INTEGRATING CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION INTO SPATIAL PLANNING: DEVELOPING CRITERIA FOR SPATIAL PLAN EVALUATION IN THE SELANGOR RIVER BASIN

Abstract

Spatial planning practice in Malaysia has given greater prominence to environmental matters since the amendment of the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 in 1995, in which sustainable development has become the core emphasis of all planning policies and plans. However, elements of climate change, which require being addressed in strategic planning, have not been explicitly incorporated into spatial plans that cover urban and rural areas at both state and local levels. This study presents a framework for the evaluation of the content of spatial plans in response to climate change adaptation and mitigation in the case of the Selangor River Basin, which may be considered the life support for the Kuala Lumpur Conurbation, the largest urban mega region in Malaysia. A content analysis of national, state and local level spatial plans reveals that the overall quality of plans is higher at the national level, but gradually declines towards lower tier plans, and that generally an equal emphasis has been paid to both climate change mitigation and adaptation. The findings support the argument that spatial planning provides a platform for coordinating mitigation and adaptation responses through its sustainable development policies, however, there is a need to reframe the scope of sustainable development in the country for this purpose.