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Many people have lived in Kuala Lumpur all their lives while others, like me, are migrants. I moved here while I was a teenager. What a change the city has gone through over the years.
Kuala Lumpur, or KL as it is commonly known, had its origins in the 1850s, when the Malay chief of Klang, Raja Abdullah, hired some Chinese to open tin mines at the confluence of Sungai Gombak and Sungai Klang in Ampang. Sungai Gombak was previously known as Sungai Lumpur, hence the name Kuala Lumpur, which literally means “muddy confluence” in the Malay launguage. Tin mines were later opened in Pudu and Batu.
After a fire and subsequent flood destroyed the town’s wooden structures in 1881, Frank Swettenham, the British Resident of Selangor, made it a requirement for buildings to be constructed from brick and tiles. Many buildings built at that time mirrored the style of shophouses found in southern China, with five-foot ways and skilled Chinese carpentry work. This resulted in a distinct eclectic shophouse architecture typical of the region. Development intensified in the 1890s.
In 1896, KL was chosen as the capital of the newly formed Federated Malay States.
KL achieved city status in 1972, and on Feb 1, 1974, it became a federal territory. It ceased to be the capital of Selangor in 1978, when Shah Alam was declared the new state capital.
Following the unveiling of the Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 1984, the growth of other urban centres in the Klang Valley — notably Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam and Subang Jaya — have far outstripped that of KL. There has been strong in-migration to the KL conurbation from all over the country and net out-migration to residential areas outside.
Some 160 years after the miners discovered and made Kuala Lumpur their base, Pemandu CEO Datuk Seri Idris Jala has now unveiled the Greater KL Plan. KL is on the cusp of greatness, but it can only succeed if we meet other standards that make a city great.
Let’s not make the mistakes of most local governments. To quote Tyler Brûlé and Johnny Davis of Monocle ... “as governments in the world are working hard to retain talented residents and attract inward investment, too often they end up deleting the very elements that have made their cities attractive for decades and even centuries. Well-proportioned neighbourhoods are replaced by ghastly mixed-use developments, one-way traffic schemes kill the metabolism of once busy shopping streets and anti-noise police take all the fun out of Saturday night.”
Taking Kuala Lumpur into the ranks of the world’s most liveable cities is not just about expanding it, but managing it to become world class.
I would like to share my views of what it will take to get to a Greater Planned KL.
What is a Liveable City? It is what the term connotes — urban settlements where people can thrive because navigation is easy, and which are diverse, pulsing, and full of opportunities. So what does it take?
A Greater Planned Open Space ratio to population
There is so much talk about new developments having public spaces. But how many of these spaces are really accessible? How many are planned to take into consideration the environment, for example, shaded areas and water sources? How many have sports facilities that are well maintained? Not every neighbourhood is like Bandar Tun Razak or Bangsar which have public sports facilities to encourage a healthy lifestyle. Take Australia, for example. Every suburb or county has a community centre that includes sports facilities for the community. Not only will these encourage people to come together but also inculcate a sense of belonging, while providing a foundation for producing world class athletes.
A Greater Planned Garden City
Palm trees are not indigenous to Malaysia. But in every new development, it seems that there are more palm trees being planted. Many people, when asked, will say this is because such trees are easier to maintain. I can’t believe my ears. Here we are, in a country which boasts the world’s oldest rainforest, and we are importing trees that serve no value — no shade, too little leaves for oxygen replacement — besides absorbing too much groundwater.
Why not use local tropical trees that can create shade and reduce heat? We need KL to be a greater planned tropical garden city.
In planning for this, we need to be connected via pedestrian walkways. Can you imagine walking from Bukit Bintang to the KLCC now? Well, plans are afoot for a covered pedestrian walkway from Pavilion to KLCC. But these are only two locations. What about Concorde to Parkroyal, Starhill to Low Yat Plaza, or Sri Hartamas to Desa Sri Hartamas?
A Greater Planned Entertainment City
When my clients and friends come from around the world, I tell them KL is one big restaurant. And it really is! We have a wide variety of cuisine, from fine dining to roadside stalls. Let’s face it, eating is a favourite pastime of KL-ites. We love our street food. Teh tarik before going home or during big soccer matches is something everyone can relate to. Even New York has streetside stalls 24 hours a day. So let’s manage it well and have guidelines on this instead of one day saying they can’t be alfresco, and the next, saying they can.
In the KL Structure Plan, one of the points highlighted was that we need to make KL a livelier city at night. You can’t do that by asking night spots to shut down. In Munich, shops close at 8pm but bars can now stay open till 5am. I am not saying this is a healthy lifestyle but it is crucial in making KL a liveable city 24/7. There must be proper guidelines — including one on decibel levels — of what can be done, but let’s make KL attractive, with a world-class nightlife.
Having an open mind and moderation in thought is the essence of Malaysia as espoused by our prime minister, and this has to be filter through in the growth of KL. A mix of races and religions is a trademark of liveable cities around the world.
People always forget about culture and arts when talking about entertainment. It’s something very dear to me, especially since my mother is a performing artiste. In recent years, the arts scene has been abuzz with lots of plays and musicals, but we are starved for more locations, more variety and more depth. One must look to Singapore to enjoy a mixed bag of performances such as Atif Aslam, our own Amy Search, Raya House With Kelab Dondang Sayang, classical and Bollywood performances, classical Chinese repertoire, The Singapore Sun Festival, and others.
Greater Planned Parking City
Let’s head to Brickfields, say, to buy bread. You can’t! Not because there isn’t any, but because there are not enough parking spaces. Park at KL Sentral and walk, you say? And get knocked down by that truck?
Kuala Lumpur City Hall has been collecting development charges from developers for years for inadequate parking provision, and the fund must be well capitalised by now. The local authority should use the fund to acquire land for the construction of multi-storey parking complexes. Examples would include the vacant land next to Wisma Selangor Dredging on Jalan Ampang and the parcel behind the Sri Kota supermarket in Brickfields. We need the intervention of City Hall and master planners to provide well-planned parking.
On a recent trip to Manchester, I found that parking management is looked at seriously, with the local authority identifying parking spaces and running them on a commercial basis. Greater planned parking has to work hand in hand with greater planned public transport. If we can’t do this in KL now, how are we going to do it on a much bigger scale with various local authorities?
Greater Planned Enforcement
I just want to focus on three simple enforcement issues every city faces.
The first concerns water. Malaysia must have the most number of water filters per capita in the world. I see water filters installed in every neighbourhood that I visit. To be a liveable city means having a potable water supply.
Second is garbage collection. Timeliness, consistency and capacity must be the keywords. How many times have you driven into the city or suburb to find big black bags on the side of the road, some opened, with rubbish strewn all over? We need to resolve these issues immediately.
Third is the cleanliness of roads, drains, back alleys. Again, it is about being timely, being consistent and having the capacity to handle a city. Everyone knows how diseases spread.
I think I am too optimistic. I want to raise two more enforcement issues, which are somewhat related.
Our construction site management is one. KL must be the only world-class city that allows contractors to place their machinery on public roads and park their trucks there, causing an obstruction which leads to congestion and pollution.
My fifth issue is our roads. I know we have better roads than the rest of Asia, but for KL to be a liveable city, we must be able to enjoy a ride without going over manholes that stick out or are sunken, leftover spilt concrete, or potholes.
If we can get this five issues fixed, KL would already have taken a big step towards becoming a top liveable city.
Greater Planned Global Living
Governments are working hard to retain and invite talent. KL needs to be a preferred location for new talent and to do that, we have to make it easy to start businesses, and make it easy to employ talent, local or foreign.
If the government can make it easier to hire foreign talent, with the focus on KL, we would have an edge in becoming a global destination for talent. Skilled and talented people like Malaysia for many reasons — including the weather, cost of living, and English-speaking locals. But amazingly, it is easier to get employment for a maid than for executive talent.
Idris Jala also has experience in the aviation industry and knows KL has to be more connected.
Why aren’t we getting the Russians to invest in real estate, like our neighbours? It’s because we are not connected to Russia. We don’t even have direct flights to some capitals in Europe or to New York! Let’s get connected globally, physically as well as via the worldwide web. There is already a plan for new underwater cables, which is a great step forward.
Before I end, there is another important element in making KL a liveable city — the education system. It’s a true-life story of one of my clients from the UK who decided to make KL his home. A lot of Malaysians, due to the perceived poor quality of local education, have enrolled their children in international schools. My client’s children were turned away by two international schools because of full enrolment. In a flash, he made Singapore his home.
To sum it up, people will continue to be attracted to KL as a place of opportunity and economic growth and as a place to call home. It’s the same story in many other growing cities in Asia, but what will set us apart and make KL a more liveable city will be its soul and how it relates to its residents. To quote Kanter, “Successful cities can be identified by three elements: good thinkers (concepts), good makers (competence) and good traders (connections).” The interplay of these three elements, Kanter argues, means that good cities are not planned but managed. A Greater KL Plan will remain just a physical plan if it is not planned and managed well.
Previn is the CEO of Zerin Properties and can’t wait to enjoy Greater KL and Greater Planned KL
This article appeared in City & Country, the property pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 827, Oct 11-17, 2010
