a Tale of Two Cities
C A N A D A V S M A L A Y S I A
C A L G A R Y VS K U A L A L U M P U R
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b y s u m m e r c h a n
Compare & Contrast
Calgary, Canada Vs Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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What is the climate of the city?
The climate in Calgary is sunny and windy as it experiences the cool continental climate while Kuala Lumpur is hot and more humid as it experiences a tropical rainforest climate. This is because Calgary is located nearer to the North Pole where there is less precipitation and less sunlight received while Kuala Lumpur is located in the equator where there are a lot more precipitation and sunlight. This causes Malaysia to have a warmer average temperature when compared to Calgary. Both Calgary and Kuala Lumpur has bodies of water close to it, this affects the temperature of the place. For example; Calgary would experience colder summers and warmer winters.
What is the size of the population? Density? Distribution?
Kuala Lumpur is much denser than Calgary, this is because Kuala Lumpur is much smaller than Calgary and also Malaysia is much smaller than Canada after all. Kuala Lumpur has a population density of 6,891 persons per square km while Calgary has only236 persons per square km.
What is the age and sex composition of the cities?
There are more males than females in Malaysia in 2010 from age 0 to 70s, then from age 70s and above, there are more females than males. On the other hand, there seems to be more male only at the base of the population pyramid, then there are more females after the age of 70. This leads me to believe that women tend to take care of themselves better than men do. Kuala Lumpur’s population pyramid and Calgary’ population pyramid is stage 2 expanding but since Calgary has an attractive amount of job opportunities, young people migrate there for their work, therefore causing the pyramid to look different from the normal stage 2 – expanding. (Kuala Lumpur’s population pyramid is the perfect example for stage 2) This also meant that people don’t move into Kuala Lumpur to live if they work there unlike in Calgary. This might be because housing is very expensive in the city, therefore they would rather travel a distance everyday than to buy a home in there. What else, there are a lot of cheaper housing that is just right outside of the Kuala Lumpur area and Kuala Lumpur is over congested.
What job opportunities are there in the cities? What industries make up the economy?
In Calgary, there is a lot of energy service industries while in Kuala Lumpur, there are more jobs for financial industries. The energy industry basically makes up the economy in not only in Calgary but also the country as a whole. However, there isn’t a specific industry that makes up the economy in Kuala Lumpur. There are just a lot
of tertiary jobs such as financial services, tourism, real estate industry etc.
ALBERTA
ALBERTA, CANADA
MALAYSIA
Why are the cities located there? What factors influenced their location?
For Calgary, it is located there because it is close to where the oil sands are, companies would build their headquarters in Calgary because it’s within the prairie and it is a very populated place where the rest of the energy service companies are, therefore they can easily cooperate their business if they have a building located there. For Kuala Lumpur, it is because in the past people used to be able to make trades for goods which came by the boats on the river, Klang River and Gombak River. Travellers from the world would also stop by Kuala Lumpur even in the past.
What are the cultural groups in the cities? What is their percentage of the population?
There are more cultural groups in Calgary than in Kuala Lumpur, this is because Calgary are well known for the energy service jobs that attracts not only Canadians but other people from other countries as well. However in Malaysia there isn’t a specific job area that boosts the economy. Therefore, it attracts lesser people from other countries compared to Calgary. Kuala Lumpur has three major races which are; Malays: 44.2%- Chinese: 43.2%- Indians: 10.3%, while Calgary’s visible minorities are south, west, south-east Asian, Filipino, Black, Arab etc.
Are the cities growing or shrinking? Why are they growing/shrinking?
Both cities are growing not only in terms of population but also in terms of economy and technology. As you can see in both images, both cities are very well developed and urban. :)
