Malaysia began its search for a new Government administrative centre in the 1980s to disperse some development away from Kuala Lumpur. A site called Prang Besar in the district Sepang was chosen for this purpose. The project is named after the country’s first Prime Minister, YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj. Construction of the new city began in August 1995, and is now targeted for completion by 2015.

While Kuala Lumpur will remain as the country’s capital city as well as premiere financial and commercial centre, Putrajaya will play the role of the new Federal Government Administrative Center. It is expected that most of the Federal Government agencies will have moved to Putrajaya by 2010. When the city is fully developed, it will have a population of around 320,000 and 64,000 housing units.

Location

Putrajaya sits on a magnificent 4,931 hectares of land within the Multimedia Super Corridor. It is located 25km south of Kuala Lumpur and 20km north of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Being served by a network of highways, it is highly accessible from all parts of the country.

The Garden City

Putrajaya is being developed based on the theme of City in A Garden. The undulating nature of the land lends itself to the creation of a city of this identity. It has allowed for the creation of generous open spaces and parks, and a 600 hectare man-made lake as its principal landscape feature.

The Intelligent City

Being located within the Multimedia Super Corridor, and in line with the Government’s e-Government initiative, Putrajaya is also developed as an intelligent city. Multimedia technologies will be in place to facilitate communication and interaction between Government offices, between the Government and the business community, as well as between the Government and local population and general public.