The Heritage City Sustainability Index in Malaysia

Abstract

This research aimed to build an index of heritage city sustainability in Malaysia. The method used was quantitative with a field survey design. Ten heritage cities listed in the Malaysian Architectural Heritage Inventory Study Report were utilized as the study areas: George Town, Melaka City, Taiping, Kuala Kubu Bharu, Jugra, Tampin, Muar, Kota Bharu, Kuala Lipis, and Kuching. A total of 1000 respondents were recruited utilizing cluster sampling and a simple random sampling method. The data were analysed with factor analysis methods as well as descriptive and index formulas. The results show that the sustainable heritage cities are Melaka City (0.85) and Muar (0.75). The moderately sustainable ones are Kota Bharu (0.71), George Town (0.68), Taiping (0.67), Kuching (0.67), Jugra (0.63), Tampin (0.60) and Kuala Lipis (0.58). Meanwhile, Kuala Kubu Bharu (0.47) is less sustainable. This analysis implies that heritage cities can be arranged according to their respective levels of sustainability and can act as a reference for the authorities for future development.