Since then I was curious to know better Putrajaya hence I continued it by googling in the internet for so many times. So the brief history is like this. Malaysia began casting around for a new Federal Administrative Centre away from Kuala Lumpur two decades ago. Various sites were identified and five were short-listed. After toying with setting up shop in the neighboring state of Pahang, Tun Mahathir settled on the southern Prang Besar district of Selangor state in June 1993 and launched the project in 1995, naming it after and in memory of Malaysia's first prime minister, YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj. Putrajaya has been used since 1999 when The National Security Division (Bahagian Keselamatan Negara) and Implementation and Coordination Unit (ICU)of the Prime Minister’s Department create history by being the first two government departments to move their operations to the Prime Minister’s Office Complex in Putrajaya. The purpose of Putrajaya is being the capital of Malaysia and at the same time balancing the development away from Kuala Lumpur but still supporting the development in Klang Valley.
Putrajaya sits on a magnificent 4,931 hectares spread and hosting 50,000 people ( mainly are government employee and families ). Its Masterplan is designed along an axial tangent which runs from the northeast to southeast taking full advantage of the natural surroundings.. After 10 years about 40% of Putrajaya is still natural which fit well with the original concept of it as “ garden city “.
Fig.1 Aerial view part of Putrajaya
My mind rambling around and suddenly see the connection among Putrajaya and other purpose built capitals such as Canberra,Brasilia,Islamabad and even Washington D.C.. I visited Canberra,the capital city of Australia back on 2008 and can see high degree of similarities between Putrajaya and Canberra. Both serve as capital city and mainly dominated by government employees & buildings as well. The cities also have been planned to develop further than hosting just government buildings and employees. Canberra is a quiet city but more developed than Putrajaya. It has famous Australian National University and all foreign embassies are already located inside there. Couple of museums and galleries such as Australian War Memorial and National Gallery of Australia located in Canberra which caught my attention as visitor at that time.
Reviewing and comparing further Putrajaya with other cities such as Islamabad and Brasilia we can see that Putrajaya still has a lot of room to develop and grow further. Islamabad,Brasilia and Canberra are more mature and older in history. This 3 cities already host more than just government employees and having its vibrant mix societies,having their own airports,universities and etc. I believe no universities being planned for Putrajaya ( which may not be needed in 5 – 10 years time as number of universities nearby Putrajaya are enough ). Even the KLIA airport is close enough and can easily cater the needs of Putrajaya. The real room to grow then is having vibrant society and well planned city with the main backbone still government employees and diplomatic corps while still preserving the “garden city” concept.
Speaking of diplomatic corps then it’s worthwhile to know that many countries ( 28 by my last account ) already booked and 18 of them already signed agreement to purchase the lots inside Putrajaya Precinct 15 to build their embassies but not much real development has been happening. Large majority still maintain their embassies / consulates in down town KL largely because it’s easier to serve their citizens there, the high cost needed to build new embassy building inside Putrajaya and also no imposition can be done by Malaysian Government. There are two things that can be done. First is to make sure Putrajaya more attractive by offering more incentives.Second is easier access from Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya to Putrajaya. There’s good highway and fast train serving this route now all the way to KLIA but more need to be done on the public transport hence people can travel easier,faster and more cost effective as well. It won’t be a short term thing and learning from Brasilia it might take another 1- 2 decades to reach the point where majority if not all of embassies will be located in Putrajaya.
Vibrant societies can be reflected from their cultural,sport,educational and even night life activities. Private sector certainly will play the main part of it such as running the pub,kiosk, day to day sport facilities and even international school. Attracting more private sector to do business and settle down in Putrajaya should be the main aim of Putrajaya administrator. Remember that Putrajaya planned to accommodate up to 330,000 people, about 6 fold more than now. To enhance the cultural activities and interactions inside it then development of cultural centres such as museum,gallery,concert hall are a must.There are couple of sport competitions done in Putrajaya regularly ( which are good ). Putrajaya can aim further to form or sponsor a sport club with Putrajaya as its home base such as basketball or football club. It would be interesting to watch how the bonding of Putrajaya residents can improve further when they have a “Putrajaya football club” which they can admire and support together.
Putrajaya can be easily a main tourist attraction in Malaysia as well. I remember how Canberra being promoted as tourist destination and load of buses going there from Sydney and other cities. Tourists go there to see the embassy quarter,parliament house,government complexes,museum and etc. Most of it can be offered by Putrajaya as well plus the well preserved greenery. I believe the same has been done here to attract more tourists who visiting Genting and KL to also go to Putrajaya. Facilities such as hotel ( Pullman and etc ) are already there albeit mostly people making a day trip to Putrajaya and seldom stay there except for conferences,meetings and official guests of Malaysian government. Tourism can be a major revenue making here provided a comprehensive package can be sold to foreign tourists for example coupling it with the tour to Cyberjaya and watching a F1 grandprix in Sepang circuit.
Fig. 2 Wawasan Bridge
The Garden City concept can be further coupled with green energy concept. Park and Ride which have been implemented for long time support the use of public transport. This is in turn reducing the usage of private transport and carbon emission which might be resulted from it. Public transport in Putrajaya also already using natural gas as its fuel. Another system that is commonly being used in Putrajaya is Gas District Cooling system, a centralized energy plant using natural gas to generate chilled water for air-conditioning requirements of buildings. The system is not only environmental friendly and practical but in the architectural sense, the building designs will also directly ‘benefit’ from it, as the building designs could make do without Cooling Tower at the roof top. As a result, the façade of the buildings in Putrajaya, mainly the government and commercial buildings are more motivating and appealing whilst building owners can optimise the usage of space. Besides Park&Ride ,natural gas public transport and Gas District Cooling system then Putrajaya can explore and develop more this green concept into reality with the installation of BIPV ( building installed photovoltaic panel ) on the residential and government buildings which can contribute reasonable amount of electricity and heating of water. However the installation of BIPV need to be done properly as not to damage the beauty of buildings in Putrajaya. Waste to energy treatment can be built and applied as well. It has the right size of population ( not too big or too small ) to try this concept citywide. Overall it can contribute to Putrajaya’s future standing as role model for the green capital / city of the world.
Fig.3 Lake view of Putrajaya
Worth to note that Putrajaya already progressing well and on track since its inception. However it still has a lot of room to develop further into a “ real city with vibrant societies”. This opportunity if used properly with most exciting and suitable concepts such as green concept coupled with proper planning can ensure the future growth,sustainability and prosperity of it. Furthermore it can be a role model to other aspiring countries which may plan to move their capital cities to a brand new place for whatever reasons or even to some other aspiring countries which just want to develop new cities eventhough it won’t be as capital. Opportunity to export Malaysia’s experience in developing and managing Putrajaya in the future is something that can’t be underestimated. Many of Malaysian companies and experts involved in Putrajaya project can be engaged and employed overseas. This in return will bring money and investment back and spur Malaysia’s growth futher. Remember that Malaysia need this type of high value added expertises in order to reach the target as developed nation by 2020.
Well,it may be just my wishes and rants as foreigner for now. But I don’t doubt it might be a positive reality in 5 - 10 years more. Will see it soon !!!
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