Level	Public Policy/Plan
Level	Title	Year	Status	Policy Focus	Relation to the Shophouse Townscape
Federal level	Land Development Act	1956	Normal	Land development	N/A
	Land Conservation Act	1960	Normal	Hill land, silt, and erosion	N/A
	Land (Group Settlement Areas) Act	1960	Normal	Group settlement area, rural settlement areas, urban settlement areas	Reservation of land for public purposes.
	Street, Drainage and Building Act	1974	Normal	Street, drainage, and building	Maintenance and repair of public streets, Construct and maintain drains and water-courses, Acquire land for part of back-lane, Erection of buildings.
	Antiquities Act	1976	Repealed	Antiquity, historical object, historical site, monument	Any object movable or immovable or any part of the soil or of the bed of a river or lake or of the sea, which has been constructed, shaped, inscribed, erected, excavated or otherwise produced or modified by human agency and which is or is reasonably believed to be at least one hundred years old; any part of any such object which has at any later date been added thereto or re-constructed or restored; any human, plant or animal remains which is or is reasonably believed to be at least one hundred years old;
	Town and Country Planning Act	1976	Normal	Town and country planning	Regional planning, National physical plan, Development plans, Special area plan, Planning control, Preservation order.
	Control of Rent Act	1997	Repealed	Rental price control, Tenants’ legal rights	Deemed tenancy, Prohibition against recovery of premises, Amount of rental.
	National Landscape Policy	2002	Normal	Landscape strategies and visions	N/A
	National Heritage Act	2005	Normal	Discovery, designation, registration, management of heritage	Tangible heritage, Physical living environment.
	National Heritage Bill	2005	Normal	Conservation and preservation of heritage	Policy in relation to conservation and preservation of heritage, Establishment of national heritage council, Heritage fund, Heritage site, Application for registration, Management of heritage object, Conservation management plan.
Local level	Guidelines for Conservation Areas and Heritage Buildings by MPPP	2005	Replaced	Conservation areas and heritage buildings in George Town	Heritage buildings, Conservation area, Heritage buildings control, Conservation area control, Advertisement control.
	Historic City of George Town Heritage Management Plan	2007	Replaced	Heritage management in George Town	Religious sites, Infrastructure, and facilities, Urban form, townscape, and landscape, Tourism and visitor management control, the Administrative structure for the management of the site, Sustainable cultural heritage tourism.
	State of Penang Heritage Bill	2011	Normal	Heritage in State Penang	Tangible cultural heritage and natural heritage sites, Intangible cultural heritage, Management, preservation and conservation of State heritage, Conservation management plan