Insular Southeast Asia - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 457

Figure 16-6
Kuala Lumpur . The colonial era, Moorish-style
Sultan Abdul Samad building, housing city hall
and the Supreme Court, contrasts sharply with the
modern office and bank buildings nearby . The tall
structure to the right is the Islamic Bank.
Photograph courtesy of B. A. Weightman.

people due to a fall in commodity prices, and the NEP
pointedly tried to reduce rural poverty and dissociate
Malays from strictly agricultural pursuits.
The result has been the cultural diversification of
urban places once dominated by Chinese. More than
50 percent of Malays now live in urban areas. More-
over, the cultural landscapes of the largest urban cen-
ters have been noticeably “Islamicized” in recent
years. More mosques, the high-rise Islamic Bank, Is-
lamic archways over roads leading into the cities, and
the presence of more women wearing head coverings
are some of the more noticeable landscape elements
(Figure 16-6).
Urban population distribution is still unbalanced.
The west coast states accounted for more than 60 percent
of the country' s urban population in 2000. Historical iner-
tia plays a role in this phenomenon. In East Malaysia, rates
of urbanization have been rapid, yet the percentage of ur-
ban dwellers is relatively low . This can be attributed to the
absence of an urban-based manufacturing economy .
The paramount urban conurbation is that of Kuala
Lumpur and the Kelang V alley . Because of the domina-
tion of Singapore and Pinang in the colonial period,
Kuala Lumpur' s population exceeded 100,000 only by
1930. Kuala Lumpur was designated a federal capital in
1974. Rapid growth ensued in the 1970s under NEP poli-
cies, and today the city with 1.6 million residents is the
economic, political, and cultural core of the country .
The city incorporates a number of satellite cities in
the state of Selangor, including an east-west corridor

between it and the port of Kelang. Petaling Jaya was es-
tablished in 1952 as a “new town,” and by 1991, Petaling
Jaya and Kelang were the nation' s fourth and fifth most
populous urban centers. In the 1970s, a free trade zone
was established at Sungei Way . Further west is Shah Alam,
the newly planned Selangor state capital that houses one
of Southeast Asia' s largest mosques (Figure 16-7)All
these are joined by superhighways.
Kuala Lumpur is a modern landscape with a mix of
modern and colonial buildings, Chinese shops, shopping
malls, a fabulous Moorish-style railroad station (to be-
come a hotel), and the 88-story , 1,483 feet (452 m)
Petronas “T “Twin T Towers”—the world' s tallest twin-tower
buildings (Figure 16-8).
Housing ranges from squatter settlements (fewer than
in most of Asia) to condominiums, to suburban homes, to
mansions. Because of a housing shortage, the government
has built high-rise public housing (Figure 16-9). Squatters
do not like these structures because it removes them from
ground level, where they can garden and watch their chil-
dren play . Moreover, it is difficult to operate a home-based
industry in a high-rise. In addition, these projects are fre-
quently distant from employment and services.
Since this area does not have vast expanses of paddy ,
it does not fit the kotadesasi model exactly , although it
has some elements of it. Kampungs (Malay villages) and
agricultural land do exist in the interstices of urban places,
highways, industrial parks, and the like (Figure 16-10).
Many original inhabitants supplement their income with
off-farm jobs.