Land-for-infrastructure deals and the post-politicization of urban governance in Penang, Malaysia

Abstract

<p>This chapter highlights the role of land-for-infrastructure deals as an increasingly popular means of plugging aspirational ‘world cities’ into global capital flows, particularly in the Malaysian context. This chapter offers a close analysis of the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), a megaproject in the city of Penang. This project has been mobilized by the Penang State Government as a means through which to transform Penang’s economic competitiveness by modernizing its transportation infrastructure and financing new development projects. By documenting key components of the PTMP and its implementation, this chapter seeks to identify the primary motivations of the state and the role of post-political tendencies in urban governance processes in pushing such megaprojects forward. While the PTMP has been quite controversial and has generated significant civic opposition, this chapter outlines how such spaces of dissent have been foreclosed in favor of more entrepreneurial forms of development. It considers the extent to which such tendencies accord with wider discussions around the post-politicization of urban governance and how this concept can be applied to Asian urban and regional contexts.<br></p>