User:HundenvonPenang/sandbox

1960s recession in Penang
George Town was established as a free port in 1786 and served as a major entrepôt in British Malaya, trading spices and tin. It was also the first port of call east of the Indian subcontinent. After Malayan independence, the federal government shifted commercial and trading activities to Kuala Lumpur, intending to focus on the development of Port Klang. By 1966, federal amendments to customs made the free port status redundant. The federal government eventually revoked George Town's free port status in 1969. These policy changes led to massive unemployment and brain drain, creating a period of recession and urban decay in Penang throughout the 1960s.

A critical memorandum from a chamber of commerce in 1968 estimated that the unemployment rate in Penang was at 15 per cent. On 24 November 1967, responding to the recession, trade unions called for a general strike in George Town, which devolved into a deadly racial riot. Amidst rising discontent, during the 1969 general elections, the ruling Alliance Party led by chief minister Wong Pow Nee was voted out in Penang and replaced by the opposition Malaysian People's Movement Party (Gerakan), with Lim Chong Eu sworn in as chief minister. In 1970, Penang's GDP per capita was 12 per cent below the national average, while its unemployment rate remained at 15 per cent, twice the national average.

Urban development in Penang
As early as 1964, the Munro Report, drafted by a Colombo Plan advisor, identified Penang's economic weaknesses and urged the state to undergo industrialisation, especially at Seberang Perai. The report was enforced by the Penang Master Plan (Nathan Report), commissioned in March 1970 by the government-sanctioned US-based Robert R. Nathan Associates. The newly-elected state government adopted several initiatives proposed under the Nathan Report, which restructured Penang's economy into an industrialised export-oriented economy.

On 17 November 1969, under Lim Chong Eu's personal direction, the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) was founded as a development arm of the state government. The PDC established the first free trade zone in Penang at Bayan Lepas in January 1972, becoming the centre of the Malaysian electronics industry. Lim negotiated for Gerakan's entry into the Alliance Party as a method to retain a degree of political independence. These measures proved to be effective – for five years between 1975 and 1980, Penang's economy increased by 11.2 per cent annually.

The PDC focused on resolving urban overcrowding by constructing inexpensive multi-storey apartment blocks. Four sites within George Town were designated by the PDC as Comprehensive Development Areas (CDA) for urban redevelopment, which included the construction of low-cost flats on reclaimed land, as well as Komtar. In 1969, the PDC approved the formation of the Central Area Planning Unit (CAPU) for monitoring residential and highway infrastructural projects in George Town, and would eventually be influential in the development of Komtar.