Shuhana Shamsuddin

Associate Professor, Razak School of Engineering and Advanced Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)

“At the same time that Malaysia is progressing, we see lots of development encroaching into the historic places where the real identity is. All these urban interventions and developments are slowly eroding the special character and uniqueness of the place.”

Dr. Shamsuddin’s career has been dedicated to advocating for urban sustainability in Malaysia. She has published extensively on historic preservation, livability, public safety as well as urban and environmental design. In particular, she is committed to demonstrating the importance of historic areas of Kuala Lumpur. These have been the primary sites for her research and teaching. Working in Kuala Lumpur’s Kambung Bahru neighborhood, she has supported the community’s effort to defend their homes and land threatened by high-rise development schemes. To her students, she tells the “Tale of Two Cities,” one for the poor and the other for the rich. She has played an important part in giving a voice to the less powerful in the discourse about how development will occurs and who it will benefit.