Macallum Street Ghaut

Macallum Street Ghaut is a residential neighbourhood within the city of George Town in the Malaysian state of Penang. Situated within the city's central business district, it comprises seven blocks of low-cost public housing built on reclaimed land off Macallum Street, known as the Macallum Street Ghaut flats.^[1][2] The first apartment blocks were completed in 1985, and they remain among the few formalised low-cost housing areas in the vicinity of the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site.^[1][3]

Macallum Street Ghaut Gat Lebuh Macallum
Neighbourhood of George Town
Macallum Street Ghaut Location within    George Town in    Penang
Coordinates: 5°24′22.7658″N 100°19′57.5898″E
Country	Malaysia
State	Penang
City	George Town
District	Northeast
Founded	1985
Time zone	UTC+8 (MST)
• Summer (DST)	Not observed
Postal code	10300

History

In the years following Malaya's independence, the Penang state government expressed interest in developing low-cost public housing. This brought the state government into conflict with the George Town City Council over the provision of affordable housing within the limits of George Town.^[4] In 1969, the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) was formed under the direction of newly elected Chief Minister Lim Chong Eu, partly to address the issue of urban overcrowding within the city.^[5]

As part of the solution, Macallum Street Ghaut (ghat) was designated one of the four Comprehensive Development Areas (CDA) in the city proper.^[5] The PDC planned to reclaim 20.2 hectares (50 acres) off Macallum Street to build inexpensive European-style apartment blocks to house residents displaced by the concurrent Komtar project nearby.^[1][5] The Macallum Street Ghaut flats were the first public housing project undertaken by the PDC, to be followed by similar projects at Kedah Road and Bayan Baru.^[1]

By 1985, three 22-storey blocks and two 12-storey blocks containing a total of 1,469 residential units were completed.^[1] In total, seven apartment blocks were constructed and remain a major inhabited residential pocket at the periphery of George Town's UNESCO World Heritage Site, in spite of the continuing depopulation of the city centre.^[2][3]

See also

• Rifle Range, Penang