Phnom Penh comes of age, forty years on
Robust investment is changing Phnom Penh’s landscape, slowly erasing the tightly-woven identity of a city once ravaged by a series of wars
JUST over 40 years ago, Phnom Penh’s Boeung Keng Kang I (BKK1) commune was covered in undergrowth, with ruined villas and bungalows, forcefully abandoned by a people.
They were marched off to the provinces by Khmer Rouge soldiers as part of the regime’s social engineering policy. Those who escaped in time probably left unscathed but many didn’t.
BKK1 commune chief Prak Maly still has visions of blood-stained clothes found in an empty house which tell a grim story.
“As a community member then, I was tasked with collecting details from people. On one of my visits, I walked into a house, thinking that people lived there.
“Instead, I saw some clothes covered in blood lying on the living room floor. I can almost imagine what might have happened to the person wearing it,” she says.
The commune, which is part of the newly-created Boeung Keng Kang (BKK) district, has been Maly’s home since she first moved in with her only surviving sibling in 1979, after the Khmer Rouge’s fall.
She lost her parents and seven siblings during the war. The 68-year-old remains the first commune chief, a post she has held since the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements.
“After finishing a threemonth political course, my friend suggested that I move to BKK1. When I came, this place was a jungle.
“About 100 to 200 families lived here. Many buildings were in ruins, riddled with bullet holes after being bombarded during the war.
“It was scary to walk on the streets which were darkened by trees even during the day. My imagination always got the better of me,” she recalls.
The Kampong Cham native first lived in a villa on Street 310, one of BKK1’s main roads. In 1997, she sold the lot with the house and moved to a secondary road in the same commune.
The sale provides a good idea of what the prices of land were like in BKK1 back then.
“We did not have much money, so my husband and I decided to sell our place, which measured 550sqm. We agreed to a price of between $20,000 and $40,000, which is equivalent to $3.5 million to $4 million in today’s value.
“It was big money then as it is now. We were able to get another place and save a tidy sum too,” Maly says, grinning.
A rough calculation shows that she sold the land at about $37 to $73 per square metre. For perspective, the average monthly minimum wage was around $30 then, while civil servants earned between $150 and $200 per month.
The buyer tore down her house and built an office unit which still stands today. This essentially portrayed the beginnings of modern development in BKK1 and its neighbouring communes – Boeung Keng Kang II (BKK2) and Boeung Keng Kang III.
These, together with Olympic, Tumnop Teuk, Tuol Svay Prey I and Tuol Svay Prey II communes make up BKK district, which was established after Prime Minister Hun Sen signed a sub-decree on January 8, last year, which separated it from Chamkarmon district.
Over the past two years, development in the capital has begun to shift from BKK district to Prampi Makara, Tuol Kork and Daun Penh districts.
For a long time, these sites were mostly dominated by small-scale private developers who turned villas and bungalow units into low-rise office buildings or apartments.
The trend used to be that enterprising locals who owned small plots (around 500-600sqm) of villa land in the city would build apartments comprising 40-50 units, as they lacked the skills and knowledge to carry out large-scale projects.
“These developments provided the sole proprietor with long-term revenue through rentals,” says Cambodian Valuers and Estate Agents Association president Chrek Soknim.
BKK1 was among the first to adapt to changes, starting right after the peace agreement, with the arrival of UN bodies and other foreign NGOs.
It complemented the area’s affluent image, seeing that it was already populated by high ranking government officials.
These underlying factors and its proximity to commercial business districts probably drove land prices up in BKK1, and it continues to do so two decades on.
However, development in the commune has not slowed down.
“Looking around, I think there is only 20 to 30 per cent of old BKK1 left,” says Maly, whose 1960s office, a former vice-denturned-commune-and-police station, is among them.
The scenario is prevalent in key city areas in Phnom Penh where traditional communal zones featuring a motley of terrace townhouses, standalone houses, villas and makeshift huts are being devoured by office, residential and commercial spaces.
Demand for the latter is born out of stable economic growth, increased foreign investment, higher incomes and a burgeoning bourgeois society.
It is inevitable, says WorldBridge Group chairman Sear Rithy. “When the middle class grows, their appetite changes.
“More than 10 years ago, we had no cafes but now we have international coffee shops everywhere. I know that nearly 15 new restaurants open daily in the city,” he says.
Cambodia’s conducive business environment, young economy and population form a charming profile for investors, who are drawn by the massive opportunity to grow their market size through long-term investments.
“I feel that Chinese investors are daring. I call their people dragons. Wherever they go in the world, they move like waves. They are good for the country ... like a starter to bolster Cambodia’s economy.
“Once the economy is stable, the business to go into is property development,” says Rithy, a property developer himself.
But what does all of this mean to regular Phnom Penh residents who are witnessing the rapid alteration of communal living as modernity beckons?
Provisional figures released by the National Census Committee in August put Phnom Penh’s population at 2.1 million as of March 3, while a July 2018 Ministry of Public Works and Transport data shows that there were 2.2 million vehicles registered in the capital then.
With more than one vehicle for every person, it suffices to say that the city is groaning under large-scale property development and increasing traffic congestion as road infrastructure and amenities have yet to catch up.
As more lakes are filled and construction rises, the situation can result in dire consequences.
A 2017 World Bank report on urban development stressed that to realise the long-term vision of the Phnom Penh Land Use for 2035 master plan, the government should issue enabling regulations and codes, invigorate existing urban planning processes, and strengthen technical capacity.
Although it acknowledges that rapid urbanisation in Phnom Penh over the past decade has created jobs and reduced poverty, there have been mounting challenges in the provision of basic services, including drainage, wastewater treatment, public transport and solid waste management.
The World Bank recommends that an integrated and comprehensive master planning process with a detailed land-use plan is essential to ensure that spatial planning, land use, infrastructure development and service delivery keep up with the population growth.
On a policy level, the bank says it should be done in tandem with existing sectoral and thematic master plans such as the Phnom Penh Urban Transport Master Plan 2035, Phnom Penh Master Plan for Drainage and Sewerage 2035, and Phnom Penh Green City Strategic Plan 2016-2025.
“It is essential to ensure that incentives for densification are created to avoid an inefficient pattern of urban growth,” said the global lender.
Generally speaking, the move to ensure sustainable development is good for a young city that is facing a growth spurt but the effects of gentrification are starting to show in local businesses, particularly those smack in the city centre.