| Macallum Street Ghaut | |
| Settlement Type: | Neighbourhood of George Town |
| Pushpin Map: | Malaysia Penang George Town city centre |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within George Town in Penang |
| Coordinates: | 5.4063°N 100.3327°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  Malaysia |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Type2: | City |
| Subdivision Name2: | George Town |
| Leader Title1: | Local government |
| Leader Name1: | Penang Island City Council |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 10300 |
| Leader Title2: | Mayor of Penang Island |
| Leader Name2: | Rajendran P. Anthony |
| Leader Title3: | Pengkalan Kota State Assemblyman |
| Leader Name3: | Wong Yuee Harng (DAP) |
| Leader Title4: | Tanjong Member of Parliament |
| Leader Name4: | Lim Hui Ying (DAP) |
| Timezone: | MST |
| Utc Offset: | +8 |
| Timezone Dst: | Not observed |
| Established Date: | 1985 |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Translit Lang1: | Other |
| Translit Lang1 Type1: | Malay |
| Translit Lang1 Type2: | Mandarin |
| Translit Lang1 Info1: | Malay: Gat Lebuh Macallum |
| Translit Lang1 Info2: | Wǔtiáo lù hǎi qián |
Macallum Street Ghaut is a residential neighbourhood within the city of George Town in the Malaysian state of Penang. Situated within the city's central business district, it comprises seven blocks of low-cost public housing built on reclaimed land off Macallum Street, known as the Macallum Street Ghaut flats.[1] [2] The first apartment blocks were completed in 1985, and they remain among the few formalised low-cost housing areas in the vicinity of the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site.[3]
In the years following Malaya's independence, the Penang state government expressed interest in developing low-cost public housing. This brought the state government into conflict with the George Town City Council over the provision of affordable housing within the limits of George Town.[4] In 1969, the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) was formed under the direction of newly elected Chief Minister Lim Chong Eu, partly to address the issue of urban overcrowding within the city.[5]
As part of the solution, Macallum Street Ghaut (ghat) was designated one of the four Comprehensive Development Areas (CDA) in the city proper. The PDC planned to reclaim off Macallum Street to build inexpensive European-style apartment blocks to house residents displaced by the concurrent Komtar project nearby. The Macallum Street Ghaut flats were the first public housing project undertaken by the PDC, to be followed by similar projects at Kedah Road and Bayan Baru.
By 1985, three 22-storey blocks and two 12-storey blocks containing a total of 1,469 residential units were completed. In total, seven apartment blocks were constructed and remain a major inhabited residential pocket at the periphery of George Town's UNESCO World Heritage Site, in spite of the continuing depopulation of the city centre.