Chin Wai Lun, The Edge Malaysia

This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on June 1, 2026 - June 7, 2026

More than half a century ago, Malaysia embarked on an ambitious housing mission to move the urban poor out of squatter settlements and into homes with access to basic necessities such as water, sanitation and proper infrastructure.

The efforts would eventually become one of the country’s development success stories, helping to sharply reduce urban poverty while avoiding the sprawling slums seen in many rapidly urbanising cities around the world.

Think City’s report, From Roof to Resilience: A Social Assessment of Malaysia’s Public Housing, suggests that these public housing schemes are now facing a different kind of crisis. It highlights that parts of Malaysia’s public housing sector are at risk of systemic decline, with some communities showing signs associated with the “ghettoisation” of urban poverty.