Rural Planning for the Well-being of Society
Abstract
Since independence, rural development has always been considered as an important agenda for national development to address the state of poverty, deprivation, rural disadvantages and rural-urban disparity. Rural planning and development are main drivers to the sustainable process of economic, social, cultural and environmental change that enhance the well-being of rural society. This lecture examines the role of rural planning & development in achieving well- being of society. The first part of this lecture reviews the concepts of rural planning & development and paradigm shifts of rural development, influenced by the changes in development thoughts. It also reveals the experiences in Malaysia which shows several shifts of emphasis and approaches to rural planning and development such as from top-down approach to community empowerment, and from infrastructure development and economic centric to human centric. Rural development has tremendously reduced poverty and improved the well-being of the rural society. However, the persistent of imbalanced development due to the process of continuous urbanization in metropolitan regions has created new challenges from the depopulation of the rural areas.The second part of the lecture focuses on the contributions of the author in the field of rural planning and development. These include teaching, research, consultancy, publication, and community engagement. Efforts to enhance knowledge and experiences in rural planning and development were expedite through the establishment of the Rural Research and Planning Group that bring together local and international experts and practitioners to exhange knowledge, and experiences as well as establishing networkings and collaborations.The final part of the lecture present some suggestions and views with regard to rural planning and development pathways in the future. These include approaches to rural planning, research direction, development agenda and rural governance for achieving the long term well-being of rural society.
Perancangan Luar Bandar Untuk Kesejahteraan Masyarakat
Abstrak
Sejak mencapai kemerdekaan, pembangunan luar bandar telah menjadi agenda penting dalam pembangunan negara bagi menangani masalah kemiskinan, kekurangan, kelemahan dan jurang bandar-luar bandar. Perancangan dan pembangunan luar bandar menjadi teras kepada kelestarian proses transformasi ekonomi, sosial, budaya dan alam sekitar ke arah kesejahteraan masyarakat. Syarahan ini mengupas peranan perancangan dan pembangunan luar bandar dalam mencapai kesejahteraan masyarakat. Bahagian pertama syarahan ini mengulas tentang konsep perancangan dan pembangunan luar bandar dan anjakan paradigma pembangunan luar bandar dengan pengaruh perubahan pemikiran pembangunan. Pengalaman di Malaysia juga menunjukkan terdapat peralihan penekanan dan pendekatan dalam perancangan dan pembangunan luar bandar seperti dari pendekatan ‘atas-bawah’ kepada pengupayaan komuniti, dan dari pembangunan berpaksi infrastruktur serta ekonomi kepada pembangunan berpaksi manusia. Pembangunan luar bandar telah berjaya mengurangkan kemiskinan dan meningkatkan kesejahteraan hidup masyarakat desa. Bagaimanapun, kewujudan jurang pembangunan yang disebabkan proses urbanisasi secara berterusan di kawasan metropolitan telah mewujudkan cabaran baru berkaitan dengan pengurangan penduduk di kawasan luar bandar. Bahagian kedua syarahan memberi fokus kepada sumbangan penulis dalam bidang perancangan dan pembangunan luar bandar. Ini termasuk pengajaran, penyelidikan, perundingan, penulisan, dan penglibatan komuniti. Usaha untuk memartabatkan ilmu perancangan dan pembangunan luar bandar telah dilaksanakan oleh penulis melalui penubuhan Rural Research & Planning Group (RRPG) yang turut mengembleng pakar-pakar antarabangsa dalam aktiviti pertukaran ilmu dan pengalaman serta jaringan kerjasama. Bahagian ketiga syarahan mengemukakan beberapa gagasan dan pandangan penulis mengenai laluan pembangunan luar bandar pada masa hadapan bagi mencapai kesejahteraan. Ini termasuk pendekatan dalam perancangan, hala tuju penyelidikan, agenda pembangunan serta tadbir urus bagi mencapai kesejahteraan jangka panjang masyarakat luar bandar.
