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Cyberjaya, meaning “cyber success” or “cyber victory”, is a planned smart city close to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is part of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) plan, a technopole project launched by the Malaysian Government in 1996 with the intent of advancing the country’ s innovation and knowledge economy. Situated centrally in the MSC, Cyberjaya is the project’ s flagship cybercity and is promoted in commercial leaflets as ‘one of the world’s leading smart cities’ and as a ‘test bed’ for the integration of ICTs into everyday life. In this sense, Cyberjaya is expected to become a global ICT and multimedia hub by attracting world-class multimedia/IT companies, professionals and students. Designed with a residential capacity of 210,000, the city is divided in four main zones: enterprise, institutional, commercial and residential. It is equipped with high-technology infrastructure, amenities and facilities, including ubiquitous Wi-Fi access and a 100% digital fiber optic backbone operated through centrally managed server rooms. The heart of the intelligent city of Cyberjaya is an urban management system called ‘˜Cyberjaya City Command Centre’ . Up to today the following key flagship applications have been launched (some of them still offer limited services): MyKad (high technology personal identification system), R&D cluster, e-government, Technopreneur Development, e-business, Telehealth and Smart School. Over the years, Cyberjaya’ s advancement has suffered from bureaucratic problems and political conflicts. The city has also been criticized for the fact that it ‘˜looks much more like a conventional city than an intelligent one’ . It has also been criticized as ‘˜politically, ethnically and religiously determined’ and as ‘˜suffering from lack of social amenites and neglecting the need for social life’ (see suggested readings).
Figure: Cyberjaya’ x Rezoning Structure Plan (source)
Figure: Cyberia Smart Homes in Cyberjaya (source)
Access Cyberjaya’ s website here.
Suggested readings about Cyberjaya:
1. Brooker, D. M. (2008). Intelligent cities? Disentangling the symbolic and material effects of technopole planning practices in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. Doctoral Thesis, Department of Geography, Durham University. Available here.
2. Nordin, R. (2012). Creating Knowledge – Based Clusters Through Urban Development: A study of Cyberjaya, MSC Malaysia. Doctoral Thesis, Philosophischen Fakultät, Rheinischen Friedrich – Wilhelms ‘“ Universität, Bonn. Available here.
3. Yusof, N. (2008). Cyberjaya: The making of a high-tech city. Doctoral Thesis, Nottingham Trent University. Available here.