GEORGE TOWN, July 12 — Almost four years after it was launched, and with 204 projects under its belt, the George Town Grants Programme (GTGP) by Think City is finally coming to an end.

A special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up by Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Think City was tasked with spearheading urban regeneration in Penang under the 10th Malaysia Plan.

“GTGP is actually a one-off pilot programme with a RM20 million allocation that was supposed to run for only three years from its launch in 2009,” said Think City executive director Hamdan Abdul Majeed.

The public grants programme, funded by the federal government, was given a one-year extension but come end-2013 it will wrap up as funding has finally run dry.

Hamdan said this is not the end for Think City as it can now move on to other places.

For the rest of the year, Think City will execute the rest of its initiatives and complete its documentation work on the projects under GTGP.

“We can say that we have completed GTGP and we believe that what we’ve done so far has been successful as we have managed to bring about changes, to engage the stakeholders to be a part of the change and we believe that they will continue on where we started,” Hamdan told The Malay Mail Online.

To date, Think City, through GTGP, has a total of 204 projects under its belt, a majority of which are physical grants while the rest consist of cultural mapping, technical assistance and projects under its shared spaces programme.

Among the more notable recipients of the physical grants given out for building rehabilitation are the Sun Yat Sen Penang Base in Armenian Street, the Loke Thye Kee Building in Penang Road, Cheah Kongsi in Armenian Street and the still ongoing restoration works of the Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce building in Light Street.

“About 90 per cent of the buildings in the heritage city of George Town are privately owned so our duty was not to merely give out money but to encourage the private sector to take charge and change,” he said.

It was not easy work because coming on the heels of George Town’s inscription as a UNESCO world heritage site, heritage regulations had to be followed and many building owners were unaware of them.

Furthermore, there is the living heritage and the intangible heritage to be dealt with so instead of sitting back and just giving out funds, Think City started becoming involved in small cultural mapping projects such as the notable Penang Story Project.

It also thought up an affordable housing programme in Armenian Street to keep the residents living there.

“We engaged the Hock Teik Cheng Sin committee that owned the shophouses and came to an agreement where we partially funded the restoration of these houses, and they fund the rest of it and with the condition that the residents be allowed to continue living there under a 10-year tenancy agreement,” Hamdan said.

Signboards and banners with Think City’s logo displayed prominently on them are a common sight especially at rehabilitation projects all over George Town and though they are only known as the “grants people” by the locals, internationally they are a success story as they have managed to bring about change for a city in various stages of decay.

“We have been invited to participate in international symposiums and I’ve been invited to give talks on what we did here for George Town,” Hamdan said.

Affordable housing programme in Armenian Street under Think City.

Now that GTGP is ending, is it also the end for Think City? Hamdan believes that they can do the same urban regeneration for other decaying urban areas like they did with George Town.

“Think City will be institutionalised and we can move on to other places, to do our research and apply our know-how in urban renewal where it is needed,” he said, naming Butterworth and Taiping as examples of places that need the catalyst to push it forwards.

As for what happens to George Town now that there will not be any more grants or Think City projects to keep the urban regeneration going, Hamdan said Think City has already given it the momentum it needs to continue going on its own.

“The stakeholders, the community, are all very much involved in the rehabilitation of George Town so we believe that even without our grants, they will carry on,” he added.

Think City did not just provide the grants to kick start regeneration and renewal but inspired and pushed the local stakeholders to take charge and ensure that things continue.

“Just look at the George Town Festival. We had funded several small communities in their projects over the last three years and this year, we decided not to fund them and yet, they went on to produce their own projects. So yes, we believe that we have given them the momentum needed and they will continue on without us,” Hamdan said.

Think City also introduced the green spaces programme where pockets of green are introduced to the inner city.