Rifle Range Flats, the 15-minute city

The Star

5 days ago

Home on the Range: The development includes 3,663 residential units, 65 shoplots and 13 accessory units. — CHAN BOON KAI/The Star
Exhibit celebrates last standing relic of post-Independence housing in Penang
GEORGE TOWN: Older Kuala Lumpur folk visiting Penang's Rifle Range Flats may feel nostalgic as the blocks mirror the capital's once-iconic Pekeliling Flats, which were demolished years ago.
Located in Air Itam, the site now stands as the last architectural relic of Malaysia's early post-Independence drive for urbanisation and public housing.
To old-timers, both developments were built using the Industrialised Building System – a method that accelerated construction by using pre-fabricated components assembled on-site.
More than engineering feats, these flats fostered strong community bonds.
For Chong Lee Choo, the Rifle Range Flats, built in 1969, represent an early, unintentional embodiment of the '15-Minute City' coined by French urbanist Carlos Moreno in 2015.
'It describes the neighbourhood where all essential services are within a 15-minute walk or bike ride.
'Markets, schools, clinics and other essentials gradually sprang up around the flats, making Rifle Range a self-sufficient community, decades before global cities began adopting the same concept.
'Today, cities around the world are trying to implement this model. But here at Rifle Range, it has always been about one thing – making daily life easier,' said the 54-year-old.
When completed, Rifle Range Flats were the tallest buildings in Penang, comprising six 17-storey and three 18-storey blocks.
The development included 3,663 residential units, 65 shoplots and 13 accessory units.
To honour the estate's legacy, publishing agency Penang City Eye is hosting an exhibition from July 4 to Sept 7 at the community hall above the Rifle Range market.
Chong, who is the curator, said the exhibition themed 'Home at Rifle Range Flats' documents 56 years of the flats' history through photographs, oral stories and everyday items contributed by residents.
Penang Eye City editor See Chiew Yen, 32, said the flats were developed in the late 1960s when the state lost its free port status, causing widespread unemployment among working-class families.
'With support from the late chief ministers Tan Sri Wong Pow Nee and Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu, Rifle Range became Penang's first mass housing project, aimed at providing affordable homes to the urban poor,' she said.