Restoration and Revitalization of Klang River @ Bandar Diraja Klang


Rivers are sensitive landscape areas. They are lifelines in all kind of aspects not only to human being but also other living things. River is dynamic, diverse and has complex ecosystem. It has always been a focus for numerous human activities since the early times. The rivers and their floor plains are normally used for many purposes. However, rapid increase in urban population and the growing demand of water and land for development have led to the degradation of many river ecosystems. Numerous modifications have been made to the rivers for adapting human needs and wants. Hence, the water quality and the habitats along the river corridor and in the river courses have been seriously disturbed and modified in the name of development. There were instances that priority was not given as the river is covered to give way to other activities and growth. Many of these modifications have degraded the potential of the river to support it basic functions.

Hence, this chapter focuses on the restoration and revitalization of Klang River that runs through the Klang town which is also known as Bandar DiRaja Klang (Klang Royale Town). This assignment is undertaken by the landscape architecture student in their sensitive landscape area studio project. For years the development of the Klang town has been very rapid, resulting in weak and forgotten connection between humans and the river. This phenomenon creates a lot of issues such as water pollution, nature degradation and the abandonment of the river corridor. Hence, the ten projects have been carefully selected through rigorous studio critique and jury selection procedures. The projects highlighted various appealing ideas with diverse interesting concept and design strategies in tackling these issues. Furthermore most of the projects engage with sustainable and environmentally green solutions in order to restore and revitalise the Klang River to its glory.

Osman Mohd Tahir

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