KL’s global ranking highlights progress, but deep-seated urban strains persist

KUALA LUMPUR’S emergence as the world’s 50th best city for 2026 has been cited as evidence that Malaysia’s urban planning framework is broadly on the right track.

However, persistent structural challenges — from traffic congestion to flash floods, rising housing costs and homelessness — continue to weigh heavily on daily life in the capital.

According to Dr Muhammad Azwan Sulaiman, a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Built Environment at Universiti Teknologi MARA in Shah Alam, numerous initiatives have already been designed to support the city’s rapid expansion.

These include transit-oriented development, efforts to strengthen public transport networks and long-term frameworks such as the Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 2040.

Yet he stressed that the principal obstacle lies not in planning, but in execution and coordination across agencies.

“In the context of a rapidly growing city, what we see is ‘planning is good on paper, but execution is uneven’,” he told Berita Harian.

He added that consistent and firm implementation would allow Kuala Lumpur to accommodate growth without compromising residents’ quality of life, but warned that the gap between policy and practice is becoming increasingly pronounced.

Dr Muhammad Azwan argued that many of the capital’s most pressing issues — including congestion, flash flooding, housing affordability and homelessness — stem from similar underlying causes, particularly imbalances in land use planning.

Overconcentration of development in specific areas, without corresponding infrastructure support, has contributed significantly to worsening traffic conditions.

At the same time, reliance on private vehicles remains high despite the availability of public transport systems such as the MRT and LRT.

“These facilities often become the last option and remain underutilised. This leads people to continue driving within Kuala Lumpur,” he said.

He further pointed to outdated drainage systems and limited climate adaptation as key drivers of frequent flash floods, noting that urban development has outpaced necessary upgrades to flood mitigation infrastructure.

Housing challenges, meanwhile, reflect a mismatch between supply and actual public need.

“Many homes are built not to meet real demand, but for investment purposes, which drives affordability issues and ultimately contributes to urban homelessness,” he said.

He also highlighted fragmented social policy as a major weakness, stressing that homelessness cannot be addressed through housing alone but requires coordinated responses involving employment, mental health services and broader social support.

To address these concerns, Muhammad Azwan proposed a series of short- and long-term measures.

In the immediate term, he called for improvements to last-mile connectivity in public transport, including better feeder bus services, pedestrian pathways and micro-mobility infrastructure. He also urged the strengthening of smart flood warning systems and mitigation measures in high-risk areas, alongside tighter control of new housing developments with a focus on genuinely affordable homes rather than oversupplied high-end units.

Over the longer term, he emphasised the need for a decisive shift towards transit-oriented urban development, enhanced integration of smart city data to manage traffic, flooding and utilities in real time, and comprehensive housing policy reforms.

These would include rent-to-own models, measures to curb speculation and more inclusive development strategies.

Dr Muhammad Azwan concluded that Kuala Lumpur does not lack plans, but rather requires stronger enforcement, policy integration and the political will to pursue major reforms.

“If that can be achieved, I believe the ranking will not merely be a number, but will truly reflect the quality of life of the people,” he said. - May 2, 2026