Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The Ugly City of Kuala Lumpur


Kuala Lumpur is actually quite an ugly city.
I know there are some nice, atmospheric enclaves with a bit of character but,as I said..
It's pretty ugly.
The skyline,from a distance looks great but when you get up close and personal it's a different story.
The main reason for this is that the city never really looks "finished", there is ALWAYS some construction going on somewhere and because nothing is organised, planned or coordinated on a city-wide scale it's all a bit hap-hazard.
Then you've got a dirty,rubbish strewn streets with drains blocked-up by inconsiderate idiots who just throw their rubbish into the nearest drain.....
A good example would be Bukit Bintang-The Pavilion Shopping Centre was completed two years ago-it was huge construction site for ages,now what used to be KL Plaza is being re-modeled,so another huge and ugly site-Lot 10 is also going through a staggered re-development.
When that's complete,watch and see what happens to the land between the Grand Millennium Hotel and Pavilion which is scheduled to be serviced apartments....The premier street in Kuala Lumpur seems to be a permanent construction site....
Have a look around KLCC and the park there-more construction sites for yet more apartments plus another couple of hotels and office blocks and another mini-tower next to KLCC for yet more shops....
Alright,I know that in this part of the world,progress and development= concrete (never mind the lack of infra-structure) and some of the office buildings are quite spectacular but I just wish they'd all hurry-up and get it finished.
It makes a smoggy, hazy city even more dusty and the pavements/drains/roads are always getting damaged by heavy vehicles.
And it's the same in the suburbs as well...just take the LRT or monorail and count the number of cranes you can see...
I get the feeling that the domestic economy in Malaysia is fuelled and sustained by the construction industry.
All the condos/serviced apartments seem to be built for "investment" the developers don't seem to really care if anyone actually lives in them....

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