摘要：The present urban-based economic activities of many developing countries tend to concentrate mainly in and around metropolitan regions that, in effect, have influenced the pattern of settlements and neighbourhoods in the rural-urban fringe of those regions. In Malaysia, the process may be observed in the Klang-Langat Valley, a region that comprises rural and urban settlements which in this article is termed as an extended metropolitan region (EMR). This article analyses the process of urbanisation and its impacts on the characteristics and neighbourhood quality of the fringe areas of the EMR. Census data together with information gathered through field observations and a questionnaire survey were used for the analysis. Results of the analysis show that rural-urban neighbourhoods in the district of Kuala Langat, Sepang, Kuala Selangor and Hulu Selangor are currently undergoing rapid urbanisation and socioeconomic transformation. These changes are observable from their physical surroundings and the socioeconomic well-being of the inhabitants as measured from their housing quality, levels of accessibility to basic service facilities and security. Despite all these positive impacts, urbanisation has also brought some social ills to the communities as indicated by the increasing incidences of unemployment and drug addiction among the youth. Crimes such as theft, burglary and robberies in the housing areas are also widely reported. These patterns of change tend to indicate that the fringe zones of the EMR are physically and socially dynamic and call for some form of immediate actions and policy measures to address the issues
关键词：neighbourhood; extended metropolitan region; transformation and socioeconomic well-being
