The Metropolitan Conspiracy

So here's my suspicion on what's going to happen with the capital area of Malaysia.

NO PLAN TO PLANNED

Kuala Lumpur was a city built with no planning. It was also developed during a time when technology, experience, and skills were all lacking. On top of that, the city was built according to the population and necessities from several decades ago, randomly adding on necessary infrastructure and developments as the population grew. This makes it an extremely badly designed city. That's why we get all these horrible traffic jams and inexplicable road structures. I mean, if they could do it all over according to today's population and needs with today's technology, there wouldn't be any roundabouts or 6 billion (slightly exaggerated) flyovers.

Everyone's moving to Klang Valley, and yet, because it's too late to try to restructure the entire area, the only feasible option is to move the population to less densely populated areas. If you can't provide the infrastructure for the population, bring the population to where you can, kan?

The government, as well as all the Dato and Tan Sri power players, have all sunk billions into building Putrajaya and Cyberjaya. Although it's taken much longer than it should have, it's finally about time to really promote, market, and sell these areas. For one, the major areas of Klang Valley are really running out of decent space, especially with the reserved areas for greenery. Second, prices are running so high that it's just simply not viable for younger generations to live in the current residential areas any longer. I mean, if instead of spending money that you don't have on rebuilding or renovating, you could sell your Dad's 30 year old house and land to buy brand new property in a clean, safe, and new environment, why wouldn't you?

To move a large enough population to the less dense areas, though, would take a lot of effort and money, as well as an extremely large-scale, well planned, and well funded project that revolves around moving the city center entirely. That's what the Metropolitan Conspiracy is all about.

BECOMING AN ADVANCED CITY

Think about all the major cities in the world and what they've been through. Cities like New York, Chicago, Tokyo, Paris, and London have all started small but eventually grew larger due to growing population and the demand for better housing, infrastructure, and transportation. The city center starts off getting more expensive, forcing newer arrivals to move to the outskirts. Then the outskirts become more expensive, moving even newer arrivals to the suburbs. Then suddenly, you've got this massive metropolitan area in which commuting 90 minutes one way is the norm.

That's definitely where KL is heading.

THE METROPOLITAN CONSPIRACY

If we consider the trend in which the different areas are developing in Klang Valley, we can see that the viable areas furthest out from KLCC would be Rawang to the north and Seremban to the south. If we were to accept an average commute time of 60 to 90 minutes one way and assume KLCC to be the center, it would make Rawang easily within the metropolis, but not Seremban; yet, it's hard to imagine developments reaching any further north than Rawang.

But wait... What if we move the center from KLCC to Putrajaya? Well, I'll be damned. There's your metropolis of the future.

Imagine a metropolis that covers Rawang from the north to Seremban to the south with Putrajaya as the center. Klang to the west and Semenyih to the east. It all makes sense! No wonder prices have been rising drastically in Cyberjaya and even a good jump in average property cost can be seen in Kota Kemuning, Semenyih, and even Nilai!

Sure, nobody's gonna give a shit for the next few years, but this is a 10 year, 20 year, 30 year master plan, and the keen investors and future readers have already caught on! People still talk about whether Cyberjaya will grow and become a feasible investment. If you're thinking that, you're not one of the keen investors or future readers. Besides, where else are you gonna go? Mont Kiara? Desa ParkCity? Yeah, only if you made a couple million a year, maybe!

By the time you're too old to get a 30 year loan (which is 35 for most banks, fyi), all the dust has settled from the construction rush, Mont Kiara, Desa ParkCity, and all those great exclusive townships will be traffic death traps that'll take you just as long to commute to PJ as it does from Cyberjaya. AND it'll cost you twice as much to invest.

Honestly speaking, it's already too late to invest in areas like Cyberjaya and Kota Kemuning at the time of this blog post, because property there already costs more than what Mont Kiara cost just 3 years ago. But at least now you have some insight to the trend, and hopefully, it'll be enough to guide you through this shitty mess we live in.

DISCALIMER: I am NOT an expert on property, investing, or economics. I'm just a normal family guy who did tons of research and footwork to find out as much information as possible about real estate in Klang Valley and then came up with his own theory. DO NOT base your investments purely on my opinions. I won't take any responsibility for your investment losses. I'll take some donations if you make money, though.