Malaysia: Attained independence from the colonial British in 1957

Using Negotiation to Steer Urban Growth: Lessons Learned from MalaysiaDr Noor Rosly Hanif, Dr Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim AhmadCentre of Study for Urban & Regional Real Estate (SURE) Faculty of Build EnvironmentUniversity of Malaya, Malaysia

Malaysia: Attained independence from the colonial British in 1957 Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

We are multi-ethnic society, total population of 24 million people Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Majority is Malay who is the ‘son of soil’ followed by Chinese and Indians Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Governance Structure • A Federated State consists of 13 states and 3 Federal Territories (Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur and Labuan). • Agong (a King) is the Titular Head of the Malaysia (every 5 years), 9 Sultans and 4 Governors. • 3 tiers government system, Central Government, State and Local Government Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Land Ownership System • Being a British Colony, adapted a hybrid land ownership system. • The land ownership: torrens sistem from Australia (ownership title perpetuity or leasehold) • Land matters is under the state jurisdiction: mixed from India and Canada • The land acquisition : from India • Planning system : from United Kingdom Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Having established a brief background of Malaysia, we now move to the purpose of this paper • Aims of this paper:- • to establish that negotiations is embedded within the cultural characteristics and governance of Malaysia. • to demonstrate that negotiation facilitates an acceleration of planning approval. • to consider the extent to which negotiation plays a significant role in steering urban growth. Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

What is negotiation? • Negotiation is a means of getting things accomplished when different groups or organisations need to consider each other’s viewpoints to get things done (Strauss, 1978). • Negotiation as a discussion between two or more parties with the apparent aim of resolving a divergence of interest and thus escaping social conflict (Pruitt et al, 1997). • Negotiation as an act whereby two or more parties with different interests come together to discuss a common matter until they manage to find an acceptable solution. Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

What is negotiation? (influence on culture in negotiation) • Social-psychology researchers assert that people’s cultural background has an influence on people’s negotiation behaviour. • Hofstede (1991) postulated that culture develops from an individual’s repeated exposure to certain customs, practices and behaviours which lead to the internationalisation of certain attitudes and values. • Hofstede (1980; 25) also argued that culture is the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another. Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

What is negotiation? (influence on culture in negotiation) • Han and Lim (2002) in their study on influence of culture argued that the interdependence between nations, markets, enterprises and people has strongly emphasised the visibility of national cultures. In comparing Eastern culture with Western culture, they further argued that Eastern culture features low individualism, high uncertainty avoidance and high power distance. People in this region strive for group interest. Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

What is negotiation? (influence on culture in negotiation) • On the other hand, Han and Lim (2002) claimed that Western culture is characterised by high individualism, low uncertainty avoidance and low power distance. People in this region are noted as striving for self-actualisation rather than for group interest. Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Negotiation in the land development process • Several authors claimed that negotiation conflicts in land development arise to resolve the conflict of rights as well as interest (Carnevale, 1995; Radhakrishnan, 1994; Kennedy et al, 1989). • Kennedy et al (1989) postulated that conflicts could be of two key kinds in negotiation context; conflicts of interest and conflicts of right. Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Negotiation in the land development process (cont) • Carnevale (1995) claimed that ownership of property is often the basis for negotiation. Land owners were granted the rights to use and to develop their land and therefore the initial negotiation held with local authorities is to obtain these rights. However, for the developments to take place, it requires resources and incurred cost. Hence, it involves investment and risk factors. This has resulted in the land owners to protect their investment and thus, lead to negotiation with local authorities to secure their interest. Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Why do developers need to negotiate with the planning authority? • Developers and land owners are interested in utilising their resources in such a way as to increase the monetary interest in the development potential. • However, in order to engage with the development activity formal planning permission is required. • Thus, the action for each party is one that leads to gain of control over the resources that interest them by offering the resources which each has to the other side. Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Why do developers need to negotiate with the planning authority? (cont) • Many writers mentioned that developers and land owners are only attracted in carrying-out developments that will generate income and profit to them (Harvey, 1982; Harvey 1985; Ward, 1994; Millington, 2000). • They control the inputs for the factors of production such as land, finance, labour, and ideas and power (Healey, 1991). • On the other hand, local authorities are vested with power to facilitate development through the issuance of planning permission. Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

The case study : Malaysia • Negotiations have been embedded with the culture of the country. • Negotiation practices have been workable far back from the beginning of the British involvement in Penang, during the setting-up of the new independence government of Malaya (Malaysia) and even until now. • Negotiations between the elite communal groups to achieve political stability of the country are the main key success of this nation. Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

The case study : Malaysia • Government policies were formulated based on the outcomes of these negotiations to achieve certain goals mainly related to economic and social need as well as to maintain political mileage. • The negotiation approach has been widely practice and encouraged in almost all aspect of the country’s day to day endurance. Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

The case study : Malaysia • It is interesting to note that in the context of Malaysia, the government plays a pivotal role in land development activities. • Its involvement starts from the initial planning stage at the national level up to the implementation of the policy at the micro level. • Experience contributes toward the nature and form of government plans and actions. Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

The case study : Malaysia • developers are recognised as government’s partners in ensuring that the land developments schemes could materialise in each of the local authorities’ area (Iskandar, 2002; Gomez, 2003). • Another positive aspect of the Malaysian government approach is the adoption of collaborative governance as the exercise of political, economic and administrative authority in the management of its affair at all levels. Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

The case study : Malaysia • The practice of collaborative governance as shown; in politics, such as the formation of Barisan Nasional (National Front), a coalition of political parties representing each ethnic in the country, while in economy the establishment of MTEN consisting of influence groups, giving suggestions to the government to overcome economic turmoil faced by the nations. Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Instrumental Case Study • The case study further draw on the information collected through questionnaire-based interviews with the Planning Directors of the local authorities in Malaysia. • The questionnaire-based interviews were a mix of structured and semi-structured type. In the former, interviewees were asked questions to which multiple choices answers were appropriate. In the semi-structured questions, the interviewees were asked a number of open-ended and perception based questions. • The aim is to obtain additional information which relates to personal opinion and professional reasoning. Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Instrumental Case Study (Negotiation in the Planning Application Process) Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Instrumental Case Study (Negotiation Issues) Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Instrumental Case Study (Outcomes) • Negotiations with the planning authority at both level I and level II were considered to be successful. To a great extent, it demonstrated that negotiation has facilitated an acceleration of planning approval at the TPC meeting. • Majority of the planning application cases were approved by the TPC with minor changes. • Negotiations and appeals after TPC decision only involved a relatively small number of unique cases only. • Negotiations at level III is very small as most of the dispute between developers and planning authorities could be disentangled before the TPC meeting. Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Conclusion • The empirical case study produced evidences that negotiations are held to be an acceptable practice that forms an essential part of the planning process in Malaysia, and thus, in steering urban growth. • Negotiations occur early at the pre-application stage and continue throughout the planning process. • The study has proven that negotiation has been embedded in the planning process. Thus, negotiations have been recognised as one of the significant activity in the land development processes in Malaysia. Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Thank You E-mail: nroslyhanif@um.edu.my Noor Rosly Wan Nor Azriyati & Ibrahim, University of Malaya, Malaysia

Malaysia: Attained independence from the colonial British in 1957