No abstract

Purpose There is a growing concern in recent years regarding climate change risks to real estate in the developed and developing countries. It is anticipated that the property sector could be affected by variable climate and related extremes as well as by the strategies adopted to combat greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This paper aims to analyse the current knowledge regarding future climate changes to understand their possible impacts on the real estate sector of Malaysia with an aim to help stakeholders to adopt necessary responses to reduce negative impacts. Design/methodology/approach Available literature is reviewed and data related to climatic influences on buildings and structures are analysed to understand the climate change impacts on real estate in Malaysia. Findings The study reveals that temperature in the Peninsular Malaysia will increase by 1.1 to 3.6°C, rainfall will be more variable and river discharge in some river basins will increase up to 43 per cent during the northeast monsoon season by the end of this century. These changes in turn will pose risks of property damage and increase property lifecycle costs. Furthermore, property prices and the overall growth of the property sector may be affected by the government policy of GHG emission reduction by up to 45 per cent by the year 2030. This study concludes that the property sector of Malaysia will be most affected by the implementation of GHG emission reduction policy in the short term and due to the physical risk posed by variable climate and related extremes in the long term. Originality/value The study in general will assist in guiding the operational responses of various authorities, especially in terms of those interventions aimed at climate change risk reduction in the property sector of Malaysia.

Malaysia has committed to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 40% by the year 2020. The fact that transport sector of Malaysia shares a big portion of national GHG emissions; its role is paramount. The present study reviews the current state of GHG emission, the major technical and policy measures that can be adopted, and the measures that have been initiated in Malaysia for GHG emission reduction in transportation sector. Data related to road vehicles and GHG emission from road transportation are collected from open source databases and analyzed to reveal the present trends and possible future changes in GHG emission due to government initiatives. The result shows deceleration of GHG emission from transportation sector of Malaysia in recent years. However, the study reveals that the present measures may not be enough to reduce GHG emission up to the set target. Malaysia needs more prudent strategies for climate-friendly development of transportation to achieve sustainability goals. The study also examines the potential of Malaysia to reduce GHG and the measures that that can be initiated to streamline the effort towards GHG emission reduction are discussed.

Road traffic accidents are often found to follow some spatial and temporal patterns as the factors that influence road accident changes with space and time. Knowledge on spatial and temporal variability of accident can be helpful for optimizing resources in order to improve traffic security management. The objective of the present study is to assess the spatial and temporal variation in the incidence of road traffic accidents and casualties across the states of peninsular Malaysia. Recent trends in number of accidents, casualties and fatalities are also accessed using non-parametric statistical method. The results show more accidents but lower fatalities in more urbanized and developed states, and lower accident levels but more serious fatalities in less urbanized or developed states of Peninsular Malaysia. Trend analysis reveals increasing number of accidents, but decreasing number casualties in recent years in most of the states of Peninsular Malaysia. The temporal analysis shows clear seasonal pattern in accident in some states of Malaysia. Most of the accidents are found to occur in festive month of Hari Raya Puasa festival followed by the month of mid-year school holiday. It is expected that the finding of the study will help in making recommendations in order to improve road safety and reduce road traffic accident in Malaysia.

The public perception towards the existing public transport in Malaysia has constantly been declining over the years. Perceptions are instruments to indicate existing service quality and expected quality from the passenger's point of view. The primary objectives of this study were to assess the needs and perceptions of passengers towards effective public transport and to evaluate the passenger and travel characteristics of public transport in the city of Johor Bahru in Malaysia. The main results formed clear consensuses that Lower Income Group (LIG) are largely captive bus users. Despite being captive bus users, the bus service is highly marginalised in quality terms for their travel, and there is a vast potential for improvement. Similarly, Higher Income Group (HIG) reflected car dominance not only due to poor service quality of buses but also due to other socioeconomic factors. The present research provides many clues for the policymakers to understand public perceptions towards promoting sustainable transport modes, and that can support the implementation of the ambitious Malaysian National Transport Policy (2019-2030).