Transport consultant Rosli Azad Khan said secondary cities should plan for transit-oriented development, with residential, commercial and recreational areas around high-quality public transit hubs.
“This can encourage compact, walkable neighbourhoods while reducing reliance on cars,” he told FMT.
Government incentives should be provided for affordable housing projects near transit hubs, which would ensure access to affordable travel for lower- and middle-income residents, and reduce socioeconomic disparity.
Logistics specialist Gary Foong said government policies and incentives are required to make urban revitalisation more attractive and feasible.
“Another way to accelerate growth is to promote secondary service industries or direct domestic investment opportunities in towns or secondary cities.
“The government has to come up with an attractive supportive ecosystem that offers financial incentives, better ease of doing business, improved infrastructure development and specific key cluster initiatives,” he told FMT.
Foong cited the example of Pekan in Pahang, which was promoted as a destination for automotive production, as well as Bentong for its agrotourism and Kampar in Perak for education.
“To uplift secondary cities and make them viable centres for growth, it is crucial to develop unique reasons that drive demand for investors and tourists.
“Drawing lessons from Bentong and Kampar, the government can position cities as niche destinations that offer economic opportunities and quality of life. To produce honey, one must first find the queen bee,” he said.
Last week, deputy investment, trade and industry minister Liew Chin Tong called for the potential of secondary cities to be unleashed, without making them sprawl. As an example, he cited Kluang in Johor, one of the stops on the Gemas-Johor Bahru double-track rail project scheduled for completion this year.
“The government also intends to create a Johor Bahru-Kluang Komuter service. This will give inner-city Kluang a new lease of life,” he said.
Liew also advocated a change in the mindset separating workplaces from places of living.
“Instead of (mainly) building centralised labour quarters for foreign workers, we want to see more decent housing for young Malaysian engineers,” he said, adding that this can help to bridge the pay gap between Malaysia and Singapore.
Rosli said such developments would involve creating a more sustainable, integrated and accessible public transit network, in line with Liew’s vision of connecting workplaces and residences while avoiding urban sprawl.
He also said secondary cities would require state and federal governments to collaborate on financing transit projects, whether through expanded federal allocations, state-issued government bonds or public-private partnerships.
“A clear division of responsibilities between federal and state governments in public transport planning is necessary, as different states may have differing needs and resources.
“Federal matching grants can incentivise state-level investment,” he said.