Malaysia’s heritage structures are facing challenges due to rapid local development and societal challenges that threaten their cultural and artistic values. Improving conservation approaches in this context is an urgent and crucial task. The application of geo-information technologies in laser scanning, photogrammetry, and geographic information systems (GISs) has significantly improved these conservation approaches. In this study, we fused drone images and range data from a laser scanner to construct a high-resolution three-dimensional GIS city model for one traditional Malay settlement located in Malaysia. The results showed that fusing photogrammetry and laser scanning can effectively capture the architectural uniqueness of Malay buildings, including specific façade geometries on walls, roofs, and motifs. The findings show that the development of various geoinformation approaches can assist with the conservation of Malay city heritage in this region.

This paper aims to construct a 3D Malay city based on data collected from DJI Phantom 3, a multi rotor drone, and further analyse the urban form of traditional Malay cities using 3 main urban form components which are buildings, land use and streets. Kota Bharu was selected as the study area and the flight mission produced 793 images which were processed in Agisoft and further constructed 3D GIS in ArcGIS 10.2. The analysis of urban form shows that the old traditional development in north-north west still maintain the identity of Malay urban form, of the organic pattern of streets, preserve Malay architectures and the type of land use for traditional settlement. This finding shows that, Malay values in cities and architecture still remain and it must be preserved from any development and it can be a benchmark on adapting technologies and shifting methods in conservation and safeguarding our heritage cities in Malaysia.

Urbanization creates a landscape modification that leads to urban heat island; this problem is worsening in Kuala Lumpur areas with a large number of population, extensive economic activities with a wide range of factories and transportation, and a modern lifestyle; air conditioner uses, due to the heat generated. This preliminary study examined the correlation of ambient temperature and relative humidity and its relationship to landcover types. The appropriate approach of conducting in situ measurement should be identified before carrying out future study in order to avoid bias. A mobile survey with a temperature data logger with GPS and the processing of remote sensing images for the identification of landcover are applied. Qualitative and quantitative analysis indicates that the landcover conditions will influence the urban temperature that indirectly contributed to the occurrence of urban heat island.

Keywords: Land surface temperature, Land cover, Remote Sensing, Geographical Information System Land cover type is an important signature that is usually used to understand the interaction between the ground surfaces with the local temperature. Various land cover types such as high density built up areas, vegetation, bare land and water bodies are areas where heat signature are measured using remote sensing image. The aim of this study is to analyse the impact of land surface temperature on land cover types. The objectives are 1) to analyse the mean temperature for each land cover types and 2) to analyse the relationship of temperature variation within land cover types: built up area, green area, forest, water bodies and bare land. The method used in this research was supervised classification for land cover map and mono window algorithm for land surface temperature (LST) extraction. The statistical analysis of post hoc Tukey test was used on an image captured on five available images. A pixel-based change detection was applied to the temperature and land cover images. The result of post hoc Tukey test for the images showed that these land cover types: built up-green, built up-forest, built up-water bodies have caused significant difference in the temperature variation. However, built up-bare land did not show significant impact at p<0.05. These findings show that green areas appears to have a lower temperature difference, which is between 2° to 3° Celsius compared to urban areas. The findings also show that the average temperature and the built up percentage has a moderate correlation with R² = 0.53. The environmental implications of these interactions can provide some insights for future land use planning in the region.

The Malay traditional environment is the interaction between human, natural environment, and culture, which is then translated into the spatial design of houses and their surroundings. However, rapid urbanisation has transformed many traditional villages by incorporating urban elements into the villages. This study focuses on understanding the existence of the socio-cultural values of a traditional Malay house compound in Kampung Paya Rumput Jaya, Melaka. The objective of this study is to identify the Malay socio-cultural values and the spatial arrangement of the traditional Malay house compound. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire survey, semi-structured interviews, a mapping analysis (site inventory), and a thematic/content analysis (interviews). The findings indicate that the community in the villages are still upholding the Malay traditional socio-cultural values. Future design of a house compound should incorporate the characterisation of a traditional Malay houses compound for maintaining at least part of the Malay traditional socio-cultural values.