Putrajaya


Putrajaya, officially the Federal Territory of Putrajaya, is a planned city and the federal administrative centre of the Malaysian capital. The seat of the federal government was shifted in 1999 from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya because of overcrowding and congestion in the former. Kuala Lumpur remains Malaysia's national capital and is the seat of the King, the Parliament, and all the foreign embassies, and the country's commercial and financial centre. Putrajaya was the idea of the then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. It became Malaysia's third federal territory, after Kuala Lumpur and Labuan, in 2001.
Named after the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, the territory is entirely enclaved within the Sepang District of the state of Selangor. Putrajaya is also a part of MSC Malaysia, a special economic zone that covers Klang Valley. In Sanskrit, "putra" means "prince" or "male child", and "jaya" means "success" or "victory". The development of Putrajaya started in the early 1990s.

History and design

Prang Besar, was founded in 1921 on land that was jungle, as a rubber plantation by British veterans of World War 1, hence the name. Its land area of expanded to, and it was merged with surrounding estates, including Estet Raja Alang, Estet Galloway and Estet Bukit Prang.
Until 1975, what is today Putrajaya, along with adjacent Cyberjaya, were under the administration of Hulu Langat district.
The vision of 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 fourth prime minister, Mahathir bin Mohamad. The new city was proposed to be located between Kuala Lumpur and the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Two areas were proposed: Prang Besar and Janda Baik of Pahang. The new name was chosen for the site.
The federal government negotiated with the state of Selangor on the prospect of another federal territory. In the mid-1990s the federal government paid a substantial amount of money to Selangor for approximately of land in Prang Besar, Selangor. As a result of this land purchase, Selangor now completely surrounds two federal territories within its borders, namely Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.
Planned as a garden city and intelligent city, 38% of the area is reserved for green spaces in which the natural landscape is enhanced. The plan incorporated a network of open spaces and wide boulevards. Construction began in August 1995; it was Malaysia's biggest project and one of Southeast Asia's largest, with an 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 somewhat slowed the development of Putrajaya. 300 members of the Prime Minister's office staff moved there in 1999, and the remaining government servants moved in 2005. On 1 February 2001, the city was formally transferred to the federal government and declared Malaysia's third federal territory.
In 2002, a rail line called KLIA Transit was opened, linking Putrajaya to KLIA in Sepang. The construction of the Putrajaya Monorail, which was intended to be the city's metro system, was suspended owing to high costs. One of the monorail suspension bridges in Putrajaya remains unused.
In April 2013, the Putrajaya government signed a letter of intent with the government of Sejong City in South Korea to mark co-operation between the two cities.

Government and infrastructure

almost all of Malaysia's governmental ministries had relocated to Putrajaya. The only ministries remaining in Kuala Lumpur were the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Works. Alamanda Putrajaya Shopping Centre, located near the governmental ministries in Precinct 1, was opened to serve people who work, play and live in Putrajaya.

Demographics

Population

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. The population had increased to 88,300 by 2015.

Religious demography

, the population of Putrajaya is 97.4% Muslim, 1.0% Hindu, 0.9% Christian, 0.4% Buddhist, 0.2% unknown and 0.1% other religions. The Malaysian constitution strictly defines what makes a "Malay", considering Malays those who are Muslim, speak Malay regularly, practise Malay customs, and lived in or have ancestors from Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore.

Public buildings and monuments

;Monuments
Kindergarten and Pre-School
Primary & Secondary Education in Putrajaya is provided by a few schools such as:
There are also two elite fully residential schools in Putrajaya:
Perdana University has established an interim campus in Putrajaya which hosts the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Perdana University-Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland medical schools:
Other universities:
International Schools
Putrajaya is home to the world's largest roundabout, the Persiaran Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah with a perimeter of 3.5 km.

By car

Major highways

Putrajaya is surrounded by federal highways 29 on the western side and 30 on the eastern side. The South Klang Valley Expressway E26, connecting Pulau Indah to Kajang, runs through the northern end of Putrajaya. ELITE E6 exit 607 serves Putrajaya and also nearby Cyberjaya. Highway 29 interchanges with Damansara–Puchong Expressway E11 in the northwestern corner of Putrajaya, linking the city with Puchong, Subang Jaya, Kelana Jaya and all the way to Kepong.
Within Putrajaya, the following roads serve as the main thoroughfares of the city.

Rail

The only direct rail connection to Putrajaya is the KLIA Transit line through the Putrajaya & Cyberjaya station within the Putrajaya Sentral transportation hub, which connects to KL Sentral, Bandar Tasik Selatan, Salak Tinggi, KLIA and klia2.
The MRT Putrajaya Line is currently being constructed and will also connect to Putrajaya Sentral. The proposed Kuala Lumpur–Singapore High Speed Rail will also connect to Putrajaya along the route from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, but will be located near the borders of Putrajaya, in nearby Presint 14.
Around 2003, plans for a monorail in Putrajaya was under construction but was halted due to low population at that time. However, plans to revive the construction of the Putrajaya Monorail are currently underway.

Buses

provides its own stage bus services through its subsidiary Nadi Putra using natural gas-powered buses and a few electric buses. The bus service serves the entirety of Putrajaya as well as Cyberjaya, and provides express bus routes to Kuala Lumpur through Puduraya and a few other nearby cities from its hubs at Putrajaya Sentral and P&R Presint 14. Bus stops in Putrajaya are very common too and serves Nadi Putra. Rapid KL, Causeway Link and Cityliner also provides bus services to other areas from Putrajaya Sentral such as Banting, Puchong, Bandar Utama and Petaling Jaya.
Intercity buses also serve bus routes from Putrajaya Sentral to the northern states.

Politics

Putrajaya is represented in the Parliament of Malaysia by one elected MP in the Dewan Rakyat, under the seat of Putrajaya, as well as one appointed senator in the Dewan Negara.
As with the other federal territories of Malaysia, Putrajaya does not have a territorial legislature.

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Putrajaya is twinned with these cities:
Putrajaya has a tropical rainforest climate with heavy rainfall year-round.

Image gallery