These Think City Women Tell Us about the City of Their Dreams

Thosais at two in the morning? Zero-emission energy? What kind of city does a Think City woman dream about? We take this opportunity to introduce some of the ladies who toil behind the scenes at the Think City office as they tell us about their ideal cities.

 

AZURA NG

 

Tell us about the work you do at Think City.

I manage the execution of Think City KL projects. This includes The Green Transformation Programme and Laneway Improvement Programme.

What areas of urban rejuvenation are you most passionate about?

Community led urban rejuvenation

What is your vision for an ideal city?

A city which is anchored in the circular economy whilst adhering to historical and cultural significance.

 

DR. CEELIA LEONG

Tell us about the work you do at Think City.

As a spatial analyst in the Urban Solutions team at Think City, I work on mapping and data visualisation.

What areas of urban rejuvenation are you most passionate about?

Heritage and the Human Mind

What is your vision for an ideal city?

A place where you can belong to, live in, grow old in and be proud of.

 

FATIN ABDILLAH

Tell us about the work you do at Think City.

I’m responsible for the cartography and GIS (geographic information system) analyses of the geospatial data of downtown KL.

What areas of urban rejuvenation are you most passionate about?

Culture-led urban revitalisation

What is your vision for an ideal city?

A city powered by zero-emission energy.

 

NURUL HUSNA KHAIDIL

Tell us about the work you do at Think City.

I’m in the Communications and Partnerships department. My work involves manning the front-tier of Think City’s social media platform. I help build content and expose TC’s branding worldwide.

What areas of urban rejuvenation are you most passionate about?

I love reaching out to potential city champions and people who would love to make their cities a better place. Recently, we launched the Citymaker Labs and it was nice to see our participants’ faces light up when they know that they too can play a role in urban rejuvenation.

What is your vision for an ideal city?

A city that’s safe, fun and easy.

 

JIA-PING LEE

Tell us about the work you do at Think City.

As a Programme Director for Partnerships, I am in charge of connecting Think City with international partners that could enhance our delivery on a national scale. My department also curates and delivers programmes of international standing that will build a movement for citymaking in Malaysia.

For example together with our Urban Solutions and KL teams, Partnerships in collaboration with Urbanice, lobbied DBKL for the inclusion of pop-up parklets, kerblets, microhousing units, and a new bus stop. The team worked closely with partners such as DBKL, Parisign, edotco, and Tetawowe to drive the creation of the WUF9 Village in Medan Pasar for the 9th session of the World Urban Forum hosting parallel talks and exhibitions.

Partnerships also runs Brand Communications and I steer the team towards ensuring that our work is communicated through the various media channels from the traditional to the digital. Our advocacy work is also very important to ensure that ‘city-zens’ empower themselves, embrace innovation and new ideas to ensure that the city they are living in is one that contributes to their well-being. To put simply, one that they feel safe, secure and happy in. We also hope to to inspire other citymakers and governments to push boundaries and to look at the city from different perspectives.

As the Programme Director, I am constantly out there spreading the urban agenda by giving talks in various forums both locally and abroad. Partnerships is also committed to capacity building and have been driving a series of workshops. The list includes Conservation workshops with The Getty Conservation Institute, architectural workshops with the Architecture Association School of Architecture (AA) and placemaking workshop with Stipo.

What areas of urban rejuvenation are you most passionate about?

Enabling creative content for the city via hubs like Zhongshan or programmes such as WUF9 Village or Arts on the Move. I love working with people who are passionate about bringing change or bringing new ideas into the city.

What is your vision for an ideal city?

My ideal city would have a good mix of content that caters to many levels of society– from your mom-and-pop store or owner-run businesses– to the sophistication of chains right down to the late night mamak stores, gerai/street food stalls and pasar malam(s).

It has to have a good mix of entertainment from cinemas to outdoor activities but most importantly it has to have a historic core that is vibrant and walkable.

My ideal city has to have loads of trees and green areas, big luscious ones with large canopies providing shade and respite from the heat. If I feel like it, my city must offer me choices or places to hang out at 3am in the morning that is not a bar — it is a city that always has a buzz running through it 24-7. I love that I can get a thosai or a nasi lemak at 2am in the morning. I like a bit of chaos in the city as long as it has a good strong foundation of management and enforcement.

 

TASNIM HADI

Tell us about the work you do at Think City.

I work on Strategy and Partnerships at Think City. I explore opportunities for collaboration with relevant organisations both local and international, design outreach, advocacy, as well as organisational sustainability strategies, and explore and create new programmes to build a citymaking movement such as Citymaker Labs, a design-thinking based workshop to design urban interventions.

What areas of urban rejuvenation are you most passionate about?

I’m most passionate about improving walkability and mobility, placemaking, and heritage conservation.

What is your vision for an ideal city?

My ideal city would be very green, with wide sidewalks that are well-lit at night, with easy access to public transportation that works and is affordable, with quality housing for people who live in the city. It is a compassionate city that takes care of its people and is cognisant of the needs of children, women, the elderly, and the poor. Ideally the city wouldn’t have an urban-poor population – and is very clean, with very few cars that run on electricity! It is a city where neighbours know each other and public spaces (especially parks) are aplenty and vibrant with food and activities.