KL mayor, DBKL win top awards for urban planning, development

KUALA LUMPUR – In the run-up to Kuala Lumpur’s 49th Federal Territory Day tomorrow, KL Mayor Datuk Seri Mahadi Che Ngah and KL City Hall (DBKL) received recognition from the town planning circle for urban planning and development in the capital.

Mahadi received the President’s Award from the Malaysian Institute of Planners (MIP) at its Excellence Awards 2022 gala night, which was recently held at Majestic Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

Others who won in this category were former Iskandar Regional Development Authority chief executive officer Datuk Ismail Ibrahim and prominent law expert, the late Datuk Professor Saleh Buang.

With 40 years in the civil service, Mahadi started his long career with KL City Hall as a town planning officer in 1983 and headed the Planning Department for 10 years before being promoted to deputy director general of planning in 2014.

He retired four years ago but was called upon again to serve and made adviser on planning and development, before being appointed KL mayor in 2020.

Among his listed contributions were the local plan for Ampang, Maluri and Datuk Keramat; the development plan for Kg Baru; the layout plan for the development of squatter areas in Kg Pandan; the planning guidelines for Bukit Jalil development and charting the first carbon-neutral township in Wangsa Maju.

At the same award ceremony, DBKL secured the Gold Award for the rejuvenation of Titiwangsa Lake Garden in the Design Excellent Award category; Sg Bunus City Garden in the Placemaking and Public Space Award category and the conservation of Rumah Tangsi Lot 10 & KLTB Lot 11 Jalan Tangsi under the Heritage and Conservation Award category.

DBKL also bagged the Silver Award in the Placemaking and Public Space Award category for the Rumah Tangsi development, and a bronze for the Sustainable Development Goals Centre of Kuala Lumpur in the Planning Service Excellent Award.

The 11th edition of the biennial MIP Planning Excellence Awards saw a submission of 148 entries across 13 categories, which include awards for Design Excellence, Strategic Planning and Low Carbon Planning.

“The awards provide an opportunity for us to recognise excellence in planning and the many benefits enjoyed by the community from the projects and achievements of the many planning professionals across various scopes of urban planning – from master planning, strategic planning, urban design and placemaking; to heritage protection and conservation, dealing with the impact of climate change and advancing low carbon cities as well as innovation and technology advancement in urban planning,” said MIP president Datin Noraida Saludin.

Other winners of MIP awards included the Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council, the first religious council in the country to win the President’s Award from MIP, for a project to transform the Sobering Ramai fishing village in Kuala Perlis. The project was developed with town planning firm Iktisas Planners Sdn Bhd and the Kangar Municipal Council. – The Vibes, January 31, 2023