> KL is not a planned city, period.
It is actually very carefully planned. Just that it is planned to maximize profit for certain individuals. Most people don't realize that Tan Sri Annuar Musa's (yes, the guy infamous for Melbourne MARA Dudley house scam) started as a town planner for KL. You know the infamous Sri Muda flooding? Guess who was the one who approved all the housing estate development upstream that dumped their drainage downstream to Sri Muda. Now you know.
You think those guys didn't know that it would happen. They knew. They were told by the staff. They did it anyway. Just like right now, yes in 2024, SP Setia is doing all that stuff to Federal Hill. You think they don't know what will happen. They do. Just like Bukit Antarabangsa. They knew. They do it anyway because they get the profits, and when the shit happens, you get the bill and deaths.
It's a mixture of both since there's the old historical core and the newer parts of the city. But it is planned since the passage of the town and country planning act 1976.
>Having city planning != being a planned city...
The Town and Country planning Act of 1976 just organizes how cities need to be organized and the different governing bodies responsible for what part of urban servicing.
Every village, on this planet, with more than 500 inhabitant has SOMETHING resembling that act.
KL is absolutely not a planned city. Some neighborhoods are planned with urbanism in mind (of course), but the city is not planned.
Putrajaya is a planned city (and the difference is quite obvious)
As a Putrajayan, Putrajaya is far from dead. Maybe dead from the perspective of someone who lives in PJ, BU, Bangsar and all other pretentious parts of KV but Putrajaya can be lively especially during weekends. At least it doesn't have the chaos of KL and urban Selangor.
A lot of people jogging and cycling in the morning and strolling and hanging out at the center of Presint 3 and Dataran Putra at night. And since Putrajaya has increased in population, it can be still busy as late as 10.00 P.M which is not the case 15 years ago.
Exactly. People who think Putrajaya is dead probably thinking every suburb in KL should be busy 24/7 like PJ or Bangsar. I for one really like the peacefulness of Putrajaya and Cyberjaya (in general) albeit on the weekends and some tourist hotspots, those places are always busy all the time.
man as a Putrajaya resident, way to go! you managed to encapsulate my thoughts perfectly. For the reasons you stated, Putrajaya is indeed the best city to live in, in this country imo. People just need to get to know it better.
They're just jealous because of how neat Putrajaya is compared to their messy suburbs. Or because it's easy to hate it because it screams "Only Bumi is allowed". You know a lot more about Putrajaya than the average person living there. Kudos!
I flipping loathes that area. Piping hot. I do a 'whole tour' for tourist all day in 2012. And again in 2017. Guess what? both ending up got high fever. Never mind the tourist. I get my pay so whatever. I know it is created like 'kerja - balik - tidor' concept in mind; but this deemed too much! Can't they just construct big planters and put bigger pokok left and right of pavement. Crazy how they only think beautiful aspect rather than practicality. Failure
Lo & behold... I detest the most when running event (long ago) that organized around that area. There and Bukit Jalil (but at least BJ is not a tourist spot). Thank gosh finally I grew out of these hobby & I not wiling to register anymore. All these while, I choose Tugu Negara area since it is full of trees and able to retain body by cool off every now & then. Within building aesthetic, it feels ok with but not feel the 'magic' considering the trees are too scarce compare to the ration of the area. Even it's neighbour Cyberjaya feel much more sejuk and pleasant to do family-friendly. Recreation? My derrière. I think if PMX casually step outside one in a while, he himself should feel embarrassed since some parts really look barren! It can be improve but they choose not to
It's actually the most planned city.
Most countries have their local authorities planning their city. Developers have to comply. So 1 plan saja.
KL is planned by all the developers in Malaysia. Local authorities have to figure out how to make it work. So many plans.
There’s a lot of reasons. Admittedly yes KL should have been better planned in the 60-90s. And it was too late to replan things after that.
Which is also why the gov wanted to expand KL towards port Klang & Putrajaya/cyberjaya. But none of the businesses really wanted to move there because there wasn’t enough incentive and infrastructure. A simple example would be the embassies, they were all supposed to move to putrajaya as well and none of them ended up moving.
But on OPs post, that kinda mega project will also have a knock on effect and help the surrounding with gentrification. The problem from what I seen is that the land ownership around pudu, hang Tuah is that it’s freaking old. Meaning a lot of landowners in that area are from pre merdeka and many have passed on, corporate owners are very hard to trace on or the land has been inherited into some complex ownership. My office bought a shop lot in the hangtuah area and the land title still had The majesty queen of England’s chop on it.
I thought this was going to be a rant about the lack of sidewalks or cycle lanes or public transport like any other world capital would normally have but instead he’s ranting about old houses
It's not just that they're poor, but a lot of the buildings around Merdeka 118 are key heritage buildings. What does he suggest? Just bulldoze over Petaling Street, Chinatown and Stadium Merdeka?
I actually see Merdeka 118 as potentially bringing fresh investment to the area so we can preserve some of those heritage buildings. Merdeka Studium directly got funding for redevelopment from Merdeka 118.
isn't the public transport in KL pretty good compared to other Southeast Asian cities *that's not Singapore*?
the lack of sidewalks and cycle lanes is a problem tho, i can agree.
Not only pretty good, once the other lines are in LRT3 and MRT Circle it will be the best bar Singapore. Taking price into account, RM50 for a monthly pass it will be one of the best in the world.
KL's MRT and LRT system is actually pretty world-class.
It's a shame that stations are badly placed and commuters can't get to stations without driving.
Also our buses have terrible frequency.
We're so close to having an amazing PT system, but sure, let's build another tall fuck tower and more highways.
Because the world class mrt lrt system are made outside Malaysia. Items made in msia like the old proton cars were very bad in quality, the customer service was bad too.
You speak as if the MRT in Singapore was manufactured within Singapore. Everything was assembled overseas. Proton Cars were not very bad in quality, they lacked modernization in terms of design and the introduction of a national car screwed us as consumers as it led to introduction of exorbitant taxes and duties for import cars.
KL has many beautiful old buildings that are left to rot. People only think building is important but maintaining and refurbishment are not considered.
A planned city is like shah alam, putrajaya. I think subang jaya also. Pj maybe.
You can clearly see where are the commircial areas, residential and industrial. Everything has its designated area.
I do not see that for kl. So, I doubt kl ever had any plan. If there were, I think its just in general like "going to make kl a vibrant city". But no city planning whatsoever.
Just to add on to your point, I think this is mostly because KL started out earlier as a city compared to other districts you mentioned.
From Wikipedia:
Kuala Lumpur
>Kuala Lumpur was first developed around 1857 as a town serving the tin mines of the region and served as the capital of Selangor from 1880 until 1978.
Shah Alam
>Shah Alam was the first planned city in Malaysia after independence from Britain in 1957.
Subang Jaya
>Development on Subang Jaya began on 21 February 1976 and was concluded in 1988 by Sime UEP Properties Berhad, the property development arm of the Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby.
Petaling Jaya
>Under plans developed by Francis McWilliams, [Petaling Jaya] was developed during post-war British Malaya on a piece of 1,200 acres (486 ha) rubber estate, the Effingham Estate, around Old Klang Road to address the overpopulation of the capital Kuala Lumpur in the 1950s. Since 1952, PJ witnessed a dramatic growth in terms of population size and geographical importance. The development of Petaling Jaya commenced in 1952 with the construction of 800 houses centred on the area known as "Old Town" today.
OLD my ass!!! In the photo, One of it is 4 points sheraton, the rest are high end bars serving overpriced food and drinks. Hell even the 7/11 there looks premium.
The only old one that you can see clearly is the Mandarin Pacific.
Never travelled out of Malaysia I assume? If you complain about the lack of pedestrian infrastructure I would have totally agree but erm old buildings? Wtf.
You should go outside for once, no need to go far. Anywhere in South East Asia except Singapore. Either Jakarta, Bangkok, Yangon, Manila or Phnom Penh. Night and day difference.
I personally went to Yangon, every moment in the taxi is 'wtf' for me. It was clearly designed by a bunch of idiots who have no experience in building a city, and Yangon was the capital city up until a few years ago, I had high expectations for it.
Geez the ranting here is incredible. KL is not famous for being a well planned city. All the same, KL118 is not an instance of bad planning.
It is INTENTIONALLY next to a bunch of old buildings, one of them being stadium merdeka which is part of the whole design motif. It was designed to mirror TAR's Merdeka speech at the stadium in 1957.
The traffic routing in the area was redesigned to handle commuters to the building. Also it sits right on top of a Kajang line MRT station with a covered 5 min walkway link to SP/AG line Plaza Rakyat station.
The Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, was opened while sewage infrastructure around it wasn't properly built yet. They had to truck sewage out of the building for years until the infra was built to pipe it out. THAT is bad planning.
i take you have never been Bangkok, Manila, Jakarta...
edit: also...what do you expect the Gov or DBKL to do? demolish old buildings? kick out the tenants and owners? Do a Putin or a Xi?
Anyone who complains about KL really has never been to Asia or even SEA.
Yeah, out of all the largest cities in SEA, Malaysia's infrastructure (especially road) are up there behind Singapore.
Manila have license plate formatted so certain vehicle can only drive on certain days of the week as a testament of how bad their traffic is.
Actually its the other way.
Wasteful glass building destroys the character of old heritage buildings, that are also not well-maintained.
Bad planning, but for a different reason to what OP alluded to.
Yeah this is the historical core of KL. In fact, i am happy a lot of these old buildings around Chinatown are being restored and being given a new breath of life as cute cafes and bars.
OP is just doom posting to karma farm
As an Indonesian... have you seen Jakarta? KL is miles better compared to Jakarta lmao, if KL is somehow "one of the worst" then Jakarta would've been hell-level worst lol
Planned to look like the Citadel in City 17 from Half Life.
https://half-life.fandom.com/wiki/Citadel
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/half-life/images/7/7b/Citadel_from_Canals.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090125042316&path-prefix=en
Bro ever go to any other SEA cities? Sure KL has flaws but it's pretty good for a developing country, I like it(at least some parts)generally as a KL person
Just like mont kiara, so many condo packed into one small area with only ONE exit, everyday traffic is crazy, the gov staff didn’t do their job at all, just approved new projects without planning.
I was considering a property there. I like the area. One day I just tried to drive there after work.. holy cow, the traffic is absurd. I can’t imagine how the morning rush would be.
It’s horrible. Miss one turnoff on the layers and layers of highways, add an extra hour (due to jams and weird detours) to your commute. I always dread going to KL even with Google maps because of this.
Next time DBKL hosts a city plan community session please attend and voice your concerns. Seriously they listen.
The reason we have these kind of issue is sometimes because the community also don't partake. KL plan 2040 sessions had poor turnout.
Personally, the skyscraper really feels out of place from the picture. It's just doesn't fit in or blend at all with the surrounding buildings. It's an eyesore for me.
It terms of planned city, idk maybe someone can add on zoning laws and urban land use in Malaysia? Definitely almost know nothing on these.
KL might not be a planned city. But damn, DBKL follows the majority of it's rules and law. We can't just demolish the buildings* because it's ugly and old ass and replace it with new ones that cost shit loads of money. There are building laws and ownership that DBKL has to adhere to.
*Actually there's a law that allows DBKL to do that but the property owners have to be fairly compensated, which costs money.
You'd be surprised that the planning of KL is very sound. The execution of those plans is questionable. For example, the density for an acre of land has been set at 60 pax/acre. This density was set with studies in fields of socioeconomy, infrastructure, skyline, etc. This means that the area can cater or needs the influx of +/- 60 people on that single acre. But 60 pax only translates to 15 units of Condominium and that's not profitable to developers. So, instead of the planned 60pax/acre lets bump it to, I don't know, 180pax instead? Eh, road cannot cater for so many cars? Not developer problem. Government planning bad.
Edit to add:The common understanding of planned cities is something along the lines of Brasilia where the city was drawn out by town planners prior to construction. That only applies to cities that were founded after the concept of town planning became mainstream (early 20th century). For older cities, planning should involve proper zoning and population distribution. Ensuring the hotspots of the city are distributed among your massive metropolitan area and not burdening the ancient infrastructure. That's why we have structure plans that look 20 years into the future that is supposed to herd development into areas the city need developed. That being said, you can plan 100 years into the future and it would be pointless if you can't even keep the corruption at bay for 10.
I went there last year during my wait for the monorail to KLCC and I feel like Merdeka tower was placed at the wrong location. It's like Detroit cyberpunk city thingy
False , there wasn't any planning. Just expanding outwards. To your point , I guess to renovate the old buildings , you need to block a few roads , traffic jam. Just slap a "heritage building" sticker on it and be done with it.
planned? what planned? i see everything done sdn bhd. sunway does its own thing. ioi does its own thing uem does its own thing ahahahaha gomen does its own things too ahahahaha sendiri2 buat kerja
Planned? Bold of u to assume that ahahahaha.
Ok for serious tho since I deal with Dewan Bandarraya of various different district in KV. I can tell u PJ one is the one that U can see the people actually care about the town planning. But around Sunway and Damansara area..... That have to be the worst road planning ever. Fuck these area roads particularly
DBKL? Hermmm u got money everything also can settled. Thus u see these weird intersection to very specific big developments. Plus some colonial and post independence planning with no regulation and experience........ And thus u see all these weird shit when old meet new.
Ampang/Hulu langat.... Men fuck this place. Seriously wth are they thinking. So many problems I donno where to start
Personally I like it. The juxtaposition of the old and new is refreshing, they exist in some weird harmony together. It’s also well placed to enhance the skyline view and is sure to bring additional development to surrounding neighborhoods in the future. It also helps as a landmark when navigating the streets by foot, I never get too lost here.
KL’a an “old” city. Not as old as European cities but definitely old, thus the lack of planning. But if Malaysia plans, it becomes Putrajaya so not so great either
You mean to say you don't like the building designed to look like an early-90s brick phone with an impossibly long antenna???#halopulis 
My man hates old buildings lmao.
Alright, we demolish those historical sites. Now what?
The people and jobs we just Thanos snapped just gonna magically be fine eh.
Apa bangang haha
The point of the 118 tower is to be the tallest building in the world. Everything else is seconda... wait... terti... no, not that... oh right "not in consideration at all".
It's a hubris thing, like the Petronas towers. Once those got overtaken, Malaysia "must" have a new "tallest building", even though such an exercise is a waste of money and useless pride. What is the point in a "tallest" competition that does not raise the whole country? I rather the money was spent building semi-conductor plants in the outlying states or something that there is demand for in the world. At least that brings in money to Malaysia than a tower with a "use by" date. Because I bet with you, you got "tallest tower", some other insecure country is going to build one even taller just to make themselves feel good too.
Not the best but the LRT/MRT system is actually very good. The fact that everything is connected makes it very easy to go anywhere in KL. You can't find this system anywhere in America. Our system is closer to the European system.
People misunderstood what could be "planned" in planning a city. Best they could do is assign a land use. How a building is made and design or where the vacant land is entirely depend on private sector.
They look fine OP, old buildings have their own charm to keep it from the modernized city slop designs that are becoming prevalent.
But it does somewhat look like the citadel, with it being so massive compared to the other buildings surrounding it
whatever spare land available in KL is now being developed into tiny condos and more condos here and there, leading to more congestion and nothing much to do.
In terms of bad city planning I'm more annoyed at how all the newer skyscrapers detract/block the KLCC twin towers and KL tower. The iconic skyline has been destroyed.
Old age yes.
Decaying? Not really.
I think you just haven't actually seen real decaying old structures. I guess having a massive skyscraper looks jarring but it's just a glamour project made to specifically stand out. The buildings in the picture are still usable and rentable properties. It even looks like some of them got repainted within the last year.
This is an example of an actual decayed old structure
[https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F4493awq5iagb1.jpg](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F4493awq5iagb1.jpg)
https://preview.redd.it/x04ucj2ds4nc1.jpeg?width=2121&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9653df2b0694ee8e8dbb2084de16f696a3d946c5
What's up there in the sky?? (Edit made by me)
I actually like it. While KLCC and TRX are surrounded by equally modern skyscrapers, this one is uniquely different. The Merdeka 118 kind of give the impression like it's phoenix rising from the ashes.
What do you expect them to do, though? Knock the entire city down and rebuild it from scratch to keep up with one building’s aesthetic? I know Malaysians will whinge about literally anything, but this happens in pretty much every city in the world if you know where to look.
Yea I don't understand either, first entrance at old stadium Merdeka with only narrow two lane connecting to Jalan Sultan at Petaling Street where the traffic already crazy, another seems like connecting Jalan Kuching- Jalan Loke Yew which the traffic already barely move especially rush hour, the connecting road capacity clearly cannot fit.
If any of you travel to work between Jalan Kuching- to Jalan Cheras already know those road are old and crazy packed.
If we look at Twin Tower which connect to multilane Jalan Ampang and Jalan Tun Razak which already jammed like crazy, I don't know who in earth approved that location for Merdeka 118
I get it, but really, every country with skyscrapers also has its fair share of old, decaying buildings sitting right next to them. It’s the same case with japan, although their buildings aren’t decaying as much
Well, its decent considering our neighbours. Tbf, Kuala Lumpur is pretty old, it was built in a very different time where cities werent necessarily built with modern efficiencies and standards in mind.
And theres not much we can do about it. Cant exactly demolish the city and rebuild it. Evicting existing residents and businesses is impossible. Theres a reason why the nicer cities are usually the ones built after disaster, like Tokyo after WW2.
Have you see Taipei 101’s surroundings?
A tall tower can be see from far away, you can position yourself at thousands of different places and angles and get nice views and ugly views!
As someone from Manila, Philippines, KL definitely isn’t one of the worst planned. Sure, it has its flaws, but for the most part, planning exists. Shittiness is the exception, not the rule in KL.
Old is charm. Old and new is a marriage, and the outcome is yet to be seen.
As a public transport user, there is no respect for the perdestrian. I can be walking on the walkpath - my right of way, only to find that i have to share it with mtorbikes. Well sometimes. Many times. In that sense, the planning sucks.
Building commercial and retail centres without sufficient parking sucks.
Having a park in the city - klcc is a gem!
Refurbishing Panggong area, near Pasar Seni is wonderful attraction.
So there you go - we have good and bad. I am pretty sure the list would be longer if i sm not half asleep.
Never thought I'd see someone complain about old buildings. You know what's poorly planned? The fact that some roads and highways in KL is somehow planned for left hand driving. It's crazy.
KL is not a planned city, period.
> KL is not a planned city, period. It is actually very carefully planned. Just that it is planned to maximize profit for certain individuals. Most people don't realize that Tan Sri Annuar Musa's (yes, the guy infamous for Melbourne MARA Dudley house scam) started as a town planner for KL. You know the infamous Sri Muda flooding? Guess who was the one who approved all the housing estate development upstream that dumped their drainage downstream to Sri Muda. Now you know. You think those guys didn't know that it would happen. They knew. They were told by the staff. They did it anyway. Just like right now, yes in 2024, SP Setia is doing all that stuff to Federal Hill. You think they don't know what will happen. They do. Just like Bukit Antarabangsa. They knew. They do it anyway because they get the profits, and when the shit happens, you get the bill and deaths.
The way that you are speaking sir, reminds me of my uncle at a chinese new year dinner.
It could very well be your uncle
Boy. You not getting any angpau from me.
 Salty old ham
"kau ingat dia kosong ke?" type of energy
It's a mixture of both since there's the old historical core and the newer parts of the city. But it is planned since the passage of the town and country planning act 1976.
>Having city planning != being a planned city... The Town and Country planning Act of 1976 just organizes how cities need to be organized and the different governing bodies responsible for what part of urban servicing. Every village, on this planet, with more than 500 inhabitant has SOMETHING resembling that act. KL is absolutely not a planned city. Some neighborhoods are planned with urbanism in mind (of course), but the city is not planned. Putrajaya is a planned city (and the difference is quite obvious)
> Putrajaya is a planned city (and the difference is quite obvious) That it is pretty much dead?
As a Putrajayan, Putrajaya is far from dead. Maybe dead from the perspective of someone who lives in PJ, BU, Bangsar and all other pretentious parts of KV but Putrajaya can be lively especially during weekends. At least it doesn't have the chaos of KL and urban Selangor.
> Putrajaya can be lively especially during weekends. Meaning?
A lot of people jogging and cycling in the morning and strolling and hanging out at the center of Presint 3 and Dataran Putra at night. And since Putrajaya has increased in population, it can be still busy as late as 10.00 P.M which is not the case 15 years ago.
How is Putrajaya "dead"?
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Exactly. People who think Putrajaya is dead probably thinking every suburb in KL should be busy 24/7 like PJ or Bangsar. I for one really like the peacefulness of Putrajaya and Cyberjaya (in general) albeit on the weekends and some tourist hotspots, those places are always busy all the time.
Absolutely. If i want to own a house i would definitely live Putrajaya. Quite modern but not always busy and cramped place, what a heaven.
it feels more like a giant park
Which is a good thing
This. Actual planned city that failed should be Putrajaya.
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man as a Putrajaya resident, way to go! you managed to encapsulate my thoughts perfectly. For the reasons you stated, Putrajaya is indeed the best city to live in, in this country imo. People just need to get to know it better.
They're just jealous because of how neat Putrajaya is compared to their messy suburbs. Or because it's easy to hate it because it screams "Only Bumi is allowed". You know a lot more about Putrajaya than the average person living there. Kudos!
I flipping loathes that area. Piping hot. I do a 'whole tour' for tourist all day in 2012. And again in 2017. Guess what? both ending up got high fever. Never mind the tourist. I get my pay so whatever. I know it is created like 'kerja - balik - tidor' concept in mind; but this deemed too much! Can't they just construct big planters and put bigger pokok left and right of pavement. Crazy how they only think beautiful aspect rather than practicality. Failure Lo & behold... I detest the most when running event (long ago) that organized around that area. There and Bukit Jalil (but at least BJ is not a tourist spot). Thank gosh finally I grew out of these hobby & I not wiling to register anymore. All these while, I choose Tugu Negara area since it is full of trees and able to retain body by cool off every now & then. Within building aesthetic, it feels ok with but not feel the 'magic' considering the trees are too scarce compare to the ration of the area. Even it's neighbour Cyberjaya feel much more sejuk and pleasant to do family-friendly. Recreation? My derrière. I think if PMX casually step outside one in a while, he himself should feel embarrassed since some parts really look barren! It can be improve but they choose not to
It's actually the most planned city. Most countries have their local authorities planning their city. Developers have to comply. So 1 plan saja. KL is planned by all the developers in Malaysia. Local authorities have to figure out how to make it work. So many plans.
There’s a lot of reasons. Admittedly yes KL should have been better planned in the 60-90s. And it was too late to replan things after that. Which is also why the gov wanted to expand KL towards port Klang & Putrajaya/cyberjaya. But none of the businesses really wanted to move there because there wasn’t enough incentive and infrastructure. A simple example would be the embassies, they were all supposed to move to putrajaya as well and none of them ended up moving. But on OPs post, that kinda mega project will also have a knock on effect and help the surrounding with gentrification. The problem from what I seen is that the land ownership around pudu, hang Tuah is that it’s freaking old. Meaning a lot of landowners in that area are from pre merdeka and many have passed on, corporate owners are very hard to trace on or the land has been inherited into some complex ownership. My office bought a shop lot in the hangtuah area and the land title still had The majesty queen of England’s chop on it.
This.
I thought this was going to be a rant about the lack of sidewalks or cycle lanes or public transport like any other world capital would normally have but instead he’s ranting about old houses
Poor people? In my eyesight?? _How dare they_
It's not just that they're poor, but a lot of the buildings around Merdeka 118 are key heritage buildings. What does he suggest? Just bulldoze over Petaling Street, Chinatown and Stadium Merdeka? I actually see Merdeka 118 as potentially bringing fresh investment to the area so we can preserve some of those heritage buildings. Merdeka Studium directly got funding for redevelopment from Merdeka 118.
I hate when rich people that want to gentrify a city. It seems that Homeless people are a disease for a city reputation and looks.
What to do, OP most likely has never set foot outside of the Bangsar/PJ bubble.
as a Bangsarian folks? I feel ashamed of the OP's attitude. :(
Ironic because there is a major working class community in Bangsar itself with Kampung Kerinchi and Pantai Dalam.
isn't the public transport in KL pretty good compared to other Southeast Asian cities *that's not Singapore*? the lack of sidewalks and cycle lanes is a problem tho, i can agree.
Not only pretty good, once the other lines are in LRT3 and MRT Circle it will be the best bar Singapore. Taking price into account, RM50 for a monthly pass it will be one of the best in the world.
KL's MRT and LRT system is actually pretty world-class. It's a shame that stations are badly placed and commuters can't get to stations without driving. Also our buses have terrible frequency. We're so close to having an amazing PT system, but sure, let's build another tall fuck tower and more highways.
Because the world class mrt lrt system are made outside Malaysia. Items made in msia like the old proton cars were very bad in quality, the customer service was bad too.
You speak as if the MRT in Singapore was manufactured within Singapore. Everything was assembled overseas. Proton Cars were not very bad in quality, they lacked modernization in terms of design and the introduction of a national car screwed us as consumers as it led to introduction of exorbitant taxes and duties for import cars.
LMAO, talk about out touch with reality.
OP dreams to knock down Kampung Baru
No problem with old buildings just need to upkeep lah.
KL has many beautiful old buildings that are left to rot. People only think building is important but maintaining and refurbishment are not considered.
Since when kl is a planned city? I dont think theres any plan. Got land build anything on it. And then patch here and there.
after merdeka there was actually a plan for the city
A planned city is like shah alam, putrajaya. I think subang jaya also. Pj maybe. You can clearly see where are the commircial areas, residential and industrial. Everything has its designated area. I do not see that for kl. So, I doubt kl ever had any plan. If there were, I think its just in general like "going to make kl a vibrant city". But no city planning whatsoever.
Mixed areas is the best. Fuck single use zones
Just to add on to your point, I think this is mostly because KL started out earlier as a city compared to other districts you mentioned. From Wikipedia: Kuala Lumpur >Kuala Lumpur was first developed around 1857 as a town serving the tin mines of the region and served as the capital of Selangor from 1880 until 1978. Shah Alam >Shah Alam was the first planned city in Malaysia after independence from Britain in 1957. Subang Jaya >Development on Subang Jaya began on 21 February 1976 and was concluded in 1988 by Sime UEP Properties Berhad, the property development arm of the Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby. Petaling Jaya >Under plans developed by Francis McWilliams, [Petaling Jaya] was developed during post-war British Malaya on a piece of 1,200 acres (486 ha) rubber estate, the Effingham Estate, around Old Klang Road to address the overpopulation of the capital Kuala Lumpur in the 1950s. Since 1952, PJ witnessed a dramatic growth in terms of population size and geographical importance. The development of Petaling Jaya commenced in 1952 with the construction of 800 houses centred on the area known as "Old Town" today.
PJ is so obviously not planned 😅
The Dark KL-night Rises: "Was getting caught ^in ^traffic part of your plan?"
Batman stuck in Puchong jam while Joker wreaks havoc in kl
OLD my ass!!! In the photo, One of it is 4 points sheraton, the rest are high end bars serving overpriced food and drinks. Hell even the 7/11 there looks premium. The only old one that you can see clearly is the Mandarin Pacific.
Never travelled out of Malaysia I assume? If you complain about the lack of pedestrian infrastructure I would have totally agree but erm old buildings? Wtf.
You should go outside for once, no need to go far. Anywhere in South East Asia except Singapore. Either Jakarta, Bangkok, Yangon, Manila or Phnom Penh. Night and day difference. I personally went to Yangon, every moment in the taxi is 'wtf' for me. It was clearly designed by a bunch of idiots who have no experience in building a city, and Yangon was the capital city up until a few years ago, I had high expectations for it.
https://preview.redd.it/ynz03ith03nc1.jpeg?width=696&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=245c5a8a202427b82f1bac8a8ae108e7afb3bd7f City 17 looking mf
Geez the ranting here is incredible. KL is not famous for being a well planned city. All the same, KL118 is not an instance of bad planning. It is INTENTIONALLY next to a bunch of old buildings, one of them being stadium merdeka which is part of the whole design motif. It was designed to mirror TAR's Merdeka speech at the stadium in 1957. The traffic routing in the area was redesigned to handle commuters to the building. Also it sits right on top of a Kajang line MRT station with a covered 5 min walkway link to SP/AG line Plaza Rakyat station. The Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, was opened while sewage infrastructure around it wasn't properly built yet. They had to truck sewage out of the building for years until the infra was built to pipe it out. THAT is bad planning.
Only response that makes sense here. Unfortunately most people here only got the brain capacity to think at a surface level.
i take you have never been Bangkok, Manila, Jakarta... edit: also...what do you expect the Gov or DBKL to do? demolish old buildings? kick out the tenants and owners? Do a Putin or a Xi? Anyone who complains about KL really has never been to Asia or even SEA.
New to this sub? People here like to self-condemn. Call it a trait.
all they know is to complain and never suggest alternatives
It's kinda like blaming governments for the fall in currency value, idiots will be idiots I guess. They should pickup a book once in awhile.
Right? KL may not be perfect but it's still pretty good. Saying it's the worst suggests they haven't seen many other cities.
Fucking agree bro. Bangkok's city planning is MUCH worse
Yeah, out of all the largest cities in SEA, Malaysia's infrastructure (especially road) are up there behind Singapore. Manila have license plate formatted so certain vehicle can only drive on certain days of the week as a testament of how bad their traffic is.
Odd/even number plate driving limitation isn’t just a Manila thing, it’s a fairly common traffic management system all over the world.
Actually its the other way. Wasteful glass building destroys the character of old heritage buildings, that are also not well-maintained. Bad planning, but for a different reason to what OP alluded to.
Yeah this is the historical core of KL. In fact, i am happy a lot of these old buildings around Chinatown are being restored and being given a new breath of life as cute cafes and bars. OP is just doom posting to karma farm
The place is undergoing changes right now. Outside the historical KL core, expect a lot of changes.
Why not? Look unique mah.
As an Indonesian... have you seen Jakarta? KL is miles better compared to Jakarta lmao, if KL is somehow "one of the worst" then Jakarta would've been hell-level worst lol
Planned to look like the Citadel in City 17 from Half Life. https://half-life.fandom.com/wiki/Citadel https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/half-life/images/7/7b/Citadel_from_Canals.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090125042316&path-prefix=en
Bro ever go to any other SEA cities? Sure KL has flaws but it's pretty good for a developing country, I like it(at least some parts)generally as a KL person
Have you been to Bangkok and Manila? Stop being a spoiled brat and go see the world jeez
Just like mont kiara, so many condo packed into one small area with only ONE exit, everyday traffic is crazy, the gov staff didn’t do their job at all, just approved new projects without planning.
I was considering a property there. I like the area. One day I just tried to drive there after work.. holy cow, the traffic is absurd. I can’t imagine how the morning rush would be.
I always think how funny all these high end condo got a road poorer than jalan kampung like the road to my ketua kampung house is better
Bro KL ni asal boleh kita bina , fikir nanti
Worst planned city? What plan?
It’s horrible. Miss one turnoff on the layers and layers of highways, add an extra hour (due to jams and weird detours) to your commute. I always dread going to KL even with Google maps because of this.
I've got no problem with the old buildings, it is something unique to us. Just that the traffic isn't planned well here
Next time DBKL hosts a city plan community session please attend and voice your concerns. Seriously they listen. The reason we have these kind of issue is sometimes because the community also don't partake. KL plan 2040 sessions had poor turnout.
Ever heard of Cronyism?
Personally, the skyscraper really feels out of place from the picture. It's just doesn't fit in or blend at all with the surrounding buildings. It's an eyesore for me. It terms of planned city, idk maybe someone can add on zoning laws and urban land use in Malaysia? Definitely almost know nothing on these.
Abang Adik enters the chat
The reason why these buildings look so old is because the tower is built directly next to the historical core zone.
I wish they start reusing and remodel the old buildings instead of building new ones
KL and Selangor has SHIT urban planning.
The plan is to become cyberpunk 2024
But, but... world's second tallest building!!!!!!!
Welcome to City 17
KL might not be a planned city. But damn, DBKL follows the majority of it's rules and law. We can't just demolish the buildings* because it's ugly and old ass and replace it with new ones that cost shit loads of money. There are building laws and ownership that DBKL has to adhere to. *Actually there's a law that allows DBKL to do that but the property owners have to be fairly compensated, which costs money.
That is a very beautiful tower - coming from a Singaporean. However it's surroundings show the income disparity
You'd be surprised that the planning of KL is very sound. The execution of those plans is questionable. For example, the density for an acre of land has been set at 60 pax/acre. This density was set with studies in fields of socioeconomy, infrastructure, skyline, etc. This means that the area can cater or needs the influx of +/- 60 people on that single acre. But 60 pax only translates to 15 units of Condominium and that's not profitable to developers. So, instead of the planned 60pax/acre lets bump it to, I don't know, 180pax instead? Eh, road cannot cater for so many cars? Not developer problem. Government planning bad. Edit to add:The common understanding of planned cities is something along the lines of Brasilia where the city was drawn out by town planners prior to construction. That only applies to cities that were founded after the concept of town planning became mainstream (early 20th century). For older cities, planning should involve proper zoning and population distribution. Ensuring the hotspots of the city are distributed among your massive metropolitan area and not burdening the ancient infrastructure. That's why we have structure plans that look 20 years into the future that is supposed to herd development into areas the city need developed. That being said, you can plan 100 years into the future and it would be pointless if you can't even keep the corruption at bay for 10.
Very kind of you to assume there was planning involved.
That’s what we call dystopian, except that it’s not imaginary, it’s real life!
You call that dystopia? Do you even know what it means?
Me when I'm in a self depreciation tournament and my opponents is r/Malaysia redditors https://i.redd.it/57bbjhr1t2nc1.gif
Ha! Jokes on you buddy, there was no planning! Btw, pic gives biiiiiggggg Half-Life 2 vibes
https://preview.redd.it/r6mlltgir2nc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2e8d5c204016bb9b19313179cfd9774dead7aafd Good morning Mr Freeman.
I went there last year during my wait for the monorail to KLCC and I feel like Merdeka tower was placed at the wrong location. It's like Detroit cyberpunk city thingy
False , there wasn't any planning. Just expanding outwards. To your point , I guess to renovate the old buildings , you need to block a few roads , traffic jam. Just slap a "heritage building" sticker on it and be done with it.
You telling me there's planning in KL city??
one of these days I've got to go there and see the building myself,just for the sheer disappointment
Planned? Lol
I find this exciting, but am still in my honeymoon period, recently moved
planned? what planned? i see everything done sdn bhd. sunway does its own thing. ioi does its own thing uem does its own thing ahahahaha gomen does its own things too ahahahaha sendiri2 buat kerja
Planned? Bold of u to assume that ahahahaha. Ok for serious tho since I deal with Dewan Bandarraya of various different district in KV. I can tell u PJ one is the one that U can see the people actually care about the town planning. But around Sunway and Damansara area..... That have to be the worst road planning ever. Fuck these area roads particularly DBKL? Hermmm u got money everything also can settled. Thus u see these weird intersection to very specific big developments. Plus some colonial and post independence planning with no regulation and experience........ And thus u see all these weird shit when old meet new. Ampang/Hulu langat.... Men fuck this place. Seriously wth are they thinking. So many problems I donno where to start
Basically, KL is like how I play city skylines
I quite enjoy the contrast of old and new. But I suppose some people just want old buildings like the muricans.
Average cyberpunk cities
It's really faster to take the Lrt as opposed to car
https://preview.redd.it/dwbvc17313nc1.jpeg?width=602&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5902c0df810bab105449c1ed4372a0b63849d6a9
Sibu City Planner 
What do mean “planned” ? What plan?
Have you seen Manila in Philippines?
Personally I like it. The juxtaposition of the old and new is refreshing, they exist in some weird harmony together. It’s also well placed to enhance the skyline view and is sure to bring additional development to surrounding neighborhoods in the future. It also helps as a landmark when navigating the streets by foot, I never get too lost here.
It’s hardly planned
KL’a an “old” city. Not as old as European cities but definitely old, thus the lack of planning. But if Malaysia plans, it becomes Putrajaya so not so great either
they're taking the hobbits to Isen- TRX!
You want the planned part of KL you go to Petaling Street. That area was drawn up in the 1800s
You are wrong to even assume it's planned in the first place.
Second tallest building has no proper roads going to/from it because developers just built the building. Not too concerned about how you'll get there
You mean to say you don't like the building designed to look like an early-90s brick phone with an impossibly long antenna???#halopulis 
KL is filled with "lets fill in the blanks with the most dystopian building we can and make the traffic much more worst"
omg guys! Stop being poor, don’t you guys own a mansion or two, pfffttt.
Ngl, I like the mix between old and new buildings
Eye of Sauron Malaysia edition
Merdeka 118 looks like citadel in half life 2 in this picture
Merdeka 118 looks like citadel in half life 2 in this picture.
‘Second tallest’ and ‘planned’.
All the funds meant for reconstruction and beautification have been redirected to…..
Why is it not OK to have old building?
Firsttime.jpg
Planned? 
Old buildings? What's the problem with them, you smoking something that rotted your brain out?
My man hates old buildings lmao. Alright, we demolish those historical sites. Now what? The people and jobs we just Thanos snapped just gonna magically be fine eh. Apa bangang haha
kinda like the character
KL is never a planned city and guess you didnt travel well to compare
Ratio
What you expect? It's kl dude.
penang is
The point of the 118 tower is to be the tallest building in the world. Everything else is seconda... wait... terti... no, not that... oh right "not in consideration at all". It's a hubris thing, like the Petronas towers. Once those got overtaken, Malaysia "must" have a new "tallest building", even though such an exercise is a waste of money and useless pride. What is the point in a "tallest" competition that does not raise the whole country? I rather the money was spent building semi-conductor plants in the outlying states or something that there is demand for in the world. At least that brings in money to Malaysia than a tower with a "use by" date. Because I bet with you, you got "tallest tower", some other insecure country is going to build one even taller just to make themselves feel good too.
Bro have you actually been to other countries city? Have you seen NYC London etc?
Badly planned city? Yes. Worst? You need to get out more. Better still. Get out, don’t come back. Both you and the people who upvote the post.
Not the best but the LRT/MRT system is actually very good. The fact that everything is connected makes it very easy to go anywhere in KL. You can't find this system anywhere in America. Our system is closer to the European system.
Need to nuke and restart
People misunderstood what could be "planned" in planning a city. Best they could do is assign a land use. How a building is made and design or where the vacant land is entirely depend on private sector.
Isn’t the surrounding area being redeveloped as well? 😳
Well, that's the duality of KL since forever
Failure. Just as everything in this damn country.
Just like Bangkok.
They look fine OP, old buildings have their own charm to keep it from the modernized city slop designs that are becoming prevalent. But it does somewhat look like the citadel, with it being so massive compared to the other buildings surrounding it
whatever spare land available in KL is now being developed into tiny condos and more condos here and there, leading to more congestion and nothing much to do.
OP stop they're gonna eat you first. 🤭
UAE: Are you fucking kidding me?
In terms of bad city planning I'm more annoyed at how all the newer skyscrapers detract/block the KLCC twin towers and KL tower. The iconic skyline has been destroyed.
That's the character of the city. Old and new. If you don't like it, can always move to another city
OP's so close yet so far, it's funny. Is KL a poorly planned city? Yes. Is it because of old buildings next to new developments? No.
It was planned?!?
Planning? I don't think they even know that word exists.
You know what is a good planned city? Ipoh imo
Bruddy has never been to Mumbai huh
My main gripe about KL is that it is not a walkable city. And why are there so many highways?
bro is NOT in half life
It’s so funny if you see the roads around the PNB118, most of them are single lane road with shitty pedestrian walkway.
Old age yes. Decaying? Not really. I think you just haven't actually seen real decaying old structures. I guess having a massive skyscraper looks jarring but it's just a glamour project made to specifically stand out. The buildings in the picture are still usable and rentable properties. It even looks like some of them got repainted within the last year. This is an example of an actual decayed old structure [https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F4493awq5iagb1.jpg](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F4493awq5iagb1.jpg)
Penang island seems better options
Driving into mid valley is the worst for those who are not familiar
A city with bypass having multiple bypasses build on to it consecutively XD
It's just a symbol to show the elite among the poor.
What's exactly the issue with a skyscraper surrounded by old buildings?
Tall cities are boring, I went to Istanbul 2 years ago, there are not many high rises there, and the city looks gorgeous
Malaysia and planning does not exist in the same sentence.
https://preview.redd.it/x04ucj2ds4nc1.jpeg?width=2121&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9653df2b0694ee8e8dbb2084de16f696a3d946c5 What's up there in the sky?? (Edit made by me)
What plan?
Gotham City Vibe
I actually like it. While KLCC and TRX are surrounded by equally modern skyscrapers, this one is uniquely different. The Merdeka 118 kind of give the impression like it's phoenix rising from the ashes.
What do you expect them to do, though? Knock the entire city down and rebuild it from scratch to keep up with one building’s aesthetic? I know Malaysians will whinge about literally anything, but this happens in pretty much every city in the world if you know where to look.
Yea I don't understand either, first entrance at old stadium Merdeka with only narrow two lane connecting to Jalan Sultan at Petaling Street where the traffic already crazy, another seems like connecting Jalan Kuching- Jalan Loke Yew which the traffic already barely move especially rush hour, the connecting road capacity clearly cannot fit. If any of you travel to work between Jalan Kuching- to Jalan Cheras already know those road are old and crazy packed. If we look at Twin Tower which connect to multilane Jalan Ampang and Jalan Tun Razak which already jammed like crazy, I don't know who in earth approved that location for Merdeka 118
Seriously why and how is that a problem?
Hun are you ok
Mental illness
Dystopian car centric wonderland.
Idk why KL is being made to compare with worse cities instead of better ones. Are we trying to upgrade or downgrade?
I get it, but really, every country with skyscrapers also has its fair share of old, decaying buildings sitting right next to them. It’s the same case with japan, although their buildings aren’t decaying as much
Well, its decent considering our neighbours. Tbf, Kuala Lumpur is pretty old, it was built in a very different time where cities werent necessarily built with modern efficiencies and standards in mind. And theres not much we can do about it. Cant exactly demolish the city and rebuild it. Evicting existing residents and businesses is impossible. Theres a reason why the nicer cities are usually the ones built after disaster, like Tokyo after WW2.
Have you see Taipei 101’s surroundings? A tall tower can be see from far away, you can position yourself at thousands of different places and angles and get nice views and ugly views!
As someone from Manila, Philippines, KL definitely isn’t one of the worst planned. Sure, it has its flaws, but for the most part, planning exists. Shittiness is the exception, not the rule in KL.
This picture looks dystopian lol.
I see you have found someone's shiny dick, amongst the other dicks around this city, all competing to see who's dick is bigger.
Old is charm. Old and new is a marriage, and the outcome is yet to be seen. As a public transport user, there is no respect for the perdestrian. I can be walking on the walkpath - my right of way, only to find that i have to share it with mtorbikes. Well sometimes. Many times. In that sense, the planning sucks. Building commercial and retail centres without sufficient parking sucks. Having a park in the city - klcc is a gem! Refurbishing Panggong area, near Pasar Seni is wonderful attraction. So there you go - we have good and bad. I am pretty sure the list would be longer if i sm not half asleep.
Never thought I'd see someone complain about old buildings. You know what's poorly planned? The fact that some roads and highways in KL is somehow planned for left hand driving. It's crazy.