The Malaysia 100YC Grand Finale Exhibition was held in conjunction with Malaysia Urban Forum 2019 today at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center. The exhibition was officiated by UN-Habitat Executive Director, Her Excellency Dato' Seri Maimunah Mohd Sharif and the Secretary General for the Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government (KPKT), Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Bin Mentek.

The exhibition saw 11 local universities presenting their ideas and urban solutions for Malaysia's cities up to 100 years into the future.

A collaboration by Urbanice Malaysia, a Centre of Excellence under Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government (KPKT) together with key partners Nextdor Property Communications Sdn Bhd and Think City Sdn Bhd, the Malaysia 100YC programme was inspired and adapted from the Malaysia Biennial 100YC programme.

Speaking at the launch, Her Excellency Dato' Seri Maimunah Mohd Sharif said that young people are not only the leaders of tomorrow but also the leaders of today and she was delighted to see many students sharing their solutions to address the challenges of urbanization.

Imran Clyde, Founder for the Malaysia Biennial 100YC said "what we find interesting is that three key themes emerged from the students' work, namely that heritage and culture will continue to be important in defining ourselves and our cities, faster and more efficient forms of transportation will be critical and finally that our cities should be better prepared for the effects of climate change".

Norliza Hashim, Chief Executive of Urbanice Malaysia said "the Malaysia 100YC programme is in line with Malaysia's aspiration to advocate, promote and implement projects in support of the New Urban Agenda (NUA) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)".

Besides encouraging students to reimagine Malaysia future cities, the Malaysia 100YC programme also aims to promote knowledge sharing. Throughout the programme, students had the opportunity to engage and interact with local and international key industry leaders, designers and urbanists through a series of workshops and special studio sessions, to help them understand and address urbanization challenges.

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) students', Teu Yu Han and Soh Hwei Hsia shared that "This is a very interesting and fun programme as it engages all the universities together, collectively sharing our perceptions and thoughts about Malaysia's cities in 100 years."

Lar. Dr Roziya Ibrahim, senior lecturer at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Department of Landscape Architecture, also believes that the Malaysia 100YC programme benefits students as they will gain exposure to urban design and development principles and have the opportunity to meet key industry players.

Six topics were identified under the Malaysia 100YC programme as key focus areas covering innovative technologies, green open spaces, urban mobility, affordable living, community governance and smart infrastructure.

Participating universities include Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), University Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Taylor's University, Harriot Watt University and University of Reading Malaysia.