Iskandar Malaysia Shapes Smart City Model

By ROHANA MUSTAFFA KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 (Bernama) -- With over half of the world’s population living in cities and still growing, more governments and urban planners are leaning towards the ‘smart city’ concept. The hunt for a model future city may yet lead them to Malaysia’s biggest economic development zone, Iskandar Malaysia, the largest mega region in Southeast Asia and three times the size of neighbouring Singapore. In late 2006, the 2,217-sq km economic growth corridor in Malaysia’s southern Johor was launched as a high impact development to help propel the country into a First World economy under a 20-year blueprint. Four months ago, a distinguished panel of global economic, business, science and technology initiated by the Malaysian government and the New York Academy of Sciences gave its nod to Iskandar Malaysia to step up into a 'Smart City'. Smart cities rely on the widespread and innovative use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to plan and share resources for economic, environment and social developments towards better quality and sustainable living. GAME CHANGER “We have taken up the challenge and formed our own definition of Smart City, one that is anchored on the three pillars of Iskandar Malaysia - economic, environment and social development,” said IRDA chief executive Ismail Ibrahim, a British-trained town planner. The idea of Smart Cities and Smart Villages driven by innovative science and technologies was on the agenda of the inaugural meeting of the Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council (GSIAC) chaired by Prime Minister Najib Razak in New York back in May 2011. GSIAC counts two Nobel Laureates and well-known global economist Jeffrey Sachs among its international members. It is an advisory council to the Malaysian government to transform the nation into a high-income economy by 2020. “Some countries such as South Korea and Japan define it as a lifestyle with 100 per cent ICT usage whereas in Europe, the definition is more holistic and not limited to ICT,” Ismail said. Iskandar Malaysia is drawing the best practices of the two schools of thought and added it own. It has taken into account the country’s diversity to target issues like racial harmony. The vision, Ismail added, was to transform quality of life and economic growth in building smart, connected and inclusive communities in all five flagship zones – state capital Johor Baharu, Nusajaya, Western Gate Development, Eastern Gate Development and Senai-Skudai. TACKLING THE CHALLENGES Between 2005 and 2025, the population of Iskandar Malaysia is projected to double to three million with 1.27 million jobs. Gross Domestic Product is estimated to jump from US$20 billion to US$93.3 billion and per capita income twice higher at US$31,100. Ismail said the private sector should be the main influence in rolling out Smart City while IRDA would be the facilitator to put together private-public partnerships where feasible. The diversity of the five flagship areas means IRDA has to target priorities, the when and how of implementing specific initiatives as well as to reach out to local communities to support the changes ahead. “Technology and private sector investments are key factors but we must remember the support of the people is just as important. We have to keep them informed so that they understand fully what is going on, what is a Smart City, how the transformation will impact their lives, what are the benefits and opportunities for them. “This is a big challenge. The collaboration of government, private sector and the people must be an ongoing process to keep all parties aligned to achieve the set benchmarks,” Ismail said. Early initiatives already in place include E-procurement for tenders and contracts, increased usage of E-government services to improve public and social services, SafeCam surveillance, introduction of rapid bus transport, establishing community police posts and awareness programmes on low carbon lifestyles. NUSAJAYA IS THE FRONT RUNNER The private sector has already kicked into gear with Nusajaya, the sole greenfield and core site of Iskandar Malaysia’s iconic developments, getting a head start. It will be transformed into a Smart City with a digital masterplan from Cisco Systems in partnership with Iskandar Investment Berhad and real estate major UEM Land Holdings Berhad. “Nusajaya has the potential to become a leading model for Cisco’s Smart+Connected Communities vision worldwide. All the right ingredients are in place – government participation, visionary developers and an ecosystem of private sector expertise,” said Anil Menon, president for globalisation and Smart+Communities at Cisco, when the project was announced in July this year. With Asia’s first Legoland, world famous Pinewood Studios, international education colleges and modern housing enclaves, Nusajaya is envisioned as a global benchmark for the design, building and operations of a Smart City. Iskandar Malaysia, now into its second five year phase, is attracting more and more domestic and international interest, nudging total investments towards the RM100 billion-mark by the end of this year against a RM382 billion target by 2025. STRONG GOVERNMENT SUPPORT Ismail said IRDA would soon have a team to oversee and coordinate projects which have been banded under six targets – Smart Economy, Smart Environment, Smart People, Smart Mobility, Smart Social and Smart Living. The government has moved swiftly to address security within Iskandar Malaysia with a SafeCam project with the cooperation of stakeholders, namely government agencies, residents’ associations, businesses and the private sector. The initiative, derived from the successful Project Griffin by the London Metropolitan Police started in 2004 to combat terrorism, allows police to access almost 20,000 closed circuit television cameras installed in government and public areas in the fight against crime. “This is one of the most advanced developments in Iskandar Malaysia under the Smart Living focus area. I must say that in implementing Smart City, there was no need to amend the overall blueprint of Iskandar Malaysian because happily, the development pillars are similar,” Ismail said. Ismail said IRDA would continue to work closely with federal agencies such as the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), Performance Management & Delivery Unit (PEMANDU) and Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC). -- BERNAMA