Petaling Jaya (commonly called "PJ" by locals) is a major Malaysian city originally developed as a satellite township for Kuala Lumpur. It is located in the Petaling District of Selangor with an area of approximately 97.2 square kilometres (37.5 sq mi). Petaling Jaya was granted city status on 20 June 2006.
Petaling Jaya is surrounded by the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur to the east, Sungai Buloh to the north, the capital of Selangor, Shah Alam to the west and Subang Jaya to the south.
The city was developed during British Malaya on a piece of 1,200 acres (486 ha) rubber estate (the Effingham Estate) around Old Klang Road to address the overpopulation of the capital Kuala Lumpur in the 1950s. Since 1952, PJ witnessed a dramatic growth in terms of population size and geographical importance. The development of Petaling Jaya commenced in 1952 with the construction of 800 houses centred on the area known as “Old Town†today.
Lieutenant-General Sir Gerald Templer (then the British High Commissioner of Malaya and Petaling District council chairman) planned for Petaling Jaya to be a satellite town to prevent people from assisting the communists; the earlier housing areas were fenced off from the surrounding area. The first two main roads built in Petaling Jaya were simply called "Jalan 1" or Road 1 and "Jalan 2" or Road 2. Road 1 was later named Jalan Templer while Road 2 was named Jalan Othman after Othman Mohamad, former Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) of Selangor.
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