How a transit system, walkable cities, and more interesting buildings could make Johor Bahru the Shenzhen of Southeast Asia. Johor Bahru has been described as the next Shenzhen due to its proximity to Singapore. Shenzhen became an economic powerhouse by becoming a special economic zone (SEZ) and building a new city in the slipstream of […]
Editorial
The bad urban design of Cyberjaya: Malaysia’s ‘failed Silicon Valley’
How bad urban design set Cyberjaya up for failure Cyberjaya is a city in Selangor state, about halfway between Kuala Lumpur and Kuala Lumpur International Airport. This is a great place to build a new city. A real estate agent would put “strategic location” in their sales blurb, and on paper it is. Unfortunately Malaysia […]
The bad urban design of Forest City: Malaysia’s futuristic city making the same mistakes as its old cities
Forest City is an artificial island project in Malaysia, located in the Johor strait opposite Singapore. It was supposed to be a futuristic green city, but it’s already making the same mistakes of the badly-planned cities of Malaysia. Forest City is car-centric and not built with pedestrians or cyclists in mind. It also looks like […]
The ticketing mess of Bangkok’s rail transit
The rail transit system of Bangkok is operated by three separate companies, and each company issues tickets that are only valid for their own line. I’ve previously covered the station transfer mess of Bangkok’s rail transit. This article covers the ticketing mess of Bangkok’s rail transit. The ticketing mess The mass transit system of Bangkok […]
The station transfer mess of Bangkok’s rail transit
Bangkok is working towards building an urban rail transit system that will meet the needs of the people of this megacity. There are now 8 lines that make up the metro system, with 3 lines under construction, and more lines planned. Unfortunately for Bangkok, the system currently has three operators that are not compelled to […]
Improving the interchanges and connections of the KL metro transit system
Kuala Lumpur has slowly and steadily been building out an urban rail transit system that it hopes will reduce the city’s car addiction. Mistakes were made early on with integrating the lines, but there have been some great improvements in recent years. In fact, KL has examples of the best and worst ways to make […]
Proposed speeds of the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City Express Railway
Should the future Vietnam North-South Express Railway be a high-speed or semi-high-speed railway? Vietnam is planning to commence construction of the North-South express railway in 2028-2029. Even with years of feasibility studies and consultancy reports, no decision has been made on how fast the new railway should be. The fastest proposal has called for a […]
Tuy Phong Station: How the high-speed railway in Vietnam could transform this fishing port
The proposed high-speed railway in Vietnam includes a stop in the coastal town of Tuy Phong. Could this fishing port become the next boom town? Vietnam is planning to rebuild the main north-south railway into a high-speed express railway. Train speeds will be up to three times faster than on the current line, and the […]
Will there ever be an airport on Koh Lanta?
The two largest islands in Thailand (Phuket and Ko Samui) have an airport, so has Koh Lanta ever considered building an airport? Koh Lanta is an island district in Krabi Province, Thailand. There are two main islands that make up the bulk of this island group. Ko Lanta Yai (the main tourist island) is the […]
Ranong: Asia’s pathway to the West – The Thai Canal and Land Bridge alternative
Thailand has been debating for decades the idea of digging a canal as a shortcut for shipping through the Strait of Malacca. With the renewed interest in the Thai Canal, there have been proposals to build a cheaper “land bridge” alternative. The Thai Land Bridge would ship cargo between ports on the Andaman Sea and […]
