Car, motorcycle workshops don’t belong in Klang Valley’s mixed-used zones

 

From Boo Jia Cher

It’s time we call out a persistent urban blight: car washes and vehicle workshops in commercial areas.

Spend any time in the Klang Valley and you’ll see the signs — shopfronts smeared with black grease, tyres and engine parts occupying sidewalks, and parking lots hijacked as open-air repair pits.

Car washes aren’t any better: they turn commercial units into waterlogged drive-throughs, flooding sidewalks and drains with soapy runoff.

Let’s be clear — this isn’t “convenience”. It’s urban decay masquerading as utility.

Pollution, plain and simple

Start with the obvious: the filth. Most car washes lack water recycling systems and discharge chemical-laced runoff — a murky cocktail of detergent, oil, and heavy metals — straight into our drains.

Workshops contribute their own toxic signature: solvent fumes, airborne particulates, and volatile organic compounds that linger long after closing time.

This isn’t just unsightly. It’s a public health hazard.

Noise as a feature, not a flaw

Then there’s the soundscape — compressors hissing, engines revving, metal clanking. Not exactly the background track you want while sipping kopi or running a small business nearby.

These operations turn streets into industrial echo chambers, eroding the livability of neighbourhoods meant to be walkable and vibrant.

People live, work, and raise families here. They shouldn’t have to share space with the sound of roaring engines and pressure pumps.

Choking the streets

Car-centric businesses are traffic magnets. They clog narrow roads, hog parking, and turn five-foot ways — meant for pedestrians — into de facto car parks.

Walkability suffers. So does pedestrian safety.

What should be streets for community life end up functioning like back-alley garages.

Eroding neighbourhood character

And then there’s the aesthetic toll. These businesses tank property values.

Few are keen to live or rent beside a view of oil slicks, stacked tyres, and stalled traffic.

Worse still, they repel people-friendly businesses. Cafés, bookstores and grocery stores steer clear of oily chaos.

We’re trading long-term vibrancy for short-term grease money.

Which, frankly, mirrors the broader trajectory of Malaysia’s economy — but that’s a story for another day.

No wonder upscale neighbourhoods like Bangsar and Bukit Damansara don’t usually host car/motorcycle workshops — yet luxury cars still show up at such businesses in poorer districts.

The message is clear: the mess and pollution are pushed onto neighbourhoods that can’t push back.

The job creation mirage

Yes, these businesses create jobs — but let’s not overstate their value.

The roles are narrow, specialised, and often displace other enterprises that serve a broader public.

A car wash doesn’t elevate a neighbourhood — it traps it in a lower-value ecosystem.

This is yet another striking metaphor for the Malaysian economy.

A zoning failure

This isn’t about banning car washes or workshops. It’s about placing them where they belong — in light industrial zones, not wedged between eateries, grocery shops and tuition centres.

Mixed-use zones are supposed to balance commerce and livability. Klang Valley’s current zoning regime lets the noisiest, dirtiest tenant win.

Klang Valley deserves better

Urban planning isn’t Tetris. It’s about crafting spaces where people can live, work, and thrive. That means prioritising walkability, cleanliness, and quality of life — not just what can physically be crammed into a shoplot.

Car washes and workshops don’t belong in the Klang Valley’s mixed-use neighbourhoods. It’s time to stop pretending they do.

Put them where they make sense — away from homes, shops, schools, and everyday life — and take back our streets for the people who actually live, eat and walk there. - FMT

Boo Jia Cher is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.