Long-term Spatial Demographic Changes of Racial and Occupational Segregation in Peninsular Malaysia (1970-2010)

• Main Author: Nur Faziera, Yaakub
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) 2021
• Subjects: G Geography (General); H Social Sciences (General); HT Communities. Classes. Races
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/37612/4/Nur%20Faziera%20binti%20Yaakub.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/37612/

Currently, major parts of the world are experiencing serious demographic alteration and this phenomenon is normally associated with population growth. Population growth continuously and endlessly contributes to the global change in the distribution and concentration of the population. From the social point of view, population growth and population distribution, as well as population concentration are inseparable. This research, therefore, probes and views the changes from a social and spatial point of view. In depth, this research will look at the after-effects of the New Economic Policy (NEP) on the demographic alterations in Peninsular Malaysia. In terms of the integration between demography and the spatial element, this research attempts to cover the long-term spatial demographic changes in Peninsular Malaysia from 1970 until 2010. In conjunction with the implementation as well as the objectives of the NEP, the two (2) indicators, which have been chosen for this research are race and occupation. Particularly focusing on the changes of racial and occupational segregation over space and time. This research indicated a requirement of census data of 50 years starting from 1970 until 2010. It necessitated continuous and reliable sources of data from the Population and Housing Census of Malaysia which were attained from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM). The unit of analysis for this research was at the district level. This is a historical spatial demographic research or may also be addressed as a historical Geographic Information Systems (GIS) research. The three (3) objectives of this research are; i) to identify changes in the spatial concentration of population in Peninsular Malaysia from 1970 until 2010, ii) to examine changes in the spatial pattern of racial and occupational segregation in Peninsular Malaysia from 1970 until 2010, and iii) to analyse the spatial correlation between racial with occupational segregation in Peninsular Malaysia from 1970 until 2010. The results of this research were analysed by applying statistical and spatial analyses. The three (3) techniques and tools which were applied in this research to ensure answers to all the three (3) objectives are attained are Kernel Density, Entropy Index and Local Bivariate Relationships. For the first objective, the results found that the spatial concentration of the population in Peninsular Malaysia was greatly concentrated in Timur Laut and Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur. For the second objective, when viewed separately, racial and occupational segregation in the majority of districts did improve over time, especially in the urban areas. Meanwhile, for the third objective, when regarded together, racial and occupational segregation were found to be closely related to have positive linear relationships in certain districts in the year 1970 and 1980. In relation to the findings, this research offers substantive contributions to the literature on historical patterns of racial and occupational segregation as well as provides pragmatic evidence from the theoretical, political, and practical points of view. This research also uses the literary criticism method by applying the Development State Theory and Tobler’s First Law of Geography. Conclusively, this historical demographic research indicated that making use of these spatial and social analysis tools may help in the future planning of the nation.