263 The incomprehensiveness of the formulation of housing planning policy revealed by the content analysis was clarified by the respondents in the survey and in-depth interview. The majority of the town planners (in the questionnaire survey) agreed that the shortage of policies which cover the aspects of housing demand has contributed to the ineffectiveness of the process of planning and controlling of housing supply in the study area. The experienced town planners interviewed have similar views on this issue. The majority of them recognised the significance of incorporating the aspects through the formulation of housing planning policies to enable the LPAs to consider the market demands in the process of housing approval.
8.2.3
Determination of Future Housing Land Requirement This research has found that the activity of determination of housing land
requirement was not conducted exhaustively in the study area’s LPs, where out of the 7 LPs prepared, only 4 have determined the total housing land area required in the future. In those 4 LPs, although the future housing land area figures tallied with the housing forecast, they are found to have failed to translate the figures accordingly into the LP proposal maps. The content analysis revealed that the total housing land zoned has exceeded the actual land area required for future housing supply in the Ulu Tiram, Kulai-Senai, Pasir Gudang and Johor Bahru District LPs. The findings of the content analysis are in line with the perceptions of the town planners, where most agreed that the practice of determining future housing land requirement in the study area’s LPs is weak and ineffective. Majority also agreed that the determined area has failed to be translated accurately into the LP proposal map. The practice of distributing future housing land area exceeding the actual requirement has led the research to find the causes and the rationales behind it. The in-depth interviews conducted have revealed many causing factors. Among them are the lack of reference to the development plans, influences by politicians and certain committee and carelessness in assessing housing committed development. There are also logical rationales offered by the experienced town