The relevance of the functional hierarchy and growth centre model – evidence from Malaysia’s Batang Padang district

The process of economic globalisation has changed the development spatial pattern of almost every country’s regions in the world, with metropolitan cities becoming the focus of investment and the engine of growth. Malaysia is no exception and in this context the question of how far have rural settlements in Malaysia been dragged into the process of change is an interesting issue to be discussed. This paper seeks to examine the suitability of adopting the concept of functional hierarchy of central places and growth centre strategies in development planning of the district of Batang Padang. Using data from an intensive field observation, a central place analysis was conducted. The results showed that at present, using population size as a base, the pattern of settlement hierarchy in this area had tended to be imbalanced. However, when a functional analysis was applied to the settlements, the results revealed a different pattern. Functionally, the town of Tanjong Malim occupied the highest position in the region’s central place hierarchy followed by Bidor and Tapah. The State government’s target of turnng Tanjong Malim into a sub-regional centre in Perak especially within the context of the Lembah Bernam Planning Zone appeared to be within reach with the strategic strengthening of the functions of Tanjong Malim as an automotive and higher education hub. This shows that the concept of functional hierarchy and growth centre strategy is still relevant for planning the development of a rural region in Malaysia.