On the 9th of November 2016, forty one students from the 2nd and 3rd Year, Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning Programme, Department of Urban and Regional Planning (DURP), Faculty of Built Environment (FAB), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru visited Batam, Indonesia. The visit is an academic requirement of the course, Planning Practice (SBEP 3243) and was led by the lecturer for the course, Dr Gobi Krishna s/o Sinniah, a senior lecturer with DURP.
In Batam, students visited the Badan Perencanaan Daerah Kota Batam (BAPPEDA) and was briefed by Mr. Wan Darussalam, Chairman of the BAPPEDA and Mr. Agung Aidil Sahalo, on the development of Kota Batam and the planning system practiced in Kota Batam. The briefing was followed by a discussion and question and answer session at the end.
During the visit, students also had the opportunity to walk around the town centre and the Central Business District (CBD) to witness the development in Kota Batam. Students were required to prepare a report as feedback on lessons learnt and knowledge gained from the study visit to Kota Batam.