URBANIZATION IN MALAYSIA

2. ZOOM IN MALAYSIA
According to the report titled East Asia’s Changing
Urban Landscape: Measuring a Decade of Spatial
Growth
“Malaysia is among
the more urbanized
countries of East Asia,
and its urban population
continues to increase
rapidly”
“However, urban areas in the
country are among the least
dense in East Asia. The Kuala
Lumpur urban area is one of
the largest in the region as
measured by area, but not as
measured by population”

3. Malaysia has the fourth-largest
amount of built-up land in East Asia
as of 2010.
Its urban land grew from about 3,900
square kilometers to 4,600 between
2000 and 2010, an average annual
growth rate of 1.5%, which was
lower than the 2.4% average for the
2000 2010
URBAN LAND BUILT-UP
IN MALAYSIA

4. Its urban population increased
during this period from
10.2 million (43% of the total
population) to 15 million (53%),
making it among
the more urbanized countries and
economies in the region in
demographic terms, after Japan,
the Republic of Korea, and
Singapore (and Taiwan, China).

5. The rate of urban population
growth, 4.0% a year, on average,
was among the fastest in the
region

6. 2000 2010
POPULATION DENSITY
IN MALAYSIA

7. Malaysia has 19 urban areas with more than
100,000 people:
 1 : more than 5 million people (Kuala
Lumpur)
 2 : 1 to 5 million people (George Town &
Johor
Bahru)
 5 : 500,000 to 1 million people
 11 : between 100,000 and 500,000 people.

8. As of 2010, the Kuala Lumpur
urban area was the eighth
largest in the region, larger than
some megacity urban areas like
Jakarta, Manila, and Seoul
despite its smaller population.

9. Despite being the
eighth-largest urban
area in size, because
of its low density, the
Kuala Lumpur urban
area was only the
22nd largest in
population.

11. Johor Bahru saw rapid
growth during this period,
taking advantage of its
location immediately
across a narrow strait
from Singapore.
Growing from 270 square kilometers to
420 between 2000 and 2010 (4.4% a
year), it surpassed George Town and
Ipoh to become the second-largest
urban area in the country.

15. References
 http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/201
5/01/26/malaysia-among-most-urbanized-
countries-in-east-asia
 http://ejap.org/environmental-issues-in-
asia/expansion-cities.html
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