The Role of History in Informality in The Global South City of Kuala Lumpur: The Case of Kampong Bharu Development

Abstract

This study explores history as a critical element associated with informality in the global south city of Kuala Lumpur. Framed by such critical element and embedded in a social constructivism approach it investigates a historical inhabited urban area under the pressure of development located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur: Kampong Bharu. Making use of secondary data review, preliminary field visit, ten semi-structured interviews and observation from June 2012 to June 2015, this study first presents the urban development history of Kampong Bharu. Following that, it then discusses Kampong Bharu development in light of two emergent themes identified throughout the findings of this research, namely the modernist urban practices and single accounts of history. Highlighting how the understanding of informality is historically shaped by the same planning interventions that were supposed to 'fix it', this study explores the implication of those two emergent themes on the very production of global south cities' urban crisis, broadening the understanding of challenges and opportunities for development in Kuala Lumpur.