Kuala Lumpur, Malaysiaas of July 2016
Previously posted on Facebook & Medium.
After years of procrastination, I finally got down to looking up each and every railway station in the Klang Valley, Malaysia.
I’ve seen the official maps they use, but it’s never going to be as good as seeing an actual overlay of every station, on top of a map of the region. That way, I could see the density of stations between Kuala Lumpur city centre and the outskirts. I could also see places I recognized, and other places I’ve only heard of. Many people tell me they know where everywhere is and how to get there, but are confused the moment a map is shown to them. seeing my city from a bird’s eye view is certainly an eye opener.
I was surprised that, after a quick search of the Internet, nobody has done this yet. Lots of images and very little else. So here it is in all it’s glory: Google Maps of the Rail Transit Stations in Kuala Lumpur…
Why did I make the map?
I don’t know how to drive. I’m one of those people who rely on public transport services as the bus, the railway, and recently: Uber & Grab (and some favours from friends and family); plus a lot of walking. I plan to learn to cycle someday (then this map would be super useful: Cycling Kuala Lumpur, Bicycle Map).
From my point of view,
Kuala Lumpur & Petaling Jaya looks very different.
As you go further and further away from the Kuala Lumpur City Centre, you’d realize the density of the train stations reduces drastically (this is changing with the introduction of the MRT and the LRT extensions), and there is a practical distance you can walk from a station before you reach a barrier you can’t cross: major roads, buildings with very complicated pedestrian paths, gated communities, giant shopping complexes, highways, etc.
Without cars, much of the Klang Valley has become
impossible to traverse on foot.
This raises some interesting implications: many people are surprised there are people who can’t drive or don’t have a car (clearly an indication of the class system / income stratification), ownership / usage of a car being a requirement to live in the city, social mobility reduces, everyone becoming an automobile enthusiast, etc. People have told me, “Why don’t you just learn to drive? Life would be so much easier.” I have news for you:
paraphrased from Enrique Penalosa, former Mayor of Bogotá, Colombia
Requiring cars to live as an equal alongside everyone else in the city, raises the barrier to entry into city life. Necessarily causing those desperate for jobs to either move out, or splurge on a car, and creating unnecessary traffic congestion (due in part to the high rent causing people to live far away, having less friends there, etc).
It is ridiculous to assume people will drive incredible distances to just socialize, or have a life in a completely separate place from where they work. Parts of the city would literally have a “working hours population” and a “local residents population”.
Shouldn’t something be done to allow people to socialize better? It’s bad enough Malaysia’s youth are missing out on the fantastic student life afforded by Student Unions overseas (I developed so much as a person through all the people, societies, activities, and services provided), but how many people in Malaysia know their neighbours? Not your next door neighbour, but others who live in your neighbourhood.
Sure, some places have organized themselves with Facebook groups, Twitter curators, some effort by the Residents Associations (which are unfortunately the same people pushing for paid guards on our public roads, creating more and more gated communities), and some forum websites, but a lot of Malaysians aren’t able to meet their neighbours in a social context. There are some apps, but those seem to assume a certain radius from a point, ignoring the fact the various “barriers” will change the practical “distance” between these people…