From Boo Jia Cher
The uproar over the proposed 60-storey towers at Wisma Damansara has been framed as residents defending their neighbourhood against insensitive development. But let’s be clear: the problem isn’t just the project. It’s Bukit Damansara itself.
Bukit Damansara is the quintessential elite enclave: low-density luxury bungalows and cul-de-sacs wrapped in greenery, designed for exclusivity and elitism.
For decades, its residents have enjoyed the best of both worlds: suburban privacy with quick car access to the city centre. But that bargain has always been fragile, and now the cracks are showing.
Connectivity without compromise
Traffic jams choke Jalan Semantan. MRT stations sit nearby but remain severed by highways and sprawl, making walking paths unattractive. Residents want the convenience of urban connectivity but without the density, bustle or compromise that true city living demands.
Most Malaysians have already seen through the protests. On social media, netizens point out the obvious: Bukit Damansara elites rarely mobilise when overdevelopment hits other parts of KL. When working-class flats in Cheras, Sentul, or Old Klang Road are overshadowed by oversized condos, or when kampung residents are displaced for highways, none from Bukit Damansara lift a finger.
Global ‘Nimby’ playbooks
This hypocrisy is not unique to Malaysia. Globally, elite enclaves have perfected this “not-in-my-backyard”, or Nimby, playbook.
In Los Angeles, Beverly Hills residents resist new apartments while enjoying proximity to jobs and culture, even as the city faces a housing crisis.
In Hong Kong, Mid-Levels residents decry new towers that might block their views, ignoring the crowded, under-served populations below.
The dynamic is the same: elites enjoy exclusivity and connectivity, then mobilise only when the balance tips against them.
KL’s housing problems
KL faces a sharp urgency. DBKL aims to add 762,500 housing units by 2040, a jump of over 260,000 from today’s 500,803 units, with 40% meant to be affordable under RM300,000. Yet the market continues producing luxury supply, leaving 8,400 unsold high-rise units as of early 2025, while affordable demand goes unmet.
Meanwhile, Bukit Damansara bungalows routinely sell above RM6 million, with land prices over RM400 per square foot, well beyond the reach of the average KL household. The result: a brutal mismatch between demand and supply. Prime urban land remains locked in low-density exclusivity, forcing ordinary families further away from KL and worsening traffic for everyone.
Low-density living at the heart of the problem
When everyone aspires for large landed homes, car use, and the convenience of urban living, the city cannot function efficiently. Low-density enclaves consume land, infrastructure and road capacity far beyond their contribution. And when change arrives—transit stations, high-rise proposals—residents resist, ignoring that their neighbourhood’s very structure created the problem.
The Wisma Damansara plot is trapped precisely because of Bukit Damansara’s urban geography: a car-dependent pocket poorly stitched into the city. Dropping mega-towers there may be absurd, but pretending the surrounding enclave is sustainable is equally delusional. Bukit Damansara was never a victim; it was always the problem.
A call for credible activism
To focus on Wisma Damansara while not talking about the inherently problematic layout of its surrounding area is to miss the forest for the trees. If anything, the protests should spark a harder reckoning: how much longer can KL afford to let its most central land be locked up in low-density luxury, holding the city hostage to traffic, sprawl and a deepening housing crisis?
And if Bukit Damansara residents want credibility, they must act beyond their own backyard. Where were they when Bukit Dinding’s slopes were gouged despite landslide risks, or when Shah Alam’s forests were cleared, erasing green lungs for entire communities? Where were they when low-income residents, without clout, resources or legal teams, watched bulldozers erase their neighbourhoods?
Until then, Bukit Damansara’s protests remain what they are: “not in my backyard” self-preservation dressed up as principle.
Boo Jia Cher is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.