Sri Petaling (also known as Bandar Baru Sri Petaling) is a suburb of Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia. The 620 acres (250 hectares) township is located in the south of the city, within the constituency of Seputeh, and is bordered by the towns of Happy Garden, Taman OUG, Kuchai Lama and Bukit Jalil.
Bandar Baru Sri Petaling was launched in 1977 and developed in 1981 by property development company Petaling Garden Berhad.[1]
From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s it was widely known as the 'rubbish area' as it was the location of a landfill site. Garbage disposal was discontinued and the land it had occupied turned into a playground and car park area for the 1998 Commonwealth Games.[2]
The three areas of Sri Petaling that were first developed for residential use were the areas of Jalan Puteri Senggang near the main road, Jalan Wan Empok 1 and Jalan Wan Empok 2. These were the main residential areas of Sri Petaling in the 1980s and the houses were sold for between RM40,000 and RM60,000.
The population in Sri Petaling was not high in the early 1980s as it was relatively distant from the city of Kuala Lumpur and a little isolated. The population grew in the late 1980s. Over the course of the next decade, development continued and the population grew. In 1997, the Shah Alam Expressway (KESAS) was opened. In 2007, the Maju Expressway (MEX) opened. The expressway connects residents to the city centre, Putrajaya, Cyberjaya, and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
In 2020, Sri Petaling has been associated with being Southeast Asia's COVID-19 hotspot during the COVID-19 global pandemic. The virus was spread at a tabligh event held at the Sri Petaling mosque. There were 16,000 attendees, including 1,500 foreigners. Multiple Covid-19 cases related to this event popped up across Southeast Asia. It is uncertain who the virus originated from at the event. Majority of Malaysian COVID-19 cases during the pandemic are linked to this event.[3][4]
By 1998, Sri Petaling had its own Carrefour hypermarket located in the Endah Parade Shopping Complex,.[5] Although Carrefour declared its intention to move from Sri Petaling in 2010, the hypermarket was bought over by the AEON Co. Ltd. in 2012 for RM990 million.[6]
On early 2013 the first phase of new shops (Zone J) were completed by I&P Group[7] the sole developer of the area along Jalan Radin Bagus. As of March 2014, the final phase of shops surrounding The Store Hypermarket was completed.[8]
Education
Sri Petaling has kindergartens, primary schools and two secondary schools.