Battambang Heritage Preservation Initiative Online

During this “Golden Area” of Cambodian history, the urban layout of Battambang had been enlarged five times the size of the French colonial town. According to the third urban development plan for Battambang City, large extension areas were planned for the north (a residential area called “le quartier vert de Sangkum Reastr Niyum”), for the east and for the south of the city. The both aesthetically and technically planned urban layout of that time was courageous and long-term thinking. It featured some significant urban axis corresponding to the existing urban layout from the former period. Battambang grew as a modern provincial capital, being the industrial and commercial centre of the region. Several large infrastructures and public facilities were built under the modernization program of the Cambodian government of then-prince Sihanouk. Several provincial departments, the court house and other public administrations were set up on both sides of the river. Textile and garment factories were built by French and Chinese investors, the airport was set running and the railway line was developed to reach Poipet. Numerous schools and a university were built. A sports centre, museum and an exhibition hall were constructed to serve the cultural needs of the growing population.

SANGKUM REASTR NIYUM