Views From Above and Below: The Petronas Twin Towers and/in Contesting Visions of Development in Contemporary Malaysia

Abstract

Large‐scale urban transformation in Malaysia is the most visible sign of the rapid development which has accompanied the premiership of the current Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. The national capital, Kuala Lumpur, has seen the development of a new city centre (Kuala Lumpur City Centre, KLCC) which includes the world’s tallest building, the Petronas Twin Towers. Using techniques from cultural geography, this paper provides a “reading” of the building. The paper first considers the symbolic role of the Petronas Towers in realising a state vision of national development, the so‐called Vision 2020. The building is seen to both image Malaysia as a “world class” national player (and Kuala Lumpur as a “world city”) as well as to promote new “ways of seeing” among national citizens. However, the paper also considers ways in which intended symbolic meanings are contested and the would‐be hegemonic state vision reworked “from below” through everyday experiences of life in the city and the nation.