Bukit Kiara is an affluent suburb of Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...

, Malaysia. The area is in proximity to the suburbs of Bukit Damansara

Bukit Damansara

Bukit Damansara or Damansara Heights is a western suburb in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, located less than 5 kilometres from the city centre. It is a much sought-after residential and commercial address in the Klang Valley...

, TTDI, Mont Kiara

Mont Kiara

Mont Kiara, is an affluent township north of the city centre of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The township consists mainly of residential condominiums and office complexes. It is located at the heart of Klang Valley, adjacent to Sri Hartamas. Mont Kiara commercial projects include Plaza Mont Kiara, Seni...

, Sri Hartamas

Sri Hartamas

Sri Hartamas or Taman Sri Hartamas is an affluent residential township in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sri Hartamas is located in Kuala Lumpur, under jurisdiction of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur...

 and Bangsar

Bangsar

Bangsar, also Bungsar , is an affluent residential suburb on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, lying about south-west of the city centre. It is part of the Lembah Pantai parliamentary constituency...

. Bukit Kiara has often been described as the 'green lung' of Kuala Lumpur, boasting many jungle trails through its characteristic hills. Despite rapid housing and commercial development in the area, the area is still known as an enigmatic and exclusive area of Kuala Lumpur. The Securities Commission Malaysia headquarters, the National Science Centre

Pusat Sains Negara

Pusat Sains Negara or National Science Centre is a science centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Perched atop a hill on 8 hectares of landscaped grounds at Bukit Kiara on the northwestern fringes of the city, the centre was officially opened on 29 November 1996 by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir...

 and the Educational Technology Division

TV Pendidikan

TV Pendidikan was an education television channel which formerly airs on Malaysia's terrestrial channel, TV9. TV Pendidikan is fully owned and produced by the Educational Technology Division, the Ministry of Education of Malaysia and it shows various programmes for various school subjects...

 (Bahagian Teknologi Pendidikan) are located here.

History

The area was once a rubber

Rubber

Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...

 estate until it was acquired by the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur in 1980.

Recreation

Bukit Kiara is well equipped for recreational purposes as the area is home to Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Resort, Selangor Club, Sime Darby Convention Centre

Sime Darby

Sime Darby is Malaysia's leading multinational conglomerate involved in five core sectors: plantations, property, industrial, motors and energy & utilities, with a growing presence in healthcare...

, Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club

Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club

Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club is the major golf course in Klang Valley, Malaysia. It is located in Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.The club opened in 1991. There are two courses, the West course and the East course, both designed by Nelson Howarth. The club hosted several major tournaments. The...

 and Bukit Kiara Sports Complex. Private facilities for members include a swimming pool

Swimming pool

A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...

, spa

Day spa

A day spa is a business establishment which people visit for professionally administered personal care treatments such as massages and facials. It is similar to a beauty salon in that it is only visited for the duration of the treatment. Day spas sited in airport terminals are often called airport...

, gym

Gym

The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...

, indoor and outdoor tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, and badminton

Badminton

Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...

 courts, a bowling alley, horse riding and polo

Polo

Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...

 facilities, restaurants, golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

, fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

 and billiard

Billiard

-Games:* A , a type of shot in cue sports * Billiards: cue sports in general, including pool, carom billiards, snooker, etc.; the term "billiards" by itself is also sometimes used to refer to any of the following more specifically:...

 rooms.

For avid hikers and bikers within the confines of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Bukit Kiara's routes and technical trails are just about the best in the area. The trail roads stretch 15 kilometers but these trails are diminishing. Owned and maintained by Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur

Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur City Hall is the local authority charged with the administration of Kuala Lumpur. It is an agency under the Federal Territories Ministry of Malaysia....

, many segments of Kiara's lush greenery have been compromised for development, mostly attributed to the manifestation of Vision 2020

Wawasan 2020

Wawasan 2020 or Vision 2020 is a Malaysian ideal introduced by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir bin Mohamad during the tabling of the Sixth Malaysia Plan in 1991...

. Many of such cases include the deforestation of previous trails such as "Dogs", "Banana Ridge" and "The Creek" for what Malaysians now know as the Penchala Tunnel

Penchala Tunnel

The Penchala Tunnel is the widest highway tunnel in Malaysia. This 700-metre tunnel, located on the Sprint Expressway's Penchala Link, connects Sungai Penchala to Mont Kiara in the Klang Valley...

.