Petaling Jaya History

Petaling Jaya (commonly called "PJ" by locals) is a city originally developed as a satellite township for Kuala Lumpur comprising mostly residential and some industrial areas. It is located in the Petaling district of Selangor . On 20 June 2006, Petaling Jaya was granted a city status. Since then, Petaling Jaya has been commonly known as the most developed non-capital city in Malaysia.




A prominent landmark is the Kota Darul Ehsan arch which symbolically marks the boundary between Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya. This arch straddled the Federal Highway (Lebuhraya Persekutuan) which was originally the only highway link between Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur. However, many links now exist as alternatives to the congested Federal Highway. Besides that, close to the Kelana Jaya Line's Taman Jaya Station is the Thai Wat Chetawan temple. This ornate building is probably the only authentic-design Thai temple in the Klang Valley and is very popular amongst the Buddhist community. Mutiara Damansara, The Curve, Ikea, e@Curve and One Utama are some of the shopping havens famous in Petaling Jaya. There are
more than 23 colleges and universities in Petaling Jaya Tunku Abdul Rahman University (UTAR), Tun Abdul Razak University (UNITAR), Kolej Damansara Utama (KDU) and many more. There are also many secondary schools in Petaling Jaya including SMK Taman SEA, SMK Damansara Utama, Bukit Bintang Boys School and many more.




Transportation facilities and infrastructure are well developed in Petaling Jaya today. Therefore, public transportation is provided by RapidKL in the form of buses as well as the KL Light Rail Transit System -Kelana Jaya Line, which extends slightly into Petaling Jaya. There are five Kelana Jaya Line stations in Petaling Jaya. Petaling Jaya has three access points to the national highway system North-South Expressway via Kota Damansara, Damansara, and Subang. Internally, highways such as the Damansara-Puchong Expressway, Sprint Expressway and the Federal Highway also exist. There are plans for extensions to the existing Klang Valley light rail transit network with a new 30 km line from Kota Damansara in the northern part of Petaling Jaya to Cheras (southern Kuala Lumpur) with stops in Mutiara Damansara and Taman Tun Dr Ismail, to name a few. The extension line which would connect to Subang Jaya, the Kelana Jaya Line, will start operation on April 2011 and expected to be completed in 2013.