If you were skeptical that our home country could look different, I wouldn't fault you. There are many pesky things about living in Malaysia that can drive folks up a wall (literally as well, perhaps).

However, At YHRD, we're convinced that our neighborhoods are about to change for the better. Here's how things are starting to take shape.

Recent announcement by the MoT to reduce speed limits in school zones, hints of a forthcoming congestion tax, and incentives to enable cheap public commuting sends a clear message the signals an incoming mobility shift. Paired with the removal of subsidies on petrol, and an increase in traffic congestion, it is becoming much easier to choose alternative transit opposed to privatized commuting.

We are in the early stages of a mobility shift. We anticipate changes to our economy as adoption of public transit and alternative mobility increases. We take cues from other countries that have opposite mobility patterns from our country. Take Singapore for example, with a modal split of 67/33 (67% take alternative transit, 33% drive private vehicles)—their neighborhoods are different from Klang Valley and are often envied by those staying here.

The reality is, the current built environment in Klang Valley was designed with privatized vehicles at the forefront. The market, through and through, was tailored to the family with two kids, and two cars. Developers spend millions building parking levels to condominiums, our neighborhood streets are designed like highways, and the thought of another expressway never fazed anyone.

The biggest enemy of a car-oriented city is density. It turns out that cars are incredibly inefficient at utilizing space. As the city increases its population base, we struggle to find space to store our cars, and move around sluggishly as congestion sweeps our 5 lane highways. The population of Kuala Lumpur doubled in the past 20 years, and is 9 times what it was when most terrace neighborhoods were built in the 1970s and 1980s. These numbers are great for our city’s tax base, but alarming to car users. Where would we store our vehicles? As a result, we see our streets littered with cars. An empty parking space outside our destination is akin to striking a lottery. The band-aid to our problem was simple—more parking spaces, wider streets, and more parking spaces per residential unit.

The amount of investment dollars into the car economy makes it difficult to untangle our city from this paradox. For example, almost every single new high rise development over the past 15 years required 2 car-parks per unit in order to sell. Why would someone, who spent a premium to purchase car-parking lots, forgo the privilege of using it to own and store a car? Breaking poor driving habits is even more difficult. Many would rather drive 10 minutes to their eatery across the street than use the same amount of time walking to the same destination. The list of our car-oriented behavior is inexhaustible.

Yet, political will and bottom-up action is starting to change the conversation. The problems with car-centric city development is quite clear to many city councils—and many are taking action against it. Subang Jaya will implement 4 km of bike lanes yearly per YB Michelle’s game plan, taking up space from cars at street level. Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) is transforming three different school zones throughout the city that prioritize people, not cars. The rise of bus lanes, and the slow (but sure) adoption of MRT users show a steady increase in public transportation users.

The change in interest of the city to protect people, and disincentivize cars will only grow in momentum. But what makes modal shift truly exciting, is the potential for Klang Valley to increase in livability. People relate to things around them (cities included) in a similar way to interacting with other people. To listen well to someone, you would have to slow down, move closer to them, focus, tune in, and pay attention. When walking or cycling, people are given the opportunity to interact with their city in ways that could never happen when shut away in a car.

And this is where neighborhood transformation begins to us. What would a neighborhood in Klang Valley look like in 5, 10 or 15 years as these mobility shifts start to take root in the houses, streets, parks, shop-areas, around us? What would it mean for us to design for the function of walking rather than driving? What would the new users of our neighborhoods look like and how would we design for them?

At YHRD, our vision is to see livable neighborhoods for families multiply throughout Klang Valley. As an Architectural and Interiors Design Build, we design for people first. How can our homes strengthen human ability and enable independence? How can our homes contribute to the larger fabric of the neighborhood? How could we synergize the spaces in the home with what’s outside? How would we create spaces for children to play, grow and interact?

We embark on this journey together with Bike Commute Malaysia and Commute Initiatives, both actively influencing neighborhoods for safer, and sustainable streets and communities. How do we build complete networks that can integrate the livelihoods of neighbors? How do we design streets that put the wellbeing of people in the forefront? Our vision is clear, and our work is to build towards this, brick by brick, home by home.

How do you see your neighborhood transform?

Happy to chat,

Timo