The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (, abbreviated DBKL or KLCH) is the city council which administers the city of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. This council was established after the city was officially granted city status on 1 February 1972. Their jurisdiction covers an area of 243 square kilometres.
The council consists of the mayor plus fifteen members of the city advisory board appointed to serve a one-year term by the Minister of Federal Territories. The current mayor of Kuala Lumpur is , who has been in office since 15 November 2025.
The first local government established for Kuala Lumpur was the Kuala Lumpur Sanitary Board (Malay: Lembaga Kebersehan Kuala Lumpur), which was formed on 14 May 1890 and was mainly tasked with cleaning, street lighting and the regulations of markets. When the town fell under Japanese occupation in 1942 during World War II, the board was abolished by the Japanese in June 1943 and replaced by a group of military and civilian personnels responsible for town services. After the war, the British Military Administration revived the local authority as the Kuala Lumpur Town Board on 1 April 1946.
Two years later on 15 March 1948, the town board was replaced by the Kuala Lumpur Municipal Commission and Kuala Lumpur became the first municipality in the Malay states. On 1 May 1951, the Selangor State Council approved a constitution for the municipality to establish it as the Kuala Lumpur Municipal Council, which would consist of 12 elected and 6 appointed members. The first municipal election was held in four three-member wards (Bungsar, Sentul, Imbi and Petaling) on 16 February 1952, and the first meeting of the council was convened three days later on 19 February.
During British colonial times and early independence, Kuala Lumpur had been the capital of the country as well as the state of Selangor.
On 1 April 1961, with the commencement of the Federal Capital Act 1960, local elections in Kuala Lumpur was abolished and the municipality was put under a federally controlled corporation sole called the "Commissioner of the Federal Capital of Kuala Lumpur", more commonly known as the Federal Capital Commission. It was headed by a Commissioner, and assisted by an advisory board.
Kuala Lumpur later achieved city status on 1 February 1972, becoming the first settlement in Malaysia to be granted such status after Malaya's independence in 1957, and the second city in Malaysia after George Town. Consequently, the local authority was renamed as the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (Malay: Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur). Later, on 1 February 1974, Kuala Lumpur became a Federal Territory. Kuala Lumpur ceased to be the capital of Selangor in 1978 after the city of Shah Alam was declared as the new state capital.
After Kuala Lumpur gaining its city status in 1972, the city's executive head was renamed as "Commissioner of the City of Kuala Lumpur" (Malay: Datuk Bandar Kuala Lumpur) under the City of Kuala Lumpur Act 1971, also commonly known as Mayor of Kuala Lumpur in English.
Executive power lies with the mayor in the city hall, who is appointed for three years by the Minister of Federal Territories. This system of appointing the mayor and councillor has been in place ever since the local government elections were suspended in 1970.
On 14 May 1990, Kuala Lumpur celebrated 100 years of local council. The new Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur flag and anthem were introduced. Kuala Lumpur City Hall launched its own coat of arms on 31 January 1992, which is a modification of the coat of arms of the former municipal council. It incorporated the city's emblem in use since Kuala Lumpur became a city.
Since 1972, the city has been led by fifteen mayors. The previous mayors are listed as below:
As of 4 February 2026, the top management of the City Hall consists of:
The city advisory board makes recommendations on the City Hall's strategic policy and priorities, governance policy and structure, financial planning and budgeting, fiscal policy including revenue and tax policies, intergovernmental and international relations, City Hall and its operations, and human resources and labour relations.
, the composition of the advisory board is as follows:
As of 4 February 2026, the city is governed by the following legislations:
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