Society Awareness and Acceptance on the Concepts of Water Sensitive Urban Drainage Design (WSUD) in Sarawak

Abstract

Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) is a green approach to land development. Since introduced, the approach had been in practice in Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah, but not in favor yet in Sarawak. This study aims to identify Sarawak’s society awareness and acceptance on the WSUD approach. Surveys are being distributed to respondents with engineering and non-engineering background. Scenarios involving five WSUD approaches, namely: (i) Swale Underground Drain; (ii) Rainwater Underground Storage; (iii) Dry Detention Pond; (iv) Porous Pavement; and (v) Infiltration Trench, are being presented to the respondents. At the initial stage of the survey, only 29% of respondents with Civil Engineering background and 20% of respondent without Civil Engineering background recognize the concept but after being exposed to some WSUD approaches throughout the survey 99% of both respondents with and without Civil Engineering background agrees that the approach is beneficial and should be encouraged in Sarawak.