Community Focused Urban Regeneration

Community Focused Urban Regeneration

In 2009 Think City was founded to spearhead the urban regeneration of the historic city of George Town, Penang, following the city's inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Think City has taken a unique approach to urban regeneration: it is a hybrid organisation that is neither a government agency nor an NGO, but rather a not-for-profit company that receives the majority of its funding from Yayasan Hasanah, the foundation of Khazanah Nasional, Malaysia's sovereign fund. Since 2015 Think City has commenced work in three other Malaysian cities – Butterworth, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru.

Think City's approach from the beginning has been community focused, starting city regeneration through a public grants programme, and working closely with different communities to identify needs and build capacity. Whilst taking this community focused approach, Think City also recognises that much of city regeneration involves the public realm, so a close working relationship with local government has been essential, partnering with city leaders to work towards best practice models of public realm improvement and enhancing community engagement in shaping these projects.

This networking event will commence with a presentation by Think City that will comprehensively explain the process that the organisation undertakes, that will highlight both the challenges faced as well as the success stories. Following this there will be a panel discussion featuring representatives from Think City as well as some of the community groups and local government that it has worked with in Penang and Kuala Lumpur. This will provide participants the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback on how the methodology might be improved or applied in their own city, and the event will close with a call for partnerships for interested parties to further the cause of community focused urban regeneration in the region.