Cities across Southeast Asia use Singapore as a measuring stick for development progress. “The next Singapore” is a phrase that is often used in this context. These cities try to emulate Singapore by building luxury apartments and landmark towers to attract high net-wealth individuals and family offices. Instead of looking up at skyscrapers, cities should […]
Urban Planning
Bad Urban Design: Center Point of Indonesia, a missed opportunity to put Makassar on the map
Center Point of Indonesia is a megaproject being built off the coast of Makassar. City planners had an opportunity to make an iconic global city. Instead, they have opted for suburbia in the sea. They are making the same urban planning mistakes that are being made in every other Indonesian city. This is a review […]
An Thuong Streets: how Da Nang inadvertently built a vibrant beach neighbourhood
An Thuong Tourist Streets is a neighbourhood on My Khe Beach in Da Nang. Despite the cringe name, this area is a model for how to build a walkable and vibrant beach neighbourhood. Other cities in Southeast Asia should take note. An Thuong Tourist Streets The An Thuong Tourist Streets (also referred to as An […]
Walkability: What Indonesia could learn from Brisbane
The concept of walkability refers to how the design of an area allows residents to walk from one place to another. Walkability is known for its sustainable nature where the concept enables walking activities as a mode of transportation from one point to another, thereby reducing congestion, increasing the level of proximity between residents and […]
Johor Bahru: Redesigning Permas Jaya into a pedestrian-friendly space
Johor is working to improve its market environment to attract investors and boost the region’s prowess. The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is planned to be established in the Iskandar region, which is part of the Iskandar Development Region and South Johor Economic Region. As Johor Bahru wants to become the next “Shenzhen”, Johor Bahru City […]
How to make Johor Bahru an international metropolis of Southeast Asia
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 […]
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 […]
Building better new cities in Southeast Asia
New urban areas and city development projects are being built across Southeast Asia to accommodate a rapidly urbanising population. As the editor-in-chief of this urban development website, I’ve been keeping track of these new projects over the years. As I travel around Southeast Asia I’ve visited many of these new urban areas, and I’m seeing […]
Ten ways to improve Bangkok
Bangkok has changed a lot since I got here in 2001. Back then the skytrain wasn’t yet 2 years old, and the city’s first subway line was still 3 years off. The capital was littered with rusty remains of office towers, remnants of the 1997 financial crash, and international food options were basically pizza and […]
