Think City committed RM30m to make cities more sustainable

KUALA LUMPUR: Think City Sdn Bhd, a community-focused urban regeneration organisation has committed RM30 million in 640 grant projects since 2010, to protect and develop the city's living heritage, culture and architecture.
Think City KL Programme director Dr Neil Khor said the grants were offered through the Think City Grant Programme (TCGP) to encourage sustainable liveable environment and help building owners to undertake restoration work on their properties, as well as embark on projects to build the momentum of civil society and private sector initiatives.
"The first task of Think City was to rejuvenate the historic city of George Town, Penang and RM16.5 million total grants were distributed, RM74 million (related project expenditure) and 600 total direct and indirect jobs created," he told Bernama after speaking at the networking event of the 9th World Urban Forum (WUF9) here today.
He noted that TCGP was open for a minimum of twice annually and available for individuals, companies or non-governmental organisations in George Town, Butterworth, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru for a minimum grant of RM5,000.
Think City, which was established in 2009, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Berhad and funded by Yayasan Hasanah. It aims to create more liveable, resilient and people-centric cities.
The success of rejuvenating George Town led to the programme's expansion to three other places, namely Butterworth, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Baru.
Khor said Think City worked closely with local governments, international agencies and various local communities, building effective partnerships to enhancing capacity, and hoped to deliver long-term holistic and sustainable solutions for the current and upcoming generations.
The week-long WUF9, beginning Feb 7, is being held for the second time in Asia and will hold over 500 events, including assemblies, high-level roundtable talks, dialogues and special sessions.
Themed, 'Cities 2030, Cities for All: Implementing the New Urban Agenda (NUA)', the forum hosted by Kuala Lumpur will focus on implementing the NUA. — Bernama