Connecting Nature and People

The provision of urban green connector provides many opportunities and benefits to people and, indeed, to many
other living creatures. An obvious example is how these green patches (or commonly known as open and green spaces) can provide opportunities for social activities such as jogging and walking, which yield intangible benefits such as improved mental and physical health. It is evidence from the literature that there is a growing awareness of the importance of open and green spaces in enhancing the quality of urban dwellers’ lives. Hence, the following four
projects in this chapter explore the potential of enriching urban setting in fulfilling the urban population’s needs.

The first three projects by Lim Mei Fang, Kong Kok How and Velerie Lim Sheang Leng manifest nature in an urban setting of Kuala Lumpur city by creating livable and enjoyable urban square, green corridors and urban parks that can help to improve people’s health, both physically and emotionally. In these three projects, the benefits of open and green spaces were fully emphasized where a range of open and green spaces of varying types and of high quality with good facilities are provided which surely would benefit the residents, businesses and investors to the city. Similarly, the project of Johor Bahru Urban Waterfront Development by Mustapha Ali in this chapter also attempts to provide linear open and green spaces that may transform the waterfront fabric of Johor Bahru city into meaningful spaces that encourage social interaction among urbanites as well as attracting businesses and investors.

Mohd Johari Mohd Yusof