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THE Unesco World Heritage Site in George Town will be given a facelift by the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) to become a pedestrian-friendly space with climate-responsive measures, from more trees to a proposal for public fan blowers.
It is part of the extensive development which the state will undergo from its biggest infrastructure project - the Mutiara Light Rail Transit (LRT), three new highway bypass roads, reclamation and the completion of residential and commercial areas.
This year is poised to be declared as the year of "development" for the island state, starting with one of Penang’s oldest roads - Jalan Pantai, formerly known as Beach Street.
Lord Mayor and MBPP president Datuk Anthony Rajendran, who is regarded as the architect behind the traffic systems here, hopes that with more pedestrian walkways, it can encourage ratepayers to browse around the heritage enclave, while at the same time, reduce the traffic congestion in the town centre.
Once a home to bustling commercial, trading and retail enterprises, Jalan Pantai is now mostly known for its gastronomic treats and remnants of banking as society embraces the age of e-banking and digitalisation.
The road has been selected as the starting point for an ambitious plan to cool down its inner city and return its streets to people, not just cars, Rajendran confirmed.
MBPPP is planning a RM24.7 million pilot project that will transform a 1.76km loop around Beach Street into a climate-responsive, pedestrian-friendly zone with more greenery, less carbon emission and perhaps public fan blowers to cool the area.
"We want to bring down urban temperatures by planting more trees and at the same time, increase the walkway width while reducing the carriageway,” the mayor said.
The project is partly funded by a World Bank Adaptation Fund grant under the Nature-Based Climate Adaptation Programme for Urban Areas of Penang Island (PNBCAP), with MBPP covering the other half.
The planned works will go beyond cosmetic upgrades.
George Town's heritage site has a 109.38 ha core zone and a 150.04 ha buffer zone, totalling around 260 hectares (2.6 sq km) of protected historic centre, encompassing around 1,700 heritage-style buildings with temples and cultural sites.
Among the areas scheduled for upgrading and a facelift are the Queen Victoria Memorial Clocktower, which greets the majority of the sea cruise passengers disembarking in town.
Plans are that Jalan Pantai and Church Street Ghaut will be converted into one-way traffic flow, while the number of roadside parking spaces in the loop will be reduced from 293 to just 100.
Jalan Pantai was the first road crafted by the seafarer Francis Light, who in 1786 formally declared the island as a major entrepôt.
Other areas to be spruced up for walking are Weld Quay, where the first settlement of the Chinese was recorded, Chulia Street Ghaut, Pesara King Edward, Downing Street, Church Street Ghaut, and Victoria Street. - January 16, 2026.
