Putrajaya

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Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya
Federal Territory
Other transcription(s)
 • Jawi ڤوتراجاي
 • Chinese 布特拉再也/布城
 • Tamil புத்ராஜெயா
Skyline of Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya
Flag of Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya
Flag
Official seal of Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya
Seal
Motto: Bandar raya Taman, Bandar raya Bestari
(Garden City, Intelligent City)
   Putrajaya in    Malaysia
   Putrajaya in    Malaysia
Country  Malaysia
Federal Territories Putrajaya
Establishment 19 October 1995
Made into
Federal
Territory
1 February 2001
Government
 • Administered by Perbadanan Putrajaya
Putrajaya Corporation
 • Chairman Aseh Che Mat
Area[1]
 • Total 49 km2 (19 sq mi)
Population (2010)[2]
 • Total 67,964
 • Density 1,400/km2 (3,600/sq mi)
Time zone MST (UTC+8)
 • Summer (DST) Not observed (UTC)
Mean solar time UTC+06:46:40
Website portal.ppj.gov.my

Putrajaya is a planned city, 25 km south of Kuala Lumpur, that serves as the federal administrative centre of Malaysia. The seat of government was shifted in 1999 from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya, due to overcrowding and congestion in the Kuala Lumpur area. Nevertheless, Kuala Lumpur remains Malaysia's national capital, being the seat of the King and Parliament, as well as the country's commercial and financial centre. Putrajaya was the brainchild of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad. In 2001, Putrajaya became Malaysia's third Federal Territory after Kuala Lumpur and Labuan.

Named after the first Malaysian Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, the city is within the Multimedia Super Corridor, beside the recently developed Cyberjaya. In Sanskrit, "putra" means "prince" or "male child", and "jaya" means "success" or "victory". The development of Putrajaya started in early 1990s, and today major landmarks have been completed and the population is expected to grow in the near future.

History and design

Putrajaya precincts

Putrajaya, which was originally Prang Besar (ڤراڠ بسر), was found in 1918 as Air Hitam by the British. Originally found with a land area of 800 acres (3.2 km2), it later expanded to 8,000 acres (32 km2), and merged with surrounding estates, including Estet Raja Alang, Estet Galloway and Estet Bukit Prang.

The vision to have a new Federal Government Administrative Centre to replace Kuala Lumpur as the administrative capital emerged in the late 1980s, during the tenure of Malaysia's 4th Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad. The new city was proposed to be located between Kuala Lumpur and the new KL International Airport (KLIA).Two area were put forward, Prang Besar and Janda Baik of Pahang.[3]

The Federal government negotiated with the state of Selangor on the prospect of another Federal Territory and in the mid-1990s, the Federal government paid a substantial amount of money to Selangor for approximately 11,320 acres (45.8 km2) of land in Prang Besar, Selangor. As a result of this land purchase, the state of Selangor now completely surrounds two Federal Territories within its borders, namely Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

Planned as a garden and intelligent city, 38% of the area is reserved for green spaces by emphasising the enhancement of natural landscape. A network of open spaces and wide boulevards were incorporated to the plan. Construction began in August 1995 and it was Malaysia's biggest project and one of Southeast Asia's largest with estimated final cost of US$8.1 billion. The entire project was designed and constructed by Malaysian companies with only 10% of the materials imported.

The Asian Financial Crisis of 1997/1998 had somewhat slowed the development of Putrajaya. In 1999, 300 staff members of the Prime Minister's office moved to Putrajaya and the remaining government servants moved in 2005. On 1 February 2001 Tun Dr. Mahathir declared Putrajaya as a Federal Territory with the ceremony of handing over Putrajaya township from the Selangor state authorities.

In 2002, a rail link called KLIA Transit was opened, linking Putrajaya to both Kuala Lumpur and KL International Airport in Sepang. However, construction of the Putrajaya Monorail which was intended to be the city's metro system, was suspended due to costs. One of the monorail suspension bridges in Putrajaya remains unused.

In 2007, the population of Putrajaya was estimated to be over 30,000, which comprised mainly government servants. Government servants have been encouraged to relocate to the city through a variety of government subsidy and loan programs.

In April 2013 the Putrajaya government signed a letter of intent (LOI) with the government of Sejong City in South Korea to mark co-operation between the two cities.[4]

Government and infrastructure

As of 2012 almost all of Malaysia's governmental ministries had relocated to Putrajaya. The only ministries remaining in Kuala Lumpur are the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Works.[5]

Religion

As of 2010 Census the population of Putrajaya is 97.4% Muslim, 1.0% Hindu, 0.9% Christian, 0.4% Buddhist, and 0.3% other or non-religious.[6]

Public buildings and monuments

Perdana Putra, the Prime Minister's office
Monuments

Open space

Education

Kindergarten and Pre-School

Primary & Secondary Education in Putrajaya is provided by a few schools such as:

There is also an elite fully residential school in Putrajaya

Perdana University have established an interim campus in Putrajaya which hosts the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (PUGSOM) and the Perdana University-Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (PU-RCSI) medical schools.

Transport

Putrajaya is home to the world's largest roundabout, the Persiaran Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah with a perimeter of 3.5 km. (2.7 miles)

Bridges

Seri Wawasan Bridge

This is a list of bridges in Putrajaya.

Major highways

Public transport

Image gallery

Panoramic image of Putrajaya, (from left to right) the Putra Bridge, the Ministry of Finance on the left, the Seri Wawasan Bridge, the Istana Darul Ehsan next to it
Panorama of Putrajaya from Cyberjaya Lake Gardens in February 2011.

See also

References

Citations
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  4. "Closer ties between Putrajaya and Sejong, Korea." (Archived from the original) The Star (Malaysia). Saturday 6 April 2013. Updated on Friday 26 April 2013. Retrieved on 1 January 2014.
  5. "Malaysian envoy acclaims Sejong City." (Archive) The Korea Times. 23 September 2012.
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General
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Further reading

  • King, Ross: Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya: Negotiating Urban Space in Malaysia, Nias Press, 2008

External links

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