My Urban Challenge: Mayor of Penang

By Apala Bhattacharya

What challenges does this tourism hub face?

Penang Island in Malaysia has officially only been granted a city status in 2015, but it is already considered the Silicon Valley of the East; a tourism hub; and has also been selected as the best place to retire in Southeast Asia by many.

Penang Mayor, Yew Tung Seang, points out that “the main issue for us is still basic": the challenge combines issues of cleanliness and traffic, he explains. “We would like to sustain one of the cleanest cities in Malaysia, and even in Asia,” he explains.

To tackle these problems, the Mayor points out several initiatives already in place - the city has a team that uses IoT enables fleet management to help keep the city clean. The city also introduced a free central transit area, which provides free public transport and dedicated bicycle lanes span the city’s length to help control pollution and congestion.

Read more about the city's initiatives below: