Development of Underground Land in
Malaysia:
The Need for Master Plan of Urban
Underground Land Development
Nor Aisyah Binti Jamalludin
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
INTRODUCTION
Utilization of underground land use often takes
place in urban area of the cities where the supply
of the land is scarce. To avoid congestion on the
land, underground development seems to be an
alternative for the current development pattern
Planning authority take an initiative to stipulated
the urban master plan. However, the planning
were disregard the underground land for
development purpose
Bobylev (2009): master plan is one of the document control
of land use aspect for sustainable urban development
As any development on the land, Department of Town and
Country Planning had stipulated the physical development
plan that contains four development plans to be prepared in
the stage of state to local authority as the basis of
development control
In any words, physical development plans are one of the
development control to create a sustainable development
Therefore, a master plan for underground land development
is essential to set up for the sustainability of underground
land development and its control to it.
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CURRENT SITUATION
Underground land development has been growing especially in
the urban area where the supply of the land be on the wane.
It can be seen from the development of Plaza Putra below
Merdeka Square many years ago, followed by Light Rail Transit
(LRT), Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART)
(Megat Abdul Rahman, Abd. Rasid, & Alias, 2000), and ongoing
construction of Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)
1. SMART Tunnel
- first tunnel with dual functions; as alternative roads from
the Southern Gateway of KL-Seremban Highway, Federal
Highway, Besraya and East-West Link from entering and exiting
the city centre, as well as flood prevention in Kuala Lumpur
Basic layout of SMART Tunnel
The SMART Tunnel Three-Mode Principle
Mode I: tunnel is usually used for motorways
Mode II: motorways still operate as usual and the SMART
system will be activated when there is moderate storm and
excess rainwater will be diverted through the stormwater
bypass tunnel
Mode III: the situation where the occurrence of severe storm
or heavy inundation, the monitoring station will issue an
alert of closing the motorways tunnel from motorists.
Adequate time will be given for all vehicle out of the tunnel
safely before the automated water-tight gates are opened to
allow the floodwaters to flow through to the storage pond
and subsequently to Sungai Kerayong.
2. Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (KVMRT)
- The present and on-going project is the construction of
Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)
- KVMRT project involves the construction of rail-based
public transport network which integrated with the existing
Light Rail Transit (LRT), monorail, KTM Komuter, KTM
Express, and KLIA Transit.
- Begin from Sungai Buloh and ending to Kajang
- The Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line is comprising 31 stations
which 24 elevated stations and another 7 stations are
underground. A total distance of MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang
Line is 51km where 9.5km from the distance will run
underground.
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CHALLENGES
Acquiring the land for the purpose of
underground land development
Table 1: The Status of Land Acquisition
MRT Progress Report 2012
Number of lot gazetted
409
Private lot
294
State land/reserve
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MRT Progress Report 2014
Number of acquired lots
298
MRT progress report 2012: it shows the status of land that subject to
be acquired for the construction of MRT's line.
MRT progress report 2014: updated status of Land Acquisition
It shows that the difficulties happened in acquiring the land because
they do not have adequate information in underground land
development and they also feel insecure to the land.
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Lacking of proper legislation and
planning framework
In Malaysia, the National Land Code 1965 create one part
under "Part Five (A)" entitled of Disposal of Underground
Land regarding the disposal of underground land and other
things related to it.
The circulation of Jabatan Ketua Pengarah Tanah dan Galian
(JKPTG) No. 1/2008 also has clarified the minimum depth for
underground land disposal.
This manual emphasize on the minimum depth of the
ownership of underground land shall not be less than 6
meters in the case of agriculture land, and 10 and 15 meters
in the case of building and industrial land. Based on the
circulation, the depth given to the landowners are shallow,
and it will limit any development to be made.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF MASTER
PLAN
Zargarian, Hunt, & Rogers, (2012)
- A master plan is a back born of the development
that include the implementation of planning
framework that adjustable to change the future
planning
Bobylev (2009)
- the key features of doing a master plan is the
different type of urban infrastructure
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- the planning framework for the development of
underground land needs to consider two situations of the
urban land development
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Other than that, the rock resources also need to address
in the planning for space allocation of long term
projects
For example, Helsinki and Finland already come out
their first Master Plan and Rock Resources Reserved for
future unclassified use for the construction of unnamed
underground facilities with the aims of good locations
and the suitability of rock areas (VHAHO, Ilkka)
the master plan is needed for all types of development
especially for underground land development that needs
more attentions to all parties involved in the
development.
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FINDINGS
It is important for Malaysia to have his own Master Plan for
underground land development because the current
development style geared to develop the underground
land.
Besides, the intervention of government sector in the
amendment of National Land Code 1965 by inserting Part
Five "A" Disposal of Underground Land. In 2008 also,
Federal Land and Mines Office (JKPTG) had also issued the
Circulation of Director General of Land and Mines
(Federal) No 1/2008 entitled Guidelines for Underground
Land Disposal Implementation Under National Land Code
1965 to support the provisions in Part VA, NLC 1965.
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Elements Considered for Developing the Underground
Land Planning Framework and Master Plan
Based on the issues taken from Bobylev (2009), the underground
land development for urban space service prioritization and
the future needs, need to be addressed during the urban
development planning and also in the development of planning
framework to ensure the sustainability of the development in
the future.
4 basic characteristics associated with the underground urban
space that will be considered in the development of the
planning framework for underground land:
1. Land use and Location
2. Natural Protection
3. Temperature Stability
4. Topographic Reasons
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CONCLUSION
Land use in Malaysia was at the maximum capacity where demand of
the land is higher when the land is scarce. The situation encourage
the new development style to overcome the issues by going
underground.
However, the challenges will always faced the developer in terms of
getting approval from the land owner to develop their land.
Therefore, the planning framework is needed to minimize the issues.
The identified elements to be considered in the development of
planning framework need to have full intention from each parties that
involve in underground land development to ensure the sustainability
of the development in the future.
The elements consider in the developing the planning framework
hopefully will assist the land administrator and planning department
in utilization of the underground land for development in the future.
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