MPlan students win 2nd place in Penang Bay Competition

The team:

• Hui Ting Wong
• Helen Claire Carter
• Kulkiran Bedi
• Sikkharini Cintantyadwisthi
• Zixuan Xiong

The competition:

The competition is part of a wider Penang Bay programme, which aims to rehabilitate, regenerate, and rejuvenate the water-based assets of George Town and Butterworth into a seamless and dynamic space. Penang plans to become one of the first UN Sustainable Development Goals cities. 

The brief asked entrants to help craft the future of a city, reimagining the Penang Bay Waterfront over the next 20 years to build social, economic, and environmental resilience. 

Each entry had to address the relevant Sustainable Development Goals (3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13 and 14) and three project components: 1) Butterworth Waterfront, 2) Georgetown Waterfront and 3) The Penang Strait.  

Entrants had to respond to disruptions and transform Penang’s core urban areas and water-based assets into an integrated and resilient new economic zone. The brief encouraged solutions where culture, nature, businesses, and technology were organised symbiotically. 

Further Information about the project can be found at https://penangbaycompetition.com.my/   

36 groups were shortlisted. The judges then chose 8 finalists from this shortlist, from which the MPlan team came 2^nd. All winning entries can be found here: https://penangbaycompetition.com.my/winner/

The marking criteria looked for originality and innovation of ideas, the consideration of the key Sustainable Development Goals, the economic potential of the proposal, and the clarity of ideas. 

The project

The team’s proposal envisioned Penang Bay as a pilot area redefining the ‘City of Tomorrow’. Their interventions see that Penang continuously adapts to disruptions through the empowerment of its existing population and the democratization of social spaces, natural resources, and data.  

They purposefully incorporated this democratic participation in all of their projects so that residents have a sense of ownership over Penang’s urban transformation. Through doing so, they hoped to create a place that fosters creativity and becomes a liveable and resilient city for families and future generations. 

Our masterplan is not the final solution, but rather, a way to promote continuous adaptation and innovation to open pathways for mutual learning across the region, thereby tackling the world’s most pressing challenges. 

Congratulations to all! 

Read a parent's perspective of the programme on our website.