Implementing the Malaysian Heritage Garden as the Identity for National Landscape: Case Study in Putrajaya

Abstract

Nowadays, there are plentiful open parks operated for relaxation and entertainment in Malaysia. Putrajaya is one of the cities which have many public parks around. The aim of this study was to acquire the opinions of users regarding the needs of establishing "the Malaysian heritage garden concept" today. The main objective is to distinguish the factors that caused the implementation difficulties, and the initiatives that have been made to introduce this concept. Site observation and interview methods are used for collecting data. Respondents were selected using the simple random sampling technique among users of the public parks in Putrajaya and the experts of Malaysian Garden concept. The results revealed that the entire park design does not highlight the elements of the Malaysian Garden concept (the Malay Garden criteria's). From the information gathered can be presumed that Putrajaya is yet not prepared to highlight the traditional elements in landscape design. Although, Putrajaya is the federal administrative center of the country, but still not able to accentuate the national identity.

Exploring the Guideline Criteria for Malaysian Garden Design Concept

“…The issue is the existence of a concept called the Malay Landscape or Malay Garden in the country at the moment [16]. Have we already created a Malaysian Garden in our nation?…”

Reflections on Green Spaces and Urban Leadership from Riga

“…The diversity of projects taken onboard by the Emerging Urban Leaders programme was a good reminder of the richness of aspects incorporated in the discussions revolving around parks. While displaying propensity towards different forms of artwork, diverse cultural influences, positioning of leisure activities and choice of plants governed by the local taste, aesthetics and weather conditions, many examples presented throughout the meetings of Emerging Urban Leaders captured a generic propensity towards certain traditions of planning and performance of gardening, various green spaces serving as "sites of environmental stewardship" (Vanni Accarigi & Crosby, 2019, p. 527) and areas where local and national traits are imagined for the future projection (Zakaria, Dali, & Hussein, 2019). The notable differences in the size and scope of green spaces in or close to urban areas are captured by the typology spanning from spacious nature reserves to compact parklets.…”