Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been speaking about the Kuala Lumpur Creative and Cultural District and the blueprint for change it represents. We spoke to Think City’s Matt Benson about the genesis of the KLCCD as well as PNB President and Group CEO Zulqarnain Onn about the recently launched Merdeka 118 Community Grants Programme....
Think City recently announced the launch of the first part of an ambitious new urban regeneration project, the Kuala Lumpur Creative and Cultural District, a wide-ranging initiative that it is spearheading in the downtown areas of KL. That phase, a Community Grants Programme linked to the landmark Merdeka 118 development, was created by PNB Merdeka Ventures Sdn. Berhad (PMVSB), a wholly owned subsidiary of Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB). Concentrating on sports, arts, heritage and business, its focus is on initiatives that will have a positive impact on the local community in the precincts surrounding Merdeka 118....
Last week we announced the launch of a Community Grants Programme linked to the landmark Merdeka 118 development in KL Downtown’s district. The project is the first part to launch of a wide ranging initiative that Think City is spearheading, the Kuala Lumpur Creative and Cultural District....
Over the past decade, downtown Kuala Lumpur has been a particular focus of Think City’s work in Kuala Lumpur. As Think City Programme Director Matt Benson reminded The Citymaker in a recent podcast, Building A New Creative And Cultural District for KL, it’s not only the heritage core of Kuala Lumpur, containing a wealth of cultural assets, it’s also the iconic area in which Malaysia’s independence was declared. ...
Over the past few weeks we’ve been shining a light on the work of the Think City Institute, both in its education and advocacy roles, and its mission to create and sustain a new generation of placemaking experts. We spoke to Dr. Richard Engelhardt, an historian, archaeologist, and anthropologist who is a longtime advisor to Think City. ...
Downtown. Sometimes all the noise and hurry masks underlying problems that you don’t notice when you’re listening to the music of the city. Kuala Lumpur’s heritage core has hollowed out...
As we enter, with hope, into a phase where the global COVID-19 pandemic may be brought under control, if not eradicated, and a number of countries have started to loosen domestic and international travel restrictions, the future role of our heritage assets is very much at question. ...
Often, when we talk about building resilience we talk about the strategies and programmes that are being used to achieve those policy goals. This week we look at the Think City Institute (TCI) and its mission to create a new generation of placemaking experts who will help to reshape the towns, cities and communities they live in. ...
This week the Reflexive City has the great pleasure of talking to a heritage conservation expert who has been instrumental in setting up the Think City Institute. A former UNESCO Regional Advisor for Culture for Asia and the Pacific, thought leader Dr Richard Engelhardt has been an adviser and consultant to Think City for the last 10 years. ...
The Penang State Government recently announced the top prize winners of the Penang Bay International Ideas Competition. Launched in August 2020, the competition was designed to invite innovative ideas from around the world to transform the Penang Bay area into a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) compliant city zone and economic area. ...
This week we celebrate International Women’s Day with an exclusive interview with Suryani Senja Alia, an inspiring entrepreneur, arts advocate and gallerist. A former lawyer and investment banker, Suryani is the founder of Cult, a Kuala Lumpur-based art gallery championing the work of new artists. Her heritage-inspired online lifestyle brand, Senijari, is helping to reshape the way we think about artisanal crafts and their role in contemporary design. And did we mention that Suryani., in her role as a member of our Board of Directors, is a driving creative force at Think City!...
As Malaysia undergoes its second major movement control order, Think City has released its first Malaysia Business Community Pulse Check Report, conducted in the third quarter of 2020. Focusing on the downtown areas of Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru and George Town, the survey was designed to develop an understanding of the market conditions that business operators have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic...
In the wake of the US Presidential elections, the Reflexive City looks at the growing polarisation in societies around the world. Looking at a fascinating op-ed by social entrepreneur and activist Eli Pariser, co-founder of Upworthy, Maya and Matt ask if the future of citizen democracy lies in adapting some the lessons and learnings of the public park movement and applying them to our digital spaces. ...
We speak to Dr Matt Benson, Think City’s programme Director about the Penang Bay International Ideas Competition and take a look at Sällbo, a Swedish experiment in multigenerational living and...
On the Reflexive City podcast, Maya Tan and Matt Armitage discuss the launch of Kebun Kita(r), an innovative community-based urban farm created by Think City that is bringing food production to...
Donovan Rypkema is the Principal of PlaceEconomics and President of Heritage Strategies International, working in the intersection of economics and built heritage. He wields vast experience in a successful US-based...