DEVELOPMENT THEME * EcoVillages

DEVELOPMENT THEME

ECOVILLAGES 

In order to fully understand the complexities inherent in this Development Theme it is necessary to examine its, two main aspects independently. Firstly we shall examine the idea of creating and marketing Villages and then we shall examine the idea of giving the development a marketing edge by making it ecologically friendly.

Villages 

The word Village automatically conjures up a variety of attractive images.  

In recent years the trend in Residential Developments within Malaysia, and particularly the new townships of Putrajaya and Cyberjaya, has been towards the creation of garden cities with attractive landscaping sophisticated infrastructure and generous open space provisions. It is now a necessity from a marketing viewpoint to create Residential Developments that place an emphasis on landscaping and open spaces. Yet it cannot always be possible for independent developers to make generous gestures towards open space provision without jeopardizing the commercial viability of their projects. 

In addition to their ability to conjuring up attractive images, Villages also have other attractive qualities. They are practical. They are of an human scale that gives them great appeal. They have sensible provisions with regard to open spaces and community facilities and their survival as traditional forms of settlement is testimony to their commercial viability.

Village life was never the exclusive reserve of the wealthy or well connected. On the contrary, most village housing was built to serve the working communities. It was for agricultural laborers, railway workers, plantation workers and estate workers. The houses were basic, amenities were scarce and yet the communities were united and strong, and the quality of life is still the subject of envy to this day. 

We would all like to propose a return to a bygone era of low density housing and wide open spaces filled with an abundance of mature trees and fragrant flowers. And yet there is a hard commercial reality from which we cannot escape.  

In recognizing that commercial reality, we believe that it need not be necessary to compromise our ideals or to create yet another bland and characterless development of which there are already so many unmemorable examples.

And so the theme of creating a series of Villages is born. Villages that can serve all communities, rich and poor alike. Villages that are of a human scale. Villages, the residents of which, feel that they are part of a community and not merely a statistic in yet another mass housing development.

  

EcoVillages

Having established the idea of breaking down what is in reality a massive dense Residential Development into a series of smaller Villages, each with the potential to develop its’ own unique character, we look towards the Eco part of our theme.

Put very simply the idea of an EcoVillage “is a community whose members try to provide a high quality lifestyle without taking more from the Earth than they give back”.

Ecologically sensitive developments are rapidly gaining popularity in Developed Countries, in particular in the United States and in Europe. They are often associated with alternative lifestyles and as such are not always regarded as having relevance to mainstream property developments. And yet they are now beginning to have genuine mass appeal. It is becoming fashionable to be concerned about global issues of sustainable development and many of the eco ideas and ideals are gaining mainstream acceptance.

Unlike the traditional supporters of Ecologically sensitive developments this new wave are not society dropouts living a reclusive lifestyle in harmony with nature but are often highly educated professionals holding well paid jobs who have come to see the wisdom of applying some restraint to their lifestyles. They are not interested in trading in the conveniences of their modern lifestyles to save the planet. Rather they see ecological issues as relevant and important and are willing to participate, and be seen to participate, within certain pre-determined limits.

Eco lifestyles may not appear relevant in our Malaysian Context and yet there are some aspects that are worth considering. It is possible to see from the above model of new converts to eco-issues how ecologically sensitive developments could become trendy, even in Malaysia. Malaysia lags far behind with regard having a groundswell of Western style pioneers of alternative lifestyles. Yet if we skip that entire generation it is entirely possible to imagine Malaysians joining the eco-bandwagon in the form of highly educated professionals holding well paid jobs who have come to see the wisdom of applying some restraint to their lifestyles.

Even with the optimistic view expressed above, we must be realistic in admitting that there is a period of education and acceptance to be endured before Ecological issues can become marketable in Malaysia.

It is this role as educator which we believe could give this development its’ marketing edge. The show village gives us an ideal opportunity to showcase some of the ideas contained in Ecologically sensitive developments as optional extras for future developments. Many ideas may be unpalatable to the local market, but there will almost certainly be a few which are attractive and which become widely adopted. From humble beginnings, and despite lukewarm public response, it is possible that the one or two ideas that are adopted will make the developments genuine EcoVillages. The ideas could make this development of  residential units the only example of an ecologically friendly development in the Malaysia. 

GRA Architects Sdn Bhd