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Ongoing climate risks require all levels of society to be resilient. Urban areas, which are densely developed with huge levels of population and infrastructure, are critical places to develop adaptation and resilience strategies. This study aims to conceptualize evolutionary urban climate resilience strategies with a step-by-step analytic framework that will be called 3R: Recognition–Readiness–Response.

This analytic framework is then applied to assess whether and to what extent the components of urban climate resilience are incorporated into the pertinent ordinances and policies of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, including climate change, urban planning and disaster management.

The findings of this study suggest that the climate change ordinances of Seoul have focused on climate mitigation rather than resilience.

Thus, comprehensive efforts are required to incorporate evolutionary urban climate resilience strategies into ordinances and practices.

This paper contributes to build an analytic framework that provides a step-by-step process with check-list questions based on the sub-components of urban climate resilience procedure.

This study investigated the role of community infrastructure planning in Sarawak, Malaysia, by concentrating on the obstacles that hinder effective governance of community infrastructure planning.

The qualitative approach via case study design was adopted in this study. The Song District, located in the State of Sarawak, Malaysia, was selected as the case study area. Semi-structured interview sessions were conducted with 21 respondents who belonged to the government agencies involved in rural community infrastructure planning and village community representatives to capture their views on community infrastructure development planning in the selected district. The gathered responses were analysed thematically and the outcomes are discussed.

The findings revealed that although the development of community infrastructure in Song District has progressed and has exerted transformative impacts on rural livelihood, several challenges were identified in the delivery of community infrastructure. The four main themes of challenges that emerged from the data were location factors, financial resources, cooperation and collaboration of stakeholders, as well as community involvement. The outcomes disclosed that, in terms of governance, the institutional roles of the community, stakeholders and government agencies must be integrated throughout the rural community infrastructure planning process to resolve the emerging challenges effectively so that the demands of the rural community are met meritoriously.

An effective and efficient community infrastructure planning approach ascertains that the community infrastructure development gaps in rural areas are bridged and brings fruition to the rural communities for their livelihood transformation.

This paper delineates a view on the governance aspect of community infrastructure planning in Sarawak, Malaysia, that is largely untapped. The study outcomes may facilitate practitioners and academics to move forward and recommend improvements in the approach to rural community infrastructure planning.

Homeownership is a problem among younger working households (YWH). This is a more serious problem with YWH working in urban areas. New housing schemes introduced by the government show that measures are being taken. This paper aims to determine homeownership problems among YWH in order to assess the new housing schemes towards helping YWH. The questions arise are what are the homeownership problems among YWH and to what extent does YWH perceive the new housing schemes to help them. The objectives are to ascertain homeownership problems among YWH and to explore the perceptions of YWH on the new housing schemes introduced. The study was conducted qualitatively through in-depth interviews with YWH. The findings showed that the main homeownership problem highlighted by the YWH is housing prices are high in urban area which resulted to the location of affordable houses inconvenient. From the assessment, majority of the YWH agree with the new housing schemes. However there are weaknesses such as high land prices and absence of financial literacy. In conclusion, housing schemes should also consider financial education as part of their aims. Nevertheless, the introduction of housing schemes is beneficial to address homeownership problems among YWH.

Millennials are considered the best group to intervene in terms of homeownership education as they are of working age and can earn monthly income. However, there is a concern about the affordability of millennials to purchase a house that will influence their decision in terms of purchasing a house. Further understanding of the home-buying process allows millennials to avoid dishonest and irresponsible sellers, as purchasing a house involves a large sum of money. The purpose of this study is to suggest a suitable delivery mechanism to increase awareness of the home-buying process among millennials in Kuala Lumpur.

This study adopts a quantitative method to analyse sets of questionnaire survey that were distributed at purposive random sampling in Kuala Lumpur. This study approached respondents with pre-set criteria, which include the respondents to be between 18 and 38 years old, interested to purchase a house and to have at least an initiatory understanding of the home-buying process.

The findings suggested that there is considerably low awareness of the home-buying process among millennials. However, it is important to note that among the home-buying process, millennials are most aware in the preliminary phase, which is information gathering. Based on these findings, the best delivery mechanism to increase awareness is through online games and training courses, followed by home counselling at a local housing agency.

This study contributes to government agencies and policymakers to interact with society, as education is one of the best methods. It will further enhance their efforts to ensure that the society is well equipped with useful knowledge to avoid the rueful decision of purchasing their first house.

This paper highlights homeownership education by tackling the issue of extensive knowledge of the home-buying process. This is crucial to the foundation of homeownership education, as it reflects the efforts of government agencies and policymakers to ensure homebuyers’ rights are protected in the housing market. This paper will benefit not only policymakers and decision-makers but also first time homebuyers.

This paper aims to discuss the issues and challenges related to housing continuity for individuals transitioning from homelessness to securing a place to live in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The aim of the study is to explore the problems and solutions in the context of housing policy, particularly as they pertain to homeless households. The study involves conducting in-depth interviews with various stakeholders involved in helping homeless households find shelter and access to public housing.

The research methodology comprises a comprehensive literature review encompassing housing affordability, affordable housing and homelessness both within Malaysia and globally to identify research gaps. One of the key questions highlighted the effectiveness of existing programs aimed at providing short-term shelter and social integration for homeless individuals. Additionally, it highlights one of the primary challenges in this process, which is the tendency of homeless individuals to return to homelessness due to various factors. The data collection uses a qualitative approach and the data are obtained through in-depth interviews with key stakeholders responsible for assisting homeless households in Klang Valley, Malaysia, encompassing federal, state and local government representatives. Purposive sampling ensures diverse stakeholder representation. Interviews are structured semi-structured to maintain consistency while allowing for open-ended discussions on challenges and successes in facilitating homeless individuals' transition to stable housing. Thematic analysis of transcribed interview data focuses on recurring themes related to housing continuity, affordability and homeless households' behavioural patterns.

There are five (n = 5) stakeholders consist of local government (Code: R1), ministries (Code: R2; R5) and government agencies (Code: R3; R4). The study revealed that various programs have been implemented to provide short-term shelter and facilitate the integration of homeless individuals into society. Nevertheless, a significant challenge identified was the recurring tendency of homeless households to return to homelessness. This “behavioural direction” was found to be influenced by multiple factors which includes mental health and attitude problem. The findings emphasise the need for collaborative efforts among all stakeholders to address the issues and challenges related to housing continuity in Klang Valley.

The originality of this research lies in its focus on the specific and under-researched context of Klang Valley, Malaysia, regarding the critical issues of housing affordability and the challenges of housing continuity for homeless households. While housing affordability and affordable housing are widely recognised as global housing policy concerns, this study delves into a localised setting where limited attention has been given to understanding the transitions of homeless individuals to stable housing. The findings provide unique insights into the efforts and challenges faced in Klang Valley, shedding light on the behavioural patterns and factors contributing to recurring homelessness. This paper offers a context-specific perspective that contributes to the broader understanding of housing continuity issues.

The purpose of this paper is to review the current status of collaboration in cultural heritage preservation in East Asia, including digital projects, and to suggest practical improvements based on a cultural structuralism perspective.

Through exploratory research, the paper addresses aspects for successful collaboration in cultural heritage digitisation in East Asia.

The paper indicates the difference in collaboration of cultural heritage digitisation between regions such as Europe and the unique situation in East Asia.

If collaboration between the countries of East Asia was implemented then such a community could deal with the issues of cultural heritage by having a standard scheme or policy.

There has been little literature published on East Asian cultural heritage initiatives, particularly in the area of digitisation and digital preservation.

In Malaysia, a vertical residential building (VRB) is still facing challenges associated with property management. The lack of experience in property management resulted in the management, acting unprofessionally that cause a lot of problems to the homeowners and their properties. The findings demonstrated that maintenance of the facilities and common areas in a VRB is essential to ensure its optimal performance over its life cycle. This has to be carried out efficiently and professionally by the qualified property manager. Unfortunately, not every property manager can perform all the tasks efficiently and professionally. Thus, this leads to an increasing number of complaints by unsatisfied homeowners’ particularly on the maintenance and management of the buildings and facilities. To satisfy the homeowners, the issue of transparency is one of the area concerns that need to be emphasised in the property management system practiced in Malaysia. This case study area of Klang Valley poses as one of the urban areas that has the highest number of vertical buildings, especially the medium cost of VRB. The purpose of this study is to explore the satisfaction level of homeowners towards the management system, maintenance services and facilities provided by the management of the medium cost VRB in the Klang Valley.

The study adopted a quantitative approach. The survey method was used as an appropriate method for inquiry of the data. Face to face survey was conducted with respondents at a medium-cost residential building in Klang Valley, Malaysia.

The findings demonstrated that homeowners living in medium-cost VRB in Klang Valley are satisfied and faced issues with the management system, maintenance service and services provided by the management of the medium-cost VRB. The only issue confronted by the homeowners with the medium-cost VRB is the commitment of the management towards their involvement in organising the activities, problem-solving and taking action on residents’ reports or complaints.

The findings suggest that appointing qualified property managers who understand property management has increased the performance of the management team. Most importantly, qualified property managers are equipped with knowledge in managing people, especially to create awareness on a sense of responsibility and belonging.

This study has bridged the research gap on property management of the medium-cost of VRB in Malaysia. This will add value to the management of the medium cost of VRB.

After a half century in seclusion from the Western world, North Korea is in slow transition to an open market economy. This change presents oppor‐tunities to multinationals in the. Korean peninsula, the U.S. and elsewhere, but creates a dilemma for their government policymakers. North Korea is improving regional stability and has an affordable labor force that is attractive to contract manufacturers, retail goods importers, and large turnkey project contractors. The country holds a promising market, possesses abundant undeveloped natural resources, and offers a strategic location for transportation savings. The study stresses the significance of North Korea in the global marketplace.

North Korea is moving in the direction of an open market as China did a generation ago. With a substantial population of 22 million, the country has abundant natural resources and an affordable labor force that are attractive to contract manufacturers, importers of retail goods, and contractors of large turnkey projects. North Korea's strategic location in the Far East offers enormous savings in transportation cost for multinational firms wishing to ship goods to Southeast Asia and Europe. Five reasons to do business with North Korea are analyzed in the report.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of crime risk on housing prices at a national level in Malaysia during the period from 1988 to 2016.

A hedonic regression approach was used to estimate the Malaysian households’ valuation for crime risk. Specifically, the state-level property index on the state-level reported crime rate was regressed while controlling for state-level socioeconomic variables. The macroeconomic panel nature of the data set provides the merit to use a panel dynamic model instead of the traditional static panel data techniques (fixed effects or first difference).

Panel dynamic estimators consistently show a negative impact of crime risks on housing prices. The estimated elasticity of housing prices with respect to crime risks ranges from −0.141 to −0.166, in line with existing literature using micro level data. In fact, householders in crime hotspot states are willing to pay more for crime reduction compared to householders in non-hotspot states. The willingness to pay has also increased since the implementation of nationwide crime reduction plans in 2010.

This is the first study that has examined the Malaysian people’s willingness to pay to reduce crime. This information is important in determining the optimal level of government expenditures for public safety.

This is the first study to examine the relationship between crime rates and housing prices in Malaysia. This study contributes to the literature by examining the impact of crime rates on housing prices at a national level by using panel dynamic models. The macro level data results are consistent and complement the existing literature based on micro level data.