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S2E64: Putrajaya 30 years on: The capital that never quite replaced Kuala Lumpur
Find out why it has become a paradox decades after its founding.
Synopsis: Every first Friday of the month, The Straits Times catches up with its foreign correspondents about life and trends in the countries they're based in.
Putrajaya, founded in 1995, turned 30 in 2025. As Malaysia’s administrative capital and inspired by Paris, it was supposed to replace the former tin-mining colony that is Kuala Lumpur.
Failure of urban planning that prioritised government offices and grandiosity over organic city life are some of the perceptions cited as to why the city has not lived up to its…
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