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From Boo Jia Cher
The 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) and Kuala Lumpur’s Local Plan 2040 promise to put transit-oriented development (TOD) at the heart of our cities, enhancing connectivity, cutting car dependency, and making neighbourhoods more liveable.
But in Malaysia, “TOD” too often ends up as a megamall and luxury condo next to a train station, connected by a linkbridge over a 10-lane highway.
If we’re serious about TOD, here are eight ways to move beyond marketing slogans towards real, everyday urban change.
1. Go beyond mega projects and support small-scale, ground-up neighbourhood improvements.
Singapore’s Tiong Bahru and Tokyo’s Shimokitazawa prove you don’t need billion-ringgit malls to create vibrant, transit-linked neighbourhoods. Encouraging shop-lots, small parks, and walk-up apartments around stations can generate activity without wiping out local character.
2. Build neighbourhoods for people, not cars.
Living next to a station means little if a 10-minute walk or bicycle ride to the chicken rice shop feels unsafe. In Taipei, “green corridors” combine trees, lighting, and smooth pavements to make short trips inviting.
In Seoul, cycling lanes connect metro exits to local markets, schools, and bus stops. Malaysia needs similar protected paths and shaded walkways within a 15-minute walking/cycling radius of every station.
3. Cut parking requirements near transit.
Why mandate massive carparks beside MRT stations? For regular public transport users, it’s baffling to see 10 storeys of parking under condos next to a train line, often only a quarter full.
Globally, scrapping minimum parking requirement can cut construction costs by 15–30%. In Malaysia, that could mean that an apartment that otherwise costs RM500,000 can go for as low as RM350,000 when the burden of providing for carparks is taken away.
We should abolish parking minimums, especially in neighbourhoods already served by rail.
4. Clean up the station catchment zone.
Workshops, spray-painting yards and noisy car washes have no place within a 15-minute walk of a station. They undermine the pedestrian environment and diminish the quality of nearby neighbourhoods.
It’s no coincidence these businesses cluster in lower-income areas rather than in affluent districts like Bangsar or Mont Kiara. Poorer neighbourhoods shouldn’t be treated as “car toilets”.
5. Reinvent park-and-rides as community hubs.
Many park-and-ride lots today are vast stretches of asphalt; heat traps that are often underused and prone to littering.
While providing some parking at stations is necessary, we should rethink how these spaces are designed.
By integrating parking with hawker centres, small shops, public toilets, and prayer rooms, we can create vibrant, active hubs that serve commuters throughout the day.
This approach mirrors the model of highway rest stops, which we can adapt and apply to our train stations.
6. Prioritise affordable and mixed-income housing over luxury condos.
Lower-income households are the most reliant on public transport, and avoiding the cost of owning a private vehicle can bring significant savings.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim recently mandated that all new housing developments include schools. Why not extend this principle to public transport access as well?
In Singapore, 80% of HDB flats are within walking distance of an MRT or LRT station. Ensuring that housing around Malaysian stations is affordable would make TOD genuinely equitable, rather than an exclusive perk for the wealthy.
7. Mix uses for round-the-clock life.
When stations are surrounded by only offices or only condos, the area becomes deserted at night if it’s all offices, or eerily quiet in the day if it’s purely residential.
True transit-oriented development needs a mix of homes, shops, markets, daycare centres, clinics, small offices, and even cultural spaces.
This variety keeps foot traffic steady throughout the day and evening, supporting local businesses and making the area feel safer.
In Osaka, many stations are framed by a lively blend of markets, childcare facilities, and neighbourhood clinics, ensuring that the streets are never entirely empty and TOD remains relevant beyond the commute.
8. Make TOD about living, not just transit.
Ultimately, TOD is about more than getting from Point A to Point B. It’s about creating neighbourhoods where public transport is naturally the best choice because it’s pleasant, practical, and affordable — not because there’s a monorail in the distance.
If Malaysia wants TOD by 2040 to be more than a policy slide, it must move beyond the “mall-plus-condo” formula and create human-scaled, mixed-income neighbourhoods around stations.
But this vision is meaningless if highways keep expanding and fuel and car ownership remain subsidised.
You can’t boost public transport use while actively encouraging more traffic. Only when all government ministries and the private sector align to prioritise people over cars will TOD take root.
Otherwise, we’ll still be stuck in jams, no matter how many train lines we lay.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
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