Petaling Jaya is a major Malaysian city, originally developed as a satellite township for Kuala Lumpur, and occupies an area of approximately 97.2 square kilometres. In 1996 Petaling Jaya City Council began addressing sustainable development using Agenda 21 as a framework. Agenda 21 is a non-binding, voluntarily implemented, sustainable development action plan of the United Nations, formalized at the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992.  

In 2010 Petaling Jaya City Council appointed a task force for a low carbon green city in accordance with the implementation of the Low Carbon Cities Framework (LCCF), produced by the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water, and the Malaysian Institute of Planners. Since then, no less than 13,000 initiatives have engaged and involved local communities but they have met with mixed results. While participation in social programmes has been extremely successful, without a comprehensive range of economic incentives supported by government legislation, the majority of residents remained non-committal regarding long-term greening projects if extra time, cost and effort is required.

The Greening The Grassroots programme was established to provide a forum for government, business and community to work together in a practical way to achieve the goal of making Petaling Jaya a low carbon city by 2020.

Petaling Jaya City Council is the lead agency for the Greening The Grassroots project. It provides funding and manages business and community relationships. Extensive community consultation is on-going since 1996 through capacity building, education and public awareness programmes. Partnerships with business, NGO's and national government agencies who provide resources and other in-kind support play a pivotal role in advancing these programmes.

The program uses a carbon calculator developed by Malaysia Green Tech Corporation for the calculation of CO2 emissions. Measurements of other outcomes are at the infant stage with evaluations collected manually or through public feedback and perception gathering facilitated by The Green Organisation (United Kingdom). Moreover, a matrix for evaluating rebates on property tax assessments for house owners has been established. The matrix provides points for energy, water, waste management and other greening aspects based on affordability, efficiency and effectiveness. Households achieving three or more of the areas identified qualify for the tax rebate.

As lead agency Petaling Jaya City Council provides the majority of funding for Greening The Grassroots.

The Greening The Grassroots project demonstrates how progress can be achieved in reaching sustainable goals when governments provide economic incentives, education and training programmes across the community and to the business sector.

The involvement and participation of stakeholders from all sectors, together with a scheme that rewards good practices, regardless of scale, provides incentives for people to engage.

Since the programme commenced, a further five city councils have undertaken similar projects to Greening The Grassroots.

Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, Greening The Grassroots: a journey for a sustainable Petaling Jaya, Guangzhou Award, 2014, http://www.urban-innovations.org/index.php/GREENING_THE_GRASSROOTS_%E2%80%93_A_JOURNEY_FOR_SUSTAINABLE_PETALING_JAYA (10th october 2016)