JOHOR BAHRU, 2nd February 2017 – The Department of Urban and Regional Planning (DURP), Faculty of Built Environment (FAB) UTM Johor Bahru once again organized its monthly seminar for November 2016.

The talk entitled ‘A Cutting Edge of Development Thinking’ was delivered by Adjunct Professor Datuk Ismail Ibrahim, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) at the B12 Convention Hall FAB.

In his talk, Datuk Ismail highlighted the need for higher order and higher levels of thinking for national development.

“Planners should not only concentrate on the development of physical entities but the development of human capital,” he said.

The IRDA CEO also emphasized that the true measure of real development is at the “grass roots”, whether the ‘ordinary person’ is able to enjoy the comforts of life. He stressed that new approaches to national development require learning from failure and setbacks, and adapting to new challenges to create success.

The shift and drive are the real measures of development. He also added that planners to be at the cutting edge of development should have the criteria such as know how, outward looking, job specialization and the ability to think forward.

Since his appointment as Adjunct Professor at the Department in 2013, Datuk Ismail has continuously shared his extensive knowledge and vast experiences in Iskandar Malaysia with the undergraduate and postgraduate students, lecturers and researchers of FAB.