The Department of Urban and Regional Planning (JPBW), Faculty of Built Environment (FAB), UTM, Johor Bahru, has once again successfully organised its 3rd monthly seminar for 2016. The talk entitled “A Cutting Edge of Development Thinking” was by Adjunct Professor Datuk Ismail Ibrahim, Chief Executive, Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) on 28th November 2016 (Monday) at the Convention Hall B12, FAB.
Datuk Ismail highlighted the need for higher order and higher level thinking i.e. thinking at the national level and for national development. Planners should not only concentrate on the development of physical entities but the development of human capital. He emphasized that the true measure of real development is at the “grass roots”, whether the “ordinary person” is able to enjoy the comforts of life. He stressed that new approaches to national development require learning from failure and set backs and adapting to new challenges to create success. The shift and drive are the real measures of development. He also added that planners to be at the cutting edge of development should have the capability i.e. the know how, be outward looking, have specialization and the ability to think in the 3rd and 4th dimension i.e forward thinking.
Since his appointment as Adjunct Professor at the Department in 2013, Datuk Ismail has continuously shared his extensive knowledge and vast experiences in Iskandar Malaysia with the undergraduate and postgraduate students, lecturers and researchers of FAB. The talk ended at 1.00pm with a Q and A session.