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Kuala Lumpur (KL) emerged as the capital of the newly independent Federation of Malayan States in 1957 with a population of 316,000. Over the next 60 years, the city expanded into a major urban regional conurbation. It now covers an area of 2,790 km² and has a population of around 7.7 million. In the last two decades, market-driven, fast-track development, underpinned by road infrastructure has accelerated the city's urban transformation. Especially over the last two decades, a spate of urban redevelopments, including commercial and retail complexes, specialised centres, industrial parks, educational complexes and residential estates have transformed the Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan Region (KLMR) beyond recognition. KL is only one example among many of intensive Southeast Asian property-led urban development, fuelled by demographic pressures and global capital inflows that transformed the regional natural and built environments. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of globalisation, neoliberalism and property-led development, on the built form and socio-cultural legacies of the KLMR.

The major aim of this study is to determine how neoliberalism and property-led development have impacted the urban form and structure of the KLMR. The methodology applied in this study concentrates mainly on the use of qualitative research methods. The major qualitative research methods include qualitative analysis, field surveys and observations, primary and secondary data collection. The approach in this study is to exemplify the shift from government-sponsored development in the post-independence period to the current globalised-private oriented development.

The major findings of this research suggest that the global, property-led mode of urban development, whilst superficially successful, undermined traditional and tropical-climate urban landscapes. It also bequeathed many urban or property level problems, including traffic congestion, air pollution, planning governance and building management issues. The paper outlines narratives for a more balanced and sustainable mode of urban development, which is more in tune with local culture and climatic conditions.

This paper provides a deep insight analysis and evaluation of KL's growth from a small town into a global metropolitan region where property-led development dictates the rules and determines the character of the city.

A large portion of first-time homebuyers lack adequate means to meet their needs of housing owing to home price inflation in Malaysian cities. One way to address the housing needs of urban household is to provide affordable quality homes. Drawing upon a case study of Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, this study attempts to discuss the cloud of issues related to different homeownership schemes available for first-time homebuyers. Results suggest that affordable housing should be made available at the price and locations that can be accepted by first-time homeowners. In line with the principle of sustainability, homeownership schemes for first-time homebuyers should be economically viable, socially acceptable and technically feasible.

Websites have their own features in aspect preference (e.g. the relative importance platforms place on product aspects in product evaluation). The purpose of this paper is to capture characteristics of different book reviews on aspect preferences by opinion mining techniques.

The authors employ two indicators for identifying aspect preferences, and propose a method for quantifying overall differences of reviews on aspect preferences through three dimensions: aspect awareness, aspect satisfaction and comprehensive value.

The results show that book reviews on e-commerce websites contain information about external aspects of a book (e.g. hardcover), while those on social network websites pay more attention to content-related aspects of the book (e.g. stories). These results indicate that aspect preferences of reviews vary from platforms and make it hard to evaluate book comprehensively based on single-source data. Online book reviews from a wide range of sources can assess book impact from multiple perspectives and dimensions.

In order to illustrate the value of the authors’ method, the authors show book impact assessment based on multi-source data as an application of these difference analyses. Furthermore, the authors present an example of a book promotion to provide customized marketing services for different user clusters.

This study investigates the influence of different data sources on book evaluation from the content of book reviews. The authors also showcase potential applications of these analyses in book impact assessment.

IN view of the interest taken in M. Mignet's “Pou‐de‐Ciel,” some notes on this peculiar wing arrangement may prove of interest. There are essentially three divergences from current practice in the layout of the “Pou.”

(1) An aircraft in steady, straight‐line motion can have no resultant force or couple acting upon it. This condition is never continuously maintained in flight, and the craft proceeds in a series of oscillations or wide, corrected curves. Continuous adjustment takes place in the direction of its flight through either an inherent stability or a judicious use of the controls by the pilot, but the motion may be regarded mostly without error as steady for purposes of design. Calculations carried out on the basis of steady equilibrium have for objects the determination of optimum lay‐out; the selection of most suitable component parts; the provision of adequate and easeful control; the specification of loading for strength design; and the prediction and testing of performance. In practice, such calculations go hand in hand with others concerned with statical and dynamical stability; with accel‐erated motions; with strength and weight; and with a host of purely practical considerations. Deductions drawn from the principles discussed in this Article may not be decisive in a given case till set in proper perspective. In this connection we note, without straying from our subject matter, that many secondary factors are here neglected, whose effect the engineer has, on occasion, to take carefully into account.

Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, is exposed to several natural hazards, among which flash floods are most common and frequent. Expanding development and higher intensity of rainfall are the primary causes of flash floods. As the urbanisation is growing, the number of exposed properties, people and business premises are also increasing. This may have a detrimental impact on the socio-economic state of the city. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to investigate the frequency and intensity of flash flood occurrences between 2011 and 2016 and to delineate how it is impacting the urban livelihood. For this study, several news reports of flash flood events, previously published and reports were reviewed to elicit information so that the frequency and intensity of flash floods can be analysed for identifying flash flood risk areas. Along with the information from newspapers, Google map was used to identify the spatial locations of flash flood events, thus identifying the risk zones. This study found the City Centre as the most risk prone to flash floods. It was noted that 39% of flash floods occurred in this place. The Damansara-Penchala area comes in the second position with 20% of flash floods occurring in this place. Most of the people of these zones are exposed to flash flood and the affected people suffer from road blocking and heavy traffic jam. This study will help researchers and policymakers to understand the impact of flash floods in the city. This will also help to identify the most flood-prone areas of the city.

The purpose of this paper is to address the knowledge gap by analysing the motivations of driving both users and hosts to the co-working space in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as the motives of co-working space is related to how well that space supports their needs.

By using a mixed-methods approach, users’ and hosts’ behaviours were studied through the survey and in-depth interview, where 60 users were interviewed, as well as six operators of co-working space and two real estate market experts.

Based on the results, convenient location, open space layout and ambiance, shared facilities, membership costs, flexible leases and knowledge sharing are the main motives that drive users to the co-working space and these motives are significantly related to user satisfaction. The results also showed that the users’ motives for working in the co-working space differ mostly from hosts in terms of service attributes.

The co-working space is more than just an office alternative but is a service-oriented real estate business. By providing the appropriate combination of attributes to succeed financially, co-workspace providers can support most of their members’ tasks, which leads to member satisfaction.

Research on the co-working place is still inadequate, particularly in Malaysia. Greater knowledge of attributes that influence users’ and hosts’ responses could lead to a better understanding and prediction in determining their needs and preferences.

Hospital evaluations create competition between healthcare providers. In this study, a multi criteria decision-making (MCDM) method is used to evaluate criteria that affect hospital service quality. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Criteria affecting hospital service quality are identified. Four Iranian public hospitals are evaluated using these criteria. Four hybrid methods, including modified digital logic–technique for order of preference by similarity to an ideal solution, analytical hierarchy process–technique for order of preference by similarity to an ideal solution, analytical hierarchy process–elimination and choice expressing reality and modified digital logic–elimination and choice expressing reality are used to evaluate hospital service quality. Results are aggregated using the Copeland method and final ranks are determined.

The four main criteria for evaluating hospital service quality are: environment; responsiveness; equipment and facilities; and professional capability. Results suggest that professional capability is the most important criterion. The Copeland method, used to integrate four MCDM hybrid methods, provides the final hospital ranks.

The criteria the authors identified and their weight help hospital managers to achieve comprehensive organizational growth and more efficient resource usage. Moreover, the decision matrix helps managers to identify their strengths and weaknesses.

New and comprehensive criteria are proposed for hospital quality assessments. Moreover, a new hybrid MCDM approach is used to achieve final hospital rankings.

In Malaysia, there seems to be no mutual and general agreement among construction industry players and researchers on what the critical success factors (CSFs) of construction projects are since characteristics of construction projects vary across various projects complexity. This chapter thus examines the CSFs for affordable high-rise public housing projects in Malaysia through a thorough review of the literature on the CSFs, which were then contextually customised via a pilot study and presented in the form of Relative Importance Index (RII). Primary data were collected via administration of questionnaire surveys to 170 construction stakeholders of affordable high-rise public housing projects in Malaysia. The findings of this study revealed that the top 10 ranks are good management and supervision at site, good personal behaviour by all participants, good implementation in safety management and practice, high commitment in quality control by management, competent manager/supervisor, good communication and coordination, good and enough material and equipment, experience worker, clear objective and goals and good support by senior employee/management, whereby it is crucial in ensuring the project success of affordable high-rise public housing projects in Malaysia. This chapter provides clear guidelines for the contractors of affordable high-rise public housing projects to be more competitive in the construction industry by illustrating the important factors to be considered while delivering the projects to their respective clients.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how urban dwellers engage on an environmentally friendly lifestyle. A survey was conducted in the Klang Valley, Malaysia, to establish the sustainable lifestyle intentions of urban dwellers.

A survey was conducted to establish the sustainable lifestyle intentions of urban dwellers of the Klang Valley in Malaysia. Data collected were analysed using the Cronbach’s α reliability test, the factor analysis, and multiple regression analysis.

A sustainable lifestyle has to be environmentally friendly and conforms to the community’s livelihood. Attitude towards participation of environmentally friendly lifestyle, awareness towards preservation of resources, subjective norms to engage in an environmentally friendly lifestyle, perceived environmental control and government support were the key intentions of a sustainable lifestyle of urban dwellers.

The current lifestyle intentions of urban dwellers in the Klang Valley have yet to be fully transformed into lifestyle behaviours that are sustainable. The local government is not strict in implementing and enforcing an environmentally friendly lifestyle that is practical and sustainable. Other than relying on the existing non-profit organisation’s fortnightly collection of recyclables, the local government can refer to the UNEP’s four E’s to initiate an efficient and sustainable production behaviour that leads to a sustainable and healthy lifestyle.