ABSTRACT
Rapid urbanization is a feature of Malaysia’s economic development. The population of Malaysia multiplied 11 times over the past 110 years, way ahead of most countries in Southeast Asia with an average of a 7-fold increase. Malaysia’s urbanization rates have increased from 26.8 percent in 1970 to 70.9 percent in 2010, despite its smaller population and lower densities (Hasan and Letha-Nair 2014). Malaysia has the fourth-largest amount of built-up land in East Asia as of 2010, only lower than China, Indonesia, and Vietnam (World Bank 2015). According to the Department of Statistics, Malaysia’s population will reach 38.5 million people by 2040.
