THE current office and property glut the country is facing should not be an issue as the market will readjust itself to tackle the excess, said Malaysian Institute of Planners (MIP) president Ihsan Zainal Mokhtar.

He said the property market will have to readjust and have flexible plans to accommodate the changes.

“You have to adjust. You cannot just accept things the way they are.

“We are not worrying too much. The developers and property market will adjust themselves,” he said at a press conference on the upcoming 10th series of the International Conference on World Class Sustainable Cities in Kelana Jaya today.

Ihsan cited Melbourne as an example, as the Australian city faced a similar situation in the early 1990’s.

“Melbourne allowed the offices to become residences. That was a change of concept,” he said.

New office spaces to emerge in Kuala Lumpur in the next four years will take seven years to be occupied.

Christopher Boyd, the chairman of property consultancy Savills Malaysia Sdn Bhd, said existing office supply in 2017 was 120.8 million sq/ft and would rise to 141.8 million sq/ft in the next four years.

Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM) council member Mustapha Kamal Zulkarnain said millennials were among the major stakeholders that they were concerned.

He said input from the next generation would be useful to overcome issues pertaining to the glut.

“They (younger generation) are using the city in a different way.

“We need that input (from them), which can be properly charted out,” he told reporters today.

The international conference, which will be held on September 27, will explore how cities in Malaysia can be made more livable, resilient and sustainable through better planning.

More than 550 conference delegates are expected to participate, including industry professionals, civil society groups, residents’ associations, and private corporations, among others.

Besides MIP and PAM, the organisers and partners of the conference include Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association and Kuala Lumpur City Hall. – July 3, 2018.