Phnom Penh

In 1884, the colonial administrator commissioned the constructions of underground sewage systems, canals to control the wetlands and roads, buildings and a port were also constructed.. In 1893, Wat Phnom park had been rehabilitated and a zoo was built, surrounded by gardens. A construction of Boulevard Doubart de Lagrée, presently renamed Blvd. Preah Norodom had also begun. In 1895, CEEL, the first French company that produced clean water for Phnom Penh, built its first water plant at Chroy Changva.

In 1897, the population of Phnom Penh city was close to 50,000 people out of a total population of the whole country of more than a 1,000,000. The population of Phnom Penh consisted of many ethnic groups such as the Chinese (22,000), Khmers (16,000), Vietnamese (4,000) and the French residents who were only numbered at about 400 people. Besides above ethnic groups, there were Malaysians, Thais, Indians, Laotians and others who called Phnom Penh their homes.

Phnom Penh during the reign of H.M. King Sisowath: 1904-1927 There are not much records about the developments of Phnom Penh City during the reign of King Sisowath, except that the colonial administration had contracted the dredging of the Mekong and Sap rivers in order to facilitate marine navigation to enable ships and naval vessels to reach Phnom Penh. The records show that in 1914 the colonial administration had begun to expand the city to the west and to the south until Bassac river.

Phnom Penh during H.M. King Monivong’s Reign:1927-1941 King Monivong’s reign was a period that Cambodia had first begun a policy of constructions. In 1928, a French company, Grands Travaux de Marseille (GTM), had been contracted to begin pumping sands from the bottom of Tonle Sap River to fill up Decho lake and other lakes in the city. The year of 1929 also seen a construction of a steel Preah Monivong Bridge. In 1932, the first railway tracts and stations from Phnom Penh to Battambang had been commissioned. The Boulevard Miche, now renamed Blvd.Preah Monivong had also been constructed.

In 1935, the Grand Market, now called Phsar Thom Thmey Market, was built. And in 1939, Verdun Avenue, now renamed Blvd. J. Nerhu and Ave. Preah Sihanouk was built. In 1939, the population of Phnom Penh City was about 108,000 people, and the population of the whole of Cambodia was about 3,000,000 people. Phnom Penh during the reign of H.M. King and Prince Norodom Sihanouk : 1941-1970 and 1993-2004

Phnom Penh under the period of Sihanouk’s rule had seen the expansion and the constructions of many modern infrastructures. The City’s population had also grown dramatically. The city’s population had grown to 111,000 in 1942. By 1950 it had grown to 354,000 and 355,000 in 1958. By 1962, the population of Phnom Penh City reached 394,000. The city had been expanded and many infrastructures had been built. In 1958, the Blvd. Mao Tse Tung was constructed. And in 1961, the city had expanded and Tuol Kork, a new flashy modern suburb, was constructed. Other infrastructures had also been built during this period.

The International Olympic Stadium was built in 1963. In 1964, Tonle Bassac Theater and a Casino, now renamed the Cambodiana Sofitel Hotel, were constructed. A railway line from Phnom Penh to Kompong Som (Sihanoukville) was also commissioned in 1964. And the International Airport of Pochentong was also built. And in 1966, the Sangkum Reah Niyum Bridge, now renamed the Cambodia-Japan Friendship Bridge, was built with funds provided by Japan. Many tertiary institutions such as the Sangkum Reastr Niyum University, The Khmer-Soviet Institute of Technology, Royal Phnom Penh University,

The Khmer-Soviet Institute of Technology, Royal Phnom Penh University, the Institute of Foreign Languages and many more were constructed during this period. Gardens and parks were constructed and beautified. Phnom Penh City in the 1960s was called the Pearl of Asia. Phnom Penh during the Khmer Republic of Marshall Lon Nol: 1970-1975

Phnom Penh from 1970 onward had not seen much developments due to the Cambodian civil war. The original population of Phnom Penh City of 900,000 had swelled to over 2,000,000 at the end of the war in 1975 because of war refugees from the countryside. On the contrary, many infrastructures had been destroyed by fighting and shells. In 1973, the Khmer Rouge mined Chroy Changvar Bridge two times which eventually destroyed it.