Brief Biography
Dr. Goh Hong Ching is a senior lecturer at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Malaya. She holds a Doctor of Natural Science degree (Geography) from Bonn University, Germany. She received a Bachelor degree in Urban and Regional Planning then a M.Sc. degree in Tourism Planning, from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. She is a corporate member of Malaysia Institute of Planners and Board of Town Planners Malaysia. She has two main research focuses: (1) tourism- tourism govenance and tourism impacts in protected areas, and (2) urban studies- urban governance, urbanization and related risks, and urban planning.
MSCP Research
Metropolis of Iskandar Malaysia
Urbanization has become a global phenomenon and is increasingly significant, especially in medium and low income countries. Today, more than half of the world’s population resides in urban areas. Historically, cities grew out of some natural advantage in transport or raw material supply. Therefore, it is not surprising that coastal cities remain important. It is about half of the world’s population now lives within 60km of the sea and three-quarters of all the large cities are located on the coast. While urbanization brings opportunities, this growth has not been without challenges. One of the forceful trade-offs of urbanization is deforestation. In fact, deforestation has been identified as the single greatest threat to the survival of the coastal flagship natural resource- the mangroves. Meanwhile, Mangrove For Future (MFF) concluded that the solution to mangrove destruction lies upon the interdependency of effective governance structure and arrangements. Traditionally, the institutional structure in managing natural resources in many developing countries is based on top-down approach. How the existing governance structure and arrangements are interdependent and represented by each stakeholder in mangrove management becomes the key to finding solutions to the mangrove destruction.
Similar to the development at global level, urbanization in Malaysia has pressurized the continued survival of mangrove forests, especially in the southern coast of Johor- Iskandar Malaysia. The region, which is located in the southern part of the Johor state is currently undergoing the fastest economic growth rate in the country. Its sizable development has put remarkable pressure on the forests and the local communities through its massive reclamation works. On the other hand, the Iskandar Malaysia Development Plan also highlights the authority’s efforts to conserve and to protect the remaining mangrove forests, particularly the three RAMSAR sites within its Flagship Zone C.
Therefore, this research aims to identify the mangrove governance in Iskandar Malaysia which involves multi-stakeholders at a variety of institutional levels. It intends to identify a possible solution to the common issues shared among cities in the developing countries, focusing on the natural resource management in light of the fast face urbanization. The research employs a case study approach combining both qualitative and quantitative methods within a duration of 9 months. Ostrom’s Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework will be employed. The expected outcomes of the research are a ready-to-submit journal article and an educational video.