A study on the location, accesssibility and use of local parks : selected studies of three local parks in Kuala Lumpur

Abstract

In Malaysia, many issues have been connected to the parks in residential areas such as not being properly located, lack of facilities, not safe and the most important is poor maintenance. These issues also involve local parks whereby; parks users are not satisfied with the services of local authority. Users complain of lack of facilities, inadequate parking spaces and lack of safety and accessibility problems. It is important for planners, landscape architects, park managers and local authorities to look into these problems due to the increasing demands from the publics. In Kuala Lumpur, the situation is the same and has led to underutilization of local parks. There are 35 local parks in Kuala Lumpur. Of these, 3 parks have been selected for this study. These are: Burung Garuda Local Park, Padang Road Local Park and Senang Ria Local Park. 50 users from Garuda Road Local Park, 40 from Padang Road and 65 from Senang Ria Local Park were randomly selected and interviewed through a questionnaire. The sample covered 3 groups of park users’ namely male and female teenagers, adults and the elderly. There are differences in frequency of park use and time spent by park users. Park users at Burung Garuda and Padang Road visit the park once a week but park users at Senang Ria come daily. Park users frequently visit the parks because of the suitable location, easy access and safe environment. Lack of maintenance affects the frequency of park use. There is a relationship between frequency of park use with location, safety and security, maintenance and age of park users. Local parks should be located at suitable locations, be easily accessible and safe. In order for the parks to be used frequently, it is important to understand the park users’ needs, desires and demand for the recreational facilities of local parks. Most importantly, local parks should be managed efficiently in order to be in good condition and to avoid being underutilized