Petaling Jaya  Petaling Jaya (commonly called "PJ" by locals) is a city in Petaling District, Selangor, Malaysia. It has an approximate area of . Petaling Jaya was granted city status on 20 June 2006. It was originally developed as a satellite township for Kuala Lumpur. Petaling Jaya is surrounded by the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur to the east, Sungai Buloh to the north, Shah Alam , the capital of Selangor and Subang Jaya to the west and Bandar Kinrara (Puchong) to the south. The city was developed during post-war British Malaya on a piece of rubber estate, the "Effingham Estate", around Old Klang Road to address the overpopulation of the capital Kuala Lumpur in the 1950s. Since 1952, PJ witnessed a dramatic growth in terms of population size and geographical importance. The development of Petaling Jaya commenced in 1952 with the construction of 800 houses centred on the area known as "Old Town" today. Lieutenant-General Sir Gerald Templer (then the British High Commissioner of Malaya and Petaling District council chairman) planned for Petaling Jaya to be a satellite town to prevent people from assisting the communists; the earlier housing areas were fenced off from the surrounding area. The first two main roads built in Petaling Jaya were simply called "Jalan 1" or Road 1 and "Jalan 2" or Road 2. Road 1 was later named Jalan Templer while Road 2 was named Jalan Othman after Othman Mohamad, former Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) of Selangor. Until the end of 1953, the town was administered by the Kuala Lumpur district officer. The Petaling Jaya Town Authority headed by N.A.J. Kennedy commenced administrating Petaling Jaya in 1954. On 24 August 1959, Encik Abdul Aziz bin Haji Mohd Ali became the first Malayan to head the PJ Authority. Administratively and historically, it was considered part of Kuala Lumpur. However, Petaling Jaya ceased to be part of Kuala Lumpur when the latter became a Federal Territory on 1 February 1974. It then became a township in its own right within the state of Selangor. Southern Petaling Jaya, from Section 8 to PJ Old Town, had the first settlements that were established around 1953. As development progressed, Northern Petaling Jaya, on the other side of the Federal Highway was developed.