SYNOPSIS

Our Malaysian cities are growing bigger in spatial and population terms. The total population in Malaysia in 2010 was 28.6 million, and is expected to be 32.4 million in 2020, while the percentage of urban population in Malaysia was 71% in 2010, and is expected to reach 77.2% in 2020 (Department of Statistics Malaysia, population projection based on the Population and Housing Census 2010, adjusted for under enumeration).

Adding to this, many cities in Malaysia face additional pressures from the impacts of rising sea levels and extreme weather events, bringing with them the risk of flooding or periods of water stress. During water stressed periods, temperatures may rise even further in the cities, due to the urban heat island effect. This Talk sets out a wide range of strategies paving the way to implement integrated urban water management (IUWM) in cities in Malaysia.


BIODATA

Ir. C. Kamalesen graduated from Universiti Sains Malaysia in Civil Engineering, in 2000, and obtained a distinction for his MSc in Environmental Science (Integrated Water Resources Management) from Open University Malaysia in 2007. He is a subject matter expert in Integrated Water Resources Management with more than 16 years’ experience in water resources management, flood management, urban and transport infrastructure drainage, and agriculture irrigation and drainage.

Ir. C. Kamalesen is currently a Technical Director at AECOM Perunding Sdn Bhd. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Malaysia and an ASEAN Chartered Professional Engineer. He is also a Corporate Member of the Institution of Engineers Malaysia where he is also registered as ASEAN Engineer, APEC Engineer and International Professional Engineer. He is also registered as Qualified Person with the National Water Services Commission of Malaysia (SPAN). Ir. Kamalesen plays an active role in the Institution of Engineers through the Water Resources Technical Division where he is a Committee Member, and the Malaysian Capacity Development Network in Sustainable Water Resources Management (MyCDNet) as its Honorary Treasurer. He is also currently involved with the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) Integrated Urban Water Management Position Paper Task Force