Housing Issues in Kuala Lumpur

I wrote this paper as the final assignment in World Urbanization. The paper narrates the history of the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; analyzes the city's spatial patterns; and explores the city's indirect creation of, and consequent handling of, informal settlements. In the case of Kuala Lumpur, after Malaysia gained independence, the country implemented a set of economic policies aimed at urbanizing its rural Malay population, but the capitol city failed to build sufficient housing for incoming migrants, leading to a proliferation of informal settlements. Once the Malaysian government wanted to transform Kuala Lumpur into a global city, the city became increasingly less tolerant of these informal settlements, and started emphasizing their illegality, aiming to clear them and develop the land into something more globally-oriented. Essentially, the city government opted to make itself more attractive to foreign investment and the global economy rather than serve their own residents and resolve the issues the government itself created.

This process is emblematic of the transformation of the economic and political machines of cities around the world over the course of the 20th century in the context of globalization and capitalism. Kuala Lumpur serves as a perfect example of Harvey's (1989) shift from managerialism to entrepreneurialism. The case of Kuala Lumpur is especially interesting because the city does not hold mayoral or city councillor elections; city officials are appointed by the federal government, which is also based in Kuala Lumpur.