Malaysia to share capabilities of MURNInets at WUF11 in Poland

From Mohd Ashraf Syafiq Mazlan

KATOWICE (Poland), June 27 (Bernama)- Malaysia will share the capabilities of the Malaysian Urban-Rural National Indicators Network for Sustainable Development (MURNInets) system with other countries at the five-day World Urban Forum. 11 that started Sunday (June 26-30).

Town and Country Planning Department (PLANMalaysia) director-general Alias ​​Rameli said his department had received a special invitation from the Shanghai City Council asking PLANMalaysia to share the MURNInets system at the forum to discuss townships.

"MURNInets is a Malaysian product that has been around for 24 years and indeed we can share with other countries how serious Malaysia is on urban sustainability.

"Once the level of urban sustainability is known, it is easy for us to know what the shortcomings are and what things can be improved," he told Bernama when met at WUF11 here.

The MURNInets system was established by PLANMalaysia in 1998 to measure the level of urban sustainability and its implementation in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the New Urban Agenda.

The measurement of sustainable cities in Malaysia is implemented based on the MURNInets framework which contains five strategies, six dimensions, 20 themes and 39 indicators formed based on the country's key economic, social and physical development policies.

According to Alias, the MURNInets system is often referred to by other countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei who want to know how countries measure the sustainability of each city.

“Countries like to consult and share methods to measure urban sustainability. We have also shared about MURNInets in Japan and the United Kingdom, ”he said.

Alias ​​said WUF11 with the theme ‘Transforming Our Cities, For A Better Urban Future’ would be a platform for PLANMalaysia to examine other countries’ best practices that could be applied in Malaysia.

"We can see the urban experience of developed countries how they develop cities and what attention they give," he said.

The WUF was initiated by the United Nations (UN) in 2001 to study one of the most pressing issues facing the world today namely rapid urbanisation and its impact on communities, cities, the economy and climate change.

The forum organised by UN-Habitat is one of the most inclusive international gatherings on urban issues. It brings together representatives of national, provincial and local governments, academics, businessmen, community leaders, town planners and civil societies.

-- BERNAMA