Subang Jaya’s Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Area

I am in full agreement with YB Hannah Yeoh on her position regarding plot ratio for Subang Jaya transit oriented development (TOD) area. In fact, I spoke to her on Friday about the issue at the Deepavali Jom Shopping event in Giant USJ 1. Hannah has taken a strong stance that any plot ratio increase must still get approval from MPSJ and be based on social considerations, and not merely make property developers richer.

The TOD concept is not new, it is globally applied in many cities and municipalities. The idea is to increase density for areas within 400m radius of a tansport hub, such as a LRT station, thus encouraging the residents to be users of public transport.

The current plot ratio is 1: 4 . For TOD area, the initial recommendation was an increase of plot ratio to 1: 6, which I think is acceptable. But when Hannah told me that the Selangor State government had recently approved a higher 1:8 ratio, my immediate reaction was, it’s way too high.

As a comparison, KL city centre has a plot ratio of 1: 10 and the latest for the old Wisma Angkasa Raya site, a plot ratio of 1: 12 was given. Do we want to transform Subang Jaya to look like KL city?

For my constituency of Subang Jaya, I am certain that the residents enjoy the suburbia feel of the place where the buildings are not too tall and a sense of peace and space prevails. A higher plot ratio will diminish that sense and bring the city into suburbia. Selangor must always be mindful not to side with powerful developers over the rakyat’s needs.