Durham E-Theses Intelligent cities? Disentangling the symbolic and material eects of technopole planning practices in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. Brooker, Daniel Morgan How to cite: Brooker, Daniel Morgan (2008) Intelligent cities? Disentangling the symbolic and material eects of technopole planning practices in Cyberjaya, Malaysia., Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2464/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Intelligent Cities? Disentangling the Symbolic and Material Effects of Technopole Planning Practices in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. The copyright of this thesis rests with the 0 3 MAR 2009 author or the university to which it was submitted. No quotation from it or info~ation ?erived from it rna; be published Without the prior written cons.ent of t?e author or university, and Daniel Morgan Brooker any mformatJon derived from it should be acknowledged. Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Geography, University of Durham. 2008 Abstract Cyberjaya was heralded in the mid-1990s as the Multimedia Super Corridor's (MSC) flagship 'intelligent city' and designed to prepare Malaysia and its citizens for a giant leap forward into an imagined new 'information age'. The urban mega-project constituted a state led response to the much hyped 'Siliconisation of Asia' and was planned to fast-track national development through investment in information and communications technologies (ICTs). The thesis seeks to examine how the discursive architectures of the 'information society' were mobilised, by whom, and with what material consequences as technopole planning practices were inscribed on the Malaysian landscape. Ten years on from the excessive high-tech utopianism and urban boosterism that accompanied the city's launch, the thesis promotes qualitative methodologies to examine the critical human geographies of the MSC. Specifically, empirical analysis addresses the uneven socio-spatial consequences and 'splintering urbanisms' manifesting in Malaysia's emerging spaces of neoliberal modernity. Research methodologies included in-depth interviews with political and business elites in Malaysia, participant observation with residents and workers in Cyberjaya, and a critical discourse analysis of the MSC policy and promotional materials. To this end, the thesis seeks to disentangle the symbolic and material effects of technopole planning practices in Cyberjaya. Keywords: Malaysia, Cyberjaya, Technopole, Technology, Symbolism, Everyday Geographies. ii Declaration None of the material has previously been submitted for a degree at the University of Durham or any other university. Statement of Copyright The Copyright of the thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published in any format, including electronic and the internet, without the author's prior consent. All information derived from this thesis must be acknowledged appropriately. iii Acknowledgements The thesis owes a debt of gratitude to those individuals in Malaysia who agreed to cooperate with the research project. Special thanks go to Jamilah Mohamad in the Department of Geography at Universiti Malaya who acted as a local sponsor and provided me with invaluable advice and support during the fieldwork period in Malaysia. I would also like to thank the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister's Department of Malaysia for granting me permission to undertake fieldwork during 2006 and 2007. I would also like to acknowledge the financial support of a UK Economic and Social Research Council (E.S.R.C) studentship (PTA-030-2004-00552) without which it would have never been possible to conduct the research. In addition, I also benefited from an E.S.R.C funded overseas institutional visit to the Department of Geography at the National University of Singapore. I would also like to thank the department for facilitating office space and valuable library access during my visit. I would like to thank Tim Bunnell in Singapore for acting qS local sponsor and for his positive support of my work. Furthermore, a six month E.S.R.C language training scholarship to Universiti Sains Malaysia enabled me to improve my Bahasa Melayu language skills prior to the fieldwork period. At the University of Durham I acknowledge the ongoing academic support of my doctoral supervisors Mike Crang and Steve Graham. Finally, on a personal note, I would like to thank Steven Emery, Rob Loughenbury and James Bridges for their friendship and support over the past four years. I would also like thank Kathryn Gostling for her valuable editorial assistance with the final draft. I would like to dedicate this thesis to my mother and to the memory of my late father for giving me a start in life. iv Table of Contents Title Page .............................................................................................................. i Abstract ................................................................................................................. ii Declaration ........................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements .............................................................................................. iv Table of Contents ................................................................................................. v List of Figures ....................................................................................................... x List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................ xii Chapter 1. Introduction ................................................................................... 1 1.1. Introduction ............................................................................................ 1 1.2. Background ............................................................................................ 2 1.3. Foregrounding Malaysia and the Multimedia Super Corridor ................. 6 1.4. Research Aims and Questions ............................................................. 11 1.5. Structure of the Thesis ......................................................................... 13 Chapter 2. Methodology ................................................................................ 17 2.1. Introduction .......................................................................................... 17 2.2. Research Strategy ............................................................................... 19 2.2.1. Case Study Design ....................................................................... 19 2.2.2. Practicing the Field ........................................................................ 21 2.3. Participant Observation ........................................................................ 25 2.4. Semi-Structured Interviews .................................................................. 32 2.4.1. Resident Interviews ....................................................................... 36 2.4.2. Elite Interviews .............................................................................. 40 2.5. Discourse Analysis ............................................................................... 44 2.5.1. Political Actor: Dr. Mahathir Mohamad .......................................... 49 2.5.2. Corporate Brochures ..................................................................... 49 v 2.5.3. 'MSC Architects' ............................................................................ 51 2.5.4. Field Photography ......................................................................... 51 2.6. Conclusion ........................................................................................... 53 Chapter 3. Conceptual Framework .............................................................. 54 3.1. Introduction .......................................................................................... 54 3.2. Quantum Leaps and 'New Era' Globalisation Speak ............................ 55 3.2.1. Foregrounding the 'Information Society' Utopia ............................ 56 3.2.2., The Contemporary 'New Era' of Globalisation? ............................ 60 3.2.3. 'Anytime/Anywhere': The 'New Economy' Calling? ....................... 63 3.3. (Re)conceptualising the 'Information Society': In-Between Fixity and Motion ............................................................................................................. 66 3.3.1. Towards a New Networked Sub-Economy? Reterritorialising Transnational Flows in Local Places ........................................................... 68 3.3.2. A New Strategic Geography: 'Sticky Places' in 'Slippery Space' .....................................................................................................