CREATING KNOWLEDGE-BASED CLUSTERS THROUGH URBAN DEVELOPMENT: A STUDY OF CYBERJAYA, MSC MALAYSIA Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der Philosophischen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Bonn vorgelegt von RAMLI NORDIN aus Melaka, Malaysia Bonn 2012 Gedruckt mit Genehmigung der Philosophischen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich Wilhelms-Universität Bonn Zusammensetzung der Prüfungskommission: Prof. Dr. Hans-Dieter Evers (Betreuerin/Betreuer und Gutachterin/Gutachter) Prof. Dr. Solvay Gerke (Gutachterin/Gutachter) Prof. Dr. Stephan Conermann (weiteres prüfungsberechtigtes Mitglied) P.D Dr. Conrad Schetter (weiteres prüfungsberechtigtes Mitglied) Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 27.08.2012 P a g e | ii Acknowledgement Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim First and foremost, I am heartily thankful to my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Hans-Dieter Evers, for his encouragement, guidance, support and patience. He constantly stimulates my thinking and view on topics beyond the boundary of the thesis which has had a positive impact on me as a person. Secondly, I am fortunate to be part of the ZEF Doctoral programme and for this I would like to thank Prof. Dr Solvay Gerke, who has accepted me based on my initial proposal and thereafter, has agreed to co-supervise this thesis. To my tutor Dr. Anna-Katharina Hornidge thank you for helping me during the finalisation process especially on a short notice. My stay and studies in Germany would not have been possible without the financial support and study leave from the Public Service Department of Malaysia, for that I would like to thank staffs from the human capital division especially Ms Saraya Arbi and JPA Frankfurt office. In addition I would also like to extend my appreciation to the management of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government for providing me with an office space and technical support during the fieldwork. I am indebted to all my respondents in Cyberjaya and officers in the MDeC, Majlis Perbandaran Sepang, EPU, MOSTI, MyIPO, MOHE, JUPEM, Setia Haruman and Cyberview for all their assistance and input. My special gratitude to my colleagues in ZEF whom have helped to shape my thinking and the outcome that follows in this thesis, especially those from the ZEF A Research Seminar Group. Special thanks to Pamela Nienkemper for helping me with the maps, Herr Guido Luchter for making statistics easier than it seems, Herr Volker Merx for being such an excellent librarian, Herr Ludger Hammer and Frau Anja Köhler for making sure that I get the best IT support and Mbak Farah for our ‘Mini Crit Sessions’. I would also like to thank Dr Manske, Guido Rohmann and Jishoy for their excellent and tireless administrative support. To my colleague from batch 2008 especially Anastasiya, Asghar, Grace, Hart, Jin Zhang, Deden and Evita thank you for being my ‘family’ and encouraging me to believe that there is life aside from the thesis as the slogan of the City of Bonn, ‘Freude’. A special dedication to Mrs Zabel for giving me the moral support, motivation and help from the very first day I arrived in Germany. Her personal concern and care always makes me feel at home and forget the loneliness of living in a foreign land. Lastly, I would like to thank all my friends and family in Malaysia for all their ‘dhua’, support and encouragement. They are the pillar of my strength, without which I would have never been able to finish this thesis. P a g e | iii Table of Contents Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................. iii List of Figures ....................................................................................................................... vi List of Maps ......................................................................................................................... viii List of Tables ......................................................................................................................... ix List of Photos .......................................................................................................................... x Glossary of Terms ................................................................................................................. xi List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................ xii Abstract ............................................................................................................................... xiv Deutsche Zusammenfassung ............................................................................................... xivi Chapter 1 Knowledge City as the Epitome of a Knowledge Cluster: Introducing Cyberjaya.................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research Area ...................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Aims of the Study ................................................................................................ 5 1.4 Defining Knowledge ............................................................................................ 6 1.5 Knowledge Cluster............................................................................................... 7 1.6 Knowledge City ................................................................................................. 11 1.7 Issues of Knowledge Cluster Development in Malaysia ................................... 12 1.8 Conceptual Framework of Knowledge City Development in the Malaysian Context ..................................................................................................................... 16 1.9 Thesis Outline and Line of Argument ............................................................... 18 Chapter 2 Knowledge Cluster Formation in Peninsular Malaysia: The Emergence of an Epistemic Landscape ........................................................ 21 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 21 2.2 Malaysia’s Cluster Formation from the Development Planning Perspective .... 23 2.2.1 Industrial Clusters ....................................................................................................... 23 2.2.2 Economic Development Corridors .............................................................................. 26 2.2.3 Cyber Cities and Cyber Centres .................................................................................. 30 2.3 Knowledge Clusters in Malaysia ....................................................................... 32 2.3.1 Spatial Patterns of Knowledge Clusters ...................................................................... 32 2.3.2 ICT Knowledge Cluster ............................................................................................... 36 2.4 ‘How Do I Look?’ The Story of Cyberjaya ....................................................... 43 2.5 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 46 Chapter 3 A Symbolic Universe of Cyberjaya: From Yap Ah Loy to Mustapha Kamal 49 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 49 P a g e | iv 3.2 Urban Planning and Development in Peninsular Malaysia........................................... 50 3.3 Colonial Legacy and the Imagined City ............................................................ 54 3.4 ‘Key to the City’ ................................................................................................ 58 3.5 Symbols and Signs in Cyberjaya ....................................................................... 63 3.6 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 82 Chapter 4 Knowledge City or Crony City: Inside Cyberjaya ............................................. 85 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 85 4.2 Xing Zhu: ‘Lucky Bamboo’............................................................................... 87 4.3 You Help Me, I Help You! ................................................................................ 95 4.4 Cyberjaya as a Knowledge City ......................................................................... 97 4.5 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 111 Chapter 5: Intelligent City with Intelligent People .............................................................. 113 5.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 113 5.2 Intelligent City with Intelligent People ............................................................ 114 5.3 Acquiring ICT Knowledge: Conventional Versus Virtual .............................. 124 5.4 Knowledge-Sharing à la Cyberjaya ................................................................. 130 5.6 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 144 Chapter 6: The Knowledge Network: In or Out? ...............................................................