Johor Bahru Architecture Exhibition : JBcityEX

In Conjunction of 13th JB Art Festival 2016 in October, UTM in collaboration with ThinkCity organised an annual exhibition and workshops for architectural and design related activities in the field of built environment. The aim of these participatory activities is to give opportunity for researchers, stakeholders, as well as the public, to be involved in the design decision making process for the growth and development of Johor Bahru city.

Have the conventional sustainable measures taken fulfilled the social, environmental and economic aspects of the development of the street within the surrounding context? How sensitive would this fast growing development of the street be to the presence of these ‘other’ society – those in a way have been socially excluded? JBcityEX 2016 seeks to advocates the following intertwining the sustainability measure into the design of streets for the use of people in Johor Bahru in the process of making it as a ‘Great City’ in the area of Iskandar Puteri, Johor, Malaysia.

This program will be a platform for the start of cooperation in realizing “30th National Architectural Workshop 2017”, a collaboration between UTM and other organization bodies . The program will gather more than 600 students from 33 institutions of Architectural School across the region. The program will take place at the Faculty of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and the Johor Bahru City in August 2017 as the initiatives to develop and preserve the city of Johor Bahru in collaboration with the local community.

The publics and the corporates would be benefited from this exhibition and forum project. The Architectural Students & as well as the researchers of UTM had come up will many schemes of Johor Bahru Masterplan. There are lots of potential zoning in the masterplan for connectivity method of JB city and as well as the potential business area. Furthermore, there potential reserved and future cultural area as well in promoting the cultural diversity and harmony. We had developed lots of potential idea in rejuvenating Johor Bahru city during our Urban Studio thus it is time to educate the publics and the authorities. Forum session will strengthen and develop our understanding through the process of making Johor Bahru city great.

Informative Urban Design Exhibition and Forum are really essential for the publics to understand the development of a city. They need to be informed and heard during the design process of a city. In this case, the development process of Johor Bahru City. Organising series of workshops was an effective method of public participation for development plan on any structural plan of city. Through the two-way communication kind of workshop, it could create a dialogue session that provides feedback, established trust and credibility in the community and to ensure the planning authority to fulfil their obligations on the needs of the public. In addition, it could let the public to be involved in the earlier process, receive feedback before making any decisions.