George Town is the capital of Penang. It was established by Captain Francis Light in 1786, and named after the king of Great Britain, George III. During Francis Light's time, George Town occupied only up to Pitt Street and Chulia Street, beyond which were the hinterlands. In fact, the Protestant Cemetery which was the burial ground of the early British colonials, was located outside of town. People were already living outside of George Town, with pockets of settlements in Kuala Awal (now Kelawei) and Pulau Tikus, but these were not regarded as part of George Town proper until later on. To the south, there were settlements along the Sungai Pinang River and Batu Uban, some pre-dating the establishment of George Town itself.
If you stand on some of the oldest parts of George Town, you are standing on a piece of land that has undergone different usage over the past 200 years. The same plot where your feet were planted may have been a wetland, farmland, countryside, workshop, warehouse, office and residential unit, depending on which part of history. This ever changing use of land is the result of the city continuing to expand outward.
By the 1870's, it has reached the Prangin Canal, where Jalan Dr Lim Chwee Leong is located. today. Beyond that lies the countryside, filled with vegetable plots and cattle ranches. By the turn of the 20th century, most of the houses within the inner core of George Town, where the core zone of the World Heritage Site is located, have been rebuilt in bricks. The city limits have reached Perak Road. Roads such as Burmah Road and Dato Kramat Road are arteries reaching into the hinterland from where farm produced are transported to the town. "Countryside" at the start of the 20th century refers to places such as Green Lane and Jalan Air Itam beginning at the Green Lane junction.
When Malaya achieved independence, George Town has reached the limit that remains until today, and the limits of George Town is determined by Green Lane, Scotland Road, Western Road, Gottlieb Road and Bagan Jermal. That's the limit of George Town, by definition. Naturally the urban area continues to grow, spilling out beyond the boundary of George Town, but even in the early 1970's, places south of Gelugor is still considered hinterland. It was about then that the paddy fields in Sungai Nibong Kecil were filled up, making way from the new township of Bayan Baru. But this is not George Town. Rather, it is part of the Penang municipality. Even the City Council of George Town was replaced by the Municipal Council of Penang Island, so that the authority spills beyond the city limits to embrace the entire island.
Even as the urban area pushes south and west (nor much land left in the north for the city to grow that way), the coast also expanded outward. Land reclamation is not something new to George Town. It has been going on since the 1870's, when the coast of George Town was reclaimed, extending the shore beyond Beach Street. Subsequent reclamation created Victoria Street, Bridge Street (nowadays called Jalan CY Choy), and beyond. As Penang enters the 21st century, land reclamation is still ongoing, with much of the coastal areas of Penang created out of sea or wetlands.
As has been experienced in many cities, as it expands outwards, the inner core becomes a void. In the mid 1970's, the most vibrant part of Penang were along Penang Road. But by the late 1980's, the most happening places have moved out of the city centre. It takes much foresight from the city leaders to ensure that life is brought back into the city, without which it will certainly become very much a dead town at night.
The routing of one-way streets in George Town has helped tremendously in improving traffic flow in George Town. Among the bottlenecks in the city includes Magazine Road, as traffic from the expressway enters the city; Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah upon entering Farquhar Street.
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Penang Travel Tips is researched and written by Timothy Tye, universally known as Tim. The text is the copyright of Timothy Tye, and may not be copied for commercial use or re-published in another website without the author's permission. Information provided is in goodwill and is believed to be correct and up-to-date at time of writing. Photographs on this website are the copyright of the author and may not be reused without prior permission. For commercial licensing of photographs, read the licensing terms.
