Klang, Selangor, Malaysia

🇲🇾 Klang or Kelang, officially Royal Town of Klang, is a royal town and former capital of the state of Selangor, Malaysia. It is located within the Klang District. It was the civil capital of Selangor in an earlier era prior to the emergence of Kuala Lumpur and the current capital, Shah Alam. Port Klang, which is located in the Klang District, is the 12th busiest trans-shipment port and the 12th busiest container port in the world.

The Klang Municipal Council or MP Klang exercises jurisdiction for a majority of the Klang District while the Shah Alam City Council exercises some jurisdiction over the east of Klang District, north of Petaling District and the other parts of Selangor State including Shah Alam itself.

Economy The economy of Klang is closely linked with that the greater Klang Valley conurbation which is the most densely populated, urbanised and industrialised region of Malaysia. There is a wide range of industries within the Klang municipality, major industrial areas may be found in Bukit Raja, Kapar, Meru, Taman Klang Utama and Sungai Buloh, Pulau Indah, Teluk Gong and others. Rubber used to be an important part of the economy of the region, but from the 1970s onwards, many rubber plantations have switched to palm oil, and were then converted again for urban development and infrastructure use.

Port Klang forms an important part of the economy of Klang. It is home to about 95 shipping companies and agents, 300 custom brokers, 25 container storage centres, as well as more than 70 freight and transport companies. It handled almost 50% of Malaysia's sea-borne container trade in 2013. The Port Klang Free Zone was established in 2004 to transform Port Klang into a regional distribution hub as well as a trade and logistics centre.

The port is part of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road that runs from the Chinese coast to Singapore, towards the southern tip of India to Mombasa, from there through the Red Sea via the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean, there to the Upper Adriatic region to the northern Italian hub of Trieste with its connections to Central Europe and the North Sea.

Transport Klang is served by five commuter stations that constitute the 2 Port Klang Line of the KTM Komuter system, namely Bukit Badak, Kampung Raja Uda, Klang, Teluk Pulai and the Teluk Gadong stations. By November 2023, Klang will also be connected to the RM 9 billion 11 LRT 3 rail line. Klang is connected to the rest of the Klang Valley via the Federal Highway, the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE), South Klang Valley Expressway (SKVE), the North Klang Straits Bypass (New North Klang Straits Bypass) as well as the KESAS Highway. The West Coast Expressway (WCE) currently under construction will run between Changkat Jering, Perak and Klang-Banting, Selangor. The construction is expected to be fully completed by end-2022

Klang is also served by the RapidKL bus route. Klang Sentral acts as a terminal for long-distance buses and taxis in northern Klang. There is a non-stop hourly bus service everyday from and to KLIA2 to Klang, of which the embarkation point is located at the AEON Bukit Tinggi Shopping Centre. Smart Selangor Bus Programme was established by the Selangor State Government to provide an efficient and high quality free public transportation service to its citizen. This programme was launched in July 2015 starting with 3 local authorities but it was later expanded to all 12 local authorities in 2020 due to overwhelming response from the public. Selangor Intelligent Transport Systems Application (SITS) enables the Smart Selangor Bus users to plan their journey effectively and intelligently through the bus services available.

The double-decked Kota Bridge was first built in late 1950s as a replacement for the Belfield Bridge. The double-decked bridge now closed to car traffic after a new Kota Bridge was built alongside it in the 1992, although the lower deck is still used by pedestrians, bicycles and motorcycles. A second bridge in Klang, the Musaeddin (Tengku Kelana) Bridge, was built in the 1980s near the Kota Bridge. The RM199 million Klang Third Bridge was opened for traffic in May 2017, complementing the existing two other road bridges in the city that connect Klang North and Klang South.