Kampung Baru Subang

Kampung Baru Subang is a satellite township in Selangor's Petaling district that exemplifies how Malaysia's rapid suburbanization creates population centers faster than municipal identities can form. Located adjacent to Subang Jaya—one of the Klang Valley's fastest-growing cities—Kampung Baru Subang blends into the continuous urban fabric that connects Kuala Lumpur to its western suburbs without clear boundaries.

The township's growth tracks Malaysia's broader suburban expansion pattern. As Kuala Lumpur's land prices pushed middle-class families outward in the 1980s and 1990s, townships like Subang Jaya, USJ, and Kampung Baru Subang absorbed the overflow. Developer-driven planning—where private companies build entire neighborhoods with residential towers, commercial lots, and minimal public space—replaced government-led urban planning as the dominant growth model.

With roughly 834,000 people in the greater area, Kampung Baru Subang and its neighbors form part of the Subang Jaya-Shah Alam corridor that houses many of Selangor's commuter workforce. The KTM commuter rail and federal highways connect residents to employment centers in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, and Shah Alam. The local economy is service-oriented: retail, food services, education (several private colleges), and healthcare serve the residential population.

Kampung Baru Subang illustrates the generic suburban condition found across Southeast Asian metropolitan regions. The township lacks the historical depth, industrial specialization, or geographic distinction that gives other cities on this list their narrative identity. Its significance is precisely its ordinariness: hundreds of millions of people across Asia live in places like this—planned by developers, connected by commuter rail, and defined by their proximity to a larger city rather than by any independent economic or cultural function.