8 - Explaining Naypyitaw under the National League for Democracy

Summary

Naypyitaw, the capital of Myanmar since 2005, was carved from scrubland and paddy fields with the founding idea that space is integral to the exercise of power. Its creation in the geographical centre of the country signalled a retreat from the colonial legacies found on almost every street in the old capital, Yangon. The decision to invest so heavily in a new place to govern the country was made by senior military men, isolated from both their own people and much of the rest of the world. It is only natural that the creation of this new and gargantuan city has baffled many observers, some of whom are still unprepared to consider the rationality, determination and imagination encapsulated by the new national monument. Naypyitaw tends to be classified as a “surreal” and even lunatic place, that apparently defies the ordinary laws of geography, society and culture (for instance, see Richmond et al. 2014, p. 156). There has been little serious effort to understand the city beyond its broad boulevards and other infrastructure (for exceptions see Dulyapak 2009, 2011; Seekins 2009b; also Farrelly 2018).

The infrastructure still tends to get the attention. When visitors arrive in Naypyitaw they are immediately struck by the distances between facilities and the vast network of roadways that are designed to tie the city together. Happy snaps taken on the ceremonial motorway leading to the legislative complex and presidential palace fill the Facebook pages and Twitter feeds of visitors. They often gush about how few cars use the roads and how the over-sized avenues take up too much space. The same astonishment tends to follow a visit to any of the official buildings. The legislative compound, a place that many Myanmar and foreign visitors get to see up close, is a good example. Encompassing thirty-one large buildings, a symbolic nod to the thirty-one Theravada Buddhist planes of existence, the legislature is so spread out that people tend to take a buggy, car or bus between the different parts of the complex. Only a few of the buildings are linked together by covered walkways. On a hot day it is impossible to get between the other buildings without breaking a sweat. The conclusion of most of those who work at the site is that the complex is probably not optimized for legislative activity.