PRESSURED BY HOUSING DEMAND
by Lim Lay Ying
Property Times, New Straits Times
05th March 2005

In trying to meet the demand for housing, the Selangor State Government dismissed the seriousness of potential ecological damage to its forest reserves when it degazetted close to 60 hectares (150 acres) of the green lung in Shah Alam for housing projects, and another two hectares (five acres) of the Sungai Buloh forest for industrial purposes.

Warnings regarding the likely consequences from the deforestation activities on the environment, wildlife, and water catchment areas, such as soil erosion, landslides, river pollution, floods, and imbalances to the hydrological system, were brushed aside. Priority was on opening up tracts of land to build more homes for the expanding population.

Between 1991 and 2000, Shah Alam’s population grew by an average 11.0 per cent per annum according to Census 2000 conducted by the Statistics Department of Malaysia. The annual growth rate averaged 7.9 per cent in the previous decade (between 1980 and 1991). The country’s average ranged between 2.3 and 2.7 per cent per annum through the last decade.

In absolute terms, the population of Shah Alam jumped from 154,476 persons in 1991 to 395,637 persons in 2000 – in 1980, there were only 66,824 persons living in the area. The phenomenal rise in population can be attributed to the inmigration of people from elsewhere in the country in pursuit of the abundant job opportunities offered by the state.

Large pool of homebuyers

Along with the changes in demographic profile, more households were created when the average household size shrank from 4.8 in 1991 to 4.68 in 2000. Rising economic wealth further pushed the people’s desire to either own homes, or upgrade to better ones.

In a homebuyers’ survey led by Research Inc Asia over a couple of months ago amongst a representative sample of Shah Alam’s residents, almost 50 per cent reported that they had moved into Shah Alam less than five years ago. About 39 per cent are currently renting homes. Amongst all the respondents, almost two-thirds of them expressed their intentions to buy a residential property, stating the Shah Alam locality as their preferred choice.

The urgency of owning a home was reflected by approximately 60 per cent of those interviewed who indicated home-buying plans within the next three years (over a third of this group gave themselves a two-year time frame for house hunting). The majority were upgraders (over 40 per cent) while another one-third were first-home buyers.

Prompted by such strong demand for housing, the state government was compelled to expand the administrative boundaries of Shah Alam. Up to 1984, the Shah Alam Municipal Council area comprised Sections 1 to 28 which had a combined land area of 53.3 square kilometers.

A decade later – in 1994, the land area was enlarged to 261.7 square kilometers and referred to as Sections U1 to U14 at the north of Shah Alam’s central district, and Sections 29 to 39 which are located to the south. The most recent expansion was in 1997 when Sections U15 to U20 further up north were officially included. Today, the Shah Alam Municipal Council area stands at 290.3 square kilometers. (see Map below).

Sandwiched by housing development

The Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam Agriculture Park totalling 2,000 acres, is located in Section U11 which is to the immediate north of the central precinct. Also within Section U11 is a new township development known as Bukit Bandaraya which is developed by Kumpulan Lebar Daun. Launched in 2003, the 300-acre project will have a total of 2,915 units upon built-out in 2010.

Bordering Bukit Bandaraya to the east is Section 8 where Guthrie Property Development Holdings Bhd., has been actively developing Bukit Jelutong. The township spans 2,205 acres and is now home to more than 40,000 residents. It has emerged to become a much sought-after address in Shah Alam. Sales launches have been consistently well-received and price levels of homes now match those in the more established Petaling Jaya areas. For instance, the latest launch in Bukit Jelutong has prices starting from RM542,000 for double-storey link houses measuring 24 feet by 90 feet with built-up areas ranging between 2,662 and 3,633 square feet.

To the immediate west of Section U11 is Section U13. Here, the SP Setia Group is the key player and has since last year been aggressively launching its new Setia Alam and Setia Eco Park townships. Totalling about 4,000 acres, Section U13 is made up of the 2,524-acre Setia Alam project, the 791-acre Setia Eco Park – a joint development between SP Setia, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Great Eastern Life Assurance Bhd., and a 614-acre land parcel which is now owned by PKNS.

Section 12 located south-west of the agricultural park, comprises another new township referred to as Cahaya Alam. The 200-acre development is a joint-venture effort between ENCORP MUST Sdn Bhd and PKNS which will be fully completed by 2008.

Need to strike a balance with nature

Today, the controversy seems to be centred on Section U10 which is at the northern border of Section U11 where the park stands. The most sizeable development so far is Bandar Nusarhu, a 400-acre new township by Metrogen Sdn. Bhd., a subsidiary of Palm Grove Development which is currently developing the 800-acre Bandar Nusa Putra project in Cyberjaya. Launched last September, a total of 4,386 residential units of several configurations along with commercial properties have been planned.

Other projects in Section U10 include Kumpulan Lebar Daun’s 200-acre Bukit Sandaran, Farlim’s Subang Impian, Tengku Shahrudin’s Bukit Tengku, and a host of several smaller scale developments. These projects are counting on the future Guthrie Corridor Expressway and the New North Klang Valley Expressway (NNKVE) besides the existing Shah Alam-Batu Arang Expressway, the Batu Tiga-Sungei Buloh road, and the NKVE, for their catchment of homebuyers.

But aside from the numerous challenges in competing for buyers in the marketplace, real estate developers will find the going get tougher amidst concerns over environmental destruction. More jurisdictions can be expected to jump on the environment bandwagon in the near future.

Local authorities, developers, architects, planners, and all involved in real estate development have to recognize the importance of striking a balance with nature instead of altering the natural face of the land. Besides protecting the ecological system and in turn the plants and animals, an environmentally-friendly approach to development can benefit everyone in the long run.