Catch 22@PJ: Residential vs Commercial

Petaling Jaya was developed as a bedroom town for Kuala Lumpur 50 years ago. The planners then, have never thought of PJ developed so rapidly becoming a self-sustainable township by itself, let alone to proclaim as a City. The concept of neighbourhood was clearly translated into the planning principle on the ground. Houses are the dominant land use and served by row of neighbourhood shops. For long and even presently, many people are here in PJ for living in a peaceful and quiet environment. This scenario changed with the development of Subang Jaya, Shah Alam or even Kota Damansara and other areas at the fringe of PJ. These development brought in traffic and in-flow of people into PJ. Undoubtedly, development pressure built up against the planned set up for PJ.


Presently, PJ offers great deal for businesses looking for better place. The high price of properties and traffic congestion in KL is pushing more and more businesses to establish here in PJ, even for the people who is looking for a quiet place to live. The influx of traffic and people requires the construction of commercial space and residential units in the form of high rise and high density. The high intensity of activities brought in extra load to the existing infrastructure and living environment. While the changes is inevitable, the local felt uneasy as they have now to compete for the road space, the facilities, the services, the nature and even the car park. Community conflict started and to become a subject for contest continually.


So, the question now is whether development in PJ has reached the saturated point or not? Or perhaps we have misunderstood the definition about development? Shouldn't we talk about social and environmental development rather than the physical and economic development alone?


Is development only confined to the physical element, the high rise, the inflow of people and visitors and with that the need for more space? Or, are we talking about quality development and encourage the value-added development that will bring in high return on quality of life? For example, the building of theatre, art gallery, iconic structures with historical and aesthetic value, urban park and others.

We are in the situation of Catch 22. Some claimed that without development, no socio-economic development and quality services can be carried out by MBPJ. However, some argued that quality services can be provided by improving on efficiency and effectiveness even without new development. The argument is inconclusive. Perhaps sustainable development principles should be applied scientifically and systematically. Accepted methodologies rather than perception only should be used for development planning analysis.