KLCC Park The Best Public Park In The Country - Landscape Architect

By Siti Shafiah Ariffin KUALA LUMPUR,  Oct 9 (Bernama) -- Located right in the middle of the concrete jungle in Kuala Lumpur city centre, the KLCC park should be recognised as the best public park in the country, said an landscape architect. Dean of the Faculty of Design and Architecture, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), associate professor Dr Osman Mohd Tahir said the park with its background of the Petronas Twin Towers (KLCC) meets the criteria of a public park, including connecting one area to another. This enables the public to use the park at almost any time to get to their workplaces,  relax with their families, or recharge their batteries in any way, Osman told Bernama at his office in UPM, Serdang near here recently. “The park has also been designed to accommodate people of all ages, from young children to adults to the handicapped,” Osman, who holds a doctorate degree in sustainable urban landscape management, said. He added that the KLCC Park is equipped with many facilities and basic amenities such as a 1.3 kilometre jogging track, toilets, footpaths, pools and a two-hectare children’s playground. Osman said ideally, a park must be fully functional not just as a recreational area but also a place of relaxation, providing a sense of freshness and clean air. “The park must be fully-utilised. Besides being beautiful, it must be functional and benefit the people who use it. The choice of greenery is important, such as tropical plants (palms and fruit trees) which attract fauna such as birds, which balance the eco-system,” he said. Osman said the KLCC park has been well-designed and people in nearby places like hotels and the higher floors of the KLCC building could also enjoy the view. He said the decision to retain the trees and plants in the area also meant that the original landscape was preserved. He added that it was crucial that a park was well and continuously taken care of by the authorities concerned to ensure that it is preserved for hundreds of years such as the Eden Garden in Cornwall, England. The 20-hectare KLCC Park was designed by Brazilian world-renowned landscape architect and environmentalist, the late Roberto Burle Marx. It is reported that the park gets between 2,000 and 3,000 visitors each day, with the number increasing during the New Year’s Eve and National Day celebrations. The park which was opened to the public in 1998 by then-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is an important component of the 40-hectare KLCC development master plan. -- BERNAMA