Some thoughts in planning and designing towards a society of leisure and recreation

Abstract

Society in the urban environments, like those in the Wilayah Persekutuan, are technologically and economically affluent. Such the urban society seems to have more leisure time and money to be spent on different types of recreation. However, leisure and outdoor re-creation are facing several problems in the highly urbanised Wilayah Persekutuan. Among the problems highlighted in the Kuala Lumpur Draft Structure Plan is the lack of open space. The 'effective standard provision' of open spaces is only 0.2 ha per 1,000 population, which is far below the proposed planning standard of 1.1 ha. The fact that there are several competing demands of urban land use make it difficult to achieve the ideal standard for recreational land, one with a comparatively low economic return. Besides insufficient provision, other problems faced by the Wilayah Persekutuan are 'threat of urban developments intrusions', upkeep and maintenance of the existing open spaces. A currently much talked about profession in the nation, landscape architecture, and one not yet broadly understood by many could be one of the approach to the urban recreational problems. This paper will attempt to explain the association between this profession and urban leisure and recreation. It will further make suggestions as to how these problems can be alleviated through imaginative planning, design systematic provisions and management.