structure plan is less
underscored contrasted with the nearby arrangement which is utilized in dealing with the city.
This is because the structure plan is more comprehensive and not only focuses on one specific
area only. Dissimilar to the local plan which is more explicit whereby area that can be developed
and can't be determined through the colored lot area on the plan. For example, the use of map
info software is able to show information contained in the plan accompanied with activities
carried out on the land, type of land use, land size and others.

4.0 Effectiveness of the Public Participation Program

From the survey, it is found that most of the interviewees are most concerned about the
development of infrastructure and public facilities, future economic development, and
environmental issues and quality. In general, all SBDLP respondents agree that the public
participation program is effective. However, 23.3% of the respondents of KLSP believe that the
public participation program has no effect.

For the Sabak Bernam District Local Plan, the effectiveness of the program includes
the banners use and effective presentations; only 6.0% of respondents indicated that banners and
presentations were invalid and that the respondents clearly understood the information. In
addition, the public participation program also tries to convey enough relevant information to the
participants, using effective publicity methods and effective methods for participants to put
forward ideas, opinions or comments. The strategies utilized in the public participants program
included composed remarks and oral conversation during the studio.

In addition, the program successfully convinced participants that the government would
seriously consider their opinions in the process of making the plan. Most of them believe that
they have equal rights and opportunities to obtain information.

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Other factors that contribute to the effectiveness of the SBDLP public participation program
include:
I. During the seminar, the research team clearly explained the limitations of SBDLP. As a
result, the participants had a better understanding of the scope of the discussion.

II. Most of the respondents obtained the government's response to their decision through
two-way communication during the seminar, as well as the reasons for accepting or
rejecting public comments.

III. During the seminar, participants received effective guidance from research consultants or
professional planners.

Despite this, the public participation program has hardly encountered the following weaknesses:
I. The program failed to provide participants with sufficient information about the future
development of the region. The public is looking forward to more detailed or
comprehensive information about the future development of their region.

II. The constraints on development are not clearly stated, detailed information is lacking,
and the public is not specifically informed.

For the Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan, the public participation program is less
effective. The survey data shows that 23.3% of the respondents believe that the plan is
ineffective. This includes the banners used and presentations. There were 26.7% of the
respondents who referenced the banners and introductions were not actually compelling and
another 33.3% of the respondents couldn't comprehend the data given in presentation or report.
Here, the public participants programs had neglected to convey sufficient pertinent data to most
of the participants in the mission.

In addition, the methods used by participants to put forward ideas, opinions, or comments
are not very effective. During the public exhibition, the program failed to provide sufficient
information about the future development of the area. 33.3% of the respondents thought that the

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written method used was invalid. Research shows that 61.3% of KLSP respondents believe that
the government will not seriously consider their opinions or comments, and 50% of respondents
believe that they do not have equal rights and opportunities in the planning and development of
Kuala Lumpur. However, the publicity of the program has been effectively implemented.

Other factors that made the KLSP public participation program ineffectiveness include:
I. Environmental quality information is not clearly presented or communicated, lacks
detailed information, and is not targeted at participants.

II. The limitations and development constraints of KLSP are also not clearly presented, lack
detailed information, and are not specific enough for participants.

III. Most respondents stated that they didn’t receive a response from the City Hall on the
final decision and the reasons for accepting or rejecting their opinions. Therefore, the
respondents believed that the government would not seriously consider their opinions.

IV. The technical advice provided by Kuala Lumpur City Hall staff (such as city planners) is
not comprehensive. Some participants didn’t receive technical advice. This may affect
their understanding of the information or plans provided.

5.0 The Development Plan System of Local Authority

Malaysia's administrative system is divided into three levels after independence which
are the federal government, state government and local government. The first draft of the Town
and Country Planning Ordinance of Malaya was prepared in 1966 and revised in 1972 to
incorporate the need for a National Master Plan, the establishment of several levels of planning
authorities and the transfer of public participation into the planning process. The Federal
Territory is an Act to make provision for the control and regulating of proper planning in the
Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory, for the levying of development charges and for purposes
connected therewith.

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 Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 2020 (KLSP,2020) is a guidance for the buildout of Kuala
Lumpur from different perspectives including intuition, aims, strategies and schemes over the
upcoming 20 years. Firstly, preparation for the Structure Plan and continue by the Local Plans
which are more detailed compared to the previous one. The difference between both plans is the
Structure Plan will have a wider view and higher target to achieve and it will be observed for 20
years. In between the timeline, all the events from time to time will be taken into concern,
noticed and solved. Most of the preparation of KLSP, 2020 is based on the 1984 Kuala Lumpur
Structure Plan. Hence, a model of city development would be KLSP 2020. Public are allowed to
take part in the Draft KLSP 2020 by exhibition that has been held for 1 month and submission,
proposal and advice to the Draft Plan in between the date that is fixed by the organizer. Kuala
Lumpur City Hall also not only being a venue also provides a talk for some organizations.
Furthermore, road shows are being held all round in the malls that have higher visitor flows in
Kuala Lumpur. Other than that, for public easier access, the draft plan also could be found on
Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s website.

Dasimah and Oliver Ling, 2007 has pointed out that there were nearly 1000 submissions
received from various groups of people and more than half of them have their opinion on the
same aspects which are transportation, public infrastructure, residential and tourism. Public
participation will be the most effective way to reach the goal of long-lasting city development in
Malaysia. This is due to the fact that communication between the public and the authorities is
easier in this way. Therefore, a win-win situation will be yielded in order to reach the final goal.

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6.0 Conclusion
In a nutshell, a development plan is the designing of the physical, social, economic and
political structure of a city that significantly enhances the qualitative aspects of the people who
live in urban areas. A resource mobilization plan is available for the proposed development
works. (Igi Global, n,d) To deal with the challenges of sustainable development, strategic
planning in practice needs to become more effective, efficient, credible and sustainable. A
sustainable development Strategy is a framework for informing decision-making, offering a
structure for systems thinking across sectors and regions. (Research Gate, 2015) Sustainable
development is the idea that human beings should be sustained by meeting their own essential
needs but also ensuring that future generations fulfill their essential needs. In other terms, it is a
process by which society is to be organized in a manner by which it can exist in the long term
without affecting the supply of resources for future generations. (Byju's, 2021)

To be sure, a development plan is extremely significant in contributing to sustainable

development as the development plan is completed in advance of any development occurring. It
is at the very beginning of any development and planning. Hence, a development plan is
definitely a significant element in the pursuit of sustainable development.

By preparing development plans, it ensures that the provision of basic infrastructure is

coordinated with land development. It also makes sure that plans at distinct levels of spatial
scales are consistent and compatible with each other. It offers a clear structure for development
control decisions and offers a degree of certainty for those seeking planning permission as well
as those who seek to protect the local environment. (Academia, 2011)

Moreover, a development plan is extremely important as it is a planning function.

Development plans offer certainly as well as a structure for making investment to make sure the
benefits for the future generations. (Agendani, 2016) It offers them a well-defined heading, so
that all their efforts are pointed towards the same goal. Planning also helps to minimize the
exposure to uncertainty. A good plan will lead us in solving questions to achieve goals. The great
examples of the questions are what is going to be done; why it must be done; where it must be

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done; when it must be done; and who will do it. These are all significant issues to be decided in
the plan to prevent overlap and wasted resources. (National Planning Commission, 2017)

Last but not least, a system of development plans can be used to encourage efficiency in
the use of energy, transport and natural resources. This concept can be achieved by careful
targeting of residential, commercial and industrial development and by controlling the shape,
structure and scale of settlements. One of the features of the intelligent growth idea is
walkability. When they planned the city, they arranged the residential and commercial zones
within walking distance. Therefore, it will assist to minimize the reliance on vehicles and reduce
carbon emissions. From this, sustainable development is being achieved by means of
development plans. (Academia, 2011) Town planning is not simply a matter of growing trees and
litter collecting but it includes thousands of other ways that town planners overlay. That is the
reason why it is becoming such significant for cities. (Planning Tank, 2020)

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