Malaysia's Forest City was billed as a 7,000-acre "dream paradise", with luxury apartments overlooking nearby Singapore.
Built along the coast of the southern state of Johor, the $100 billion development was launched by Malaysia in collaboration with Chinese property giant Country Garden in 2016. At the time, it was "granted duty-free status and tax breaks", Al Jazeera reported, in the hope of drawing in wealthy Chinese buyers looking for a second home.
But the "futuristic metropolis has since floundered, hampered by economic controls, local politics and the Covid-19 pandemic". The city was intended to be built across four artificial islands with a projected population of 700,000 by 2035. In contrast, "a mere 9,000 people" live in the 28,000 units built so far, said Al Jazeera, and only 10% of the project has been completed.
It is "emblematic" of the core issues behind China's property crisis, said The Wall Street Journal's Feliz Solomon: "overbuilding, overborrowing and a streak of bad luck".
Country Garden's modus operandi was the creation of low-cost apartments, and it attempted to replicate its former successes at Forest City. However, with a lack of demand and economic downturn post-Covid, the project has turned into a "ghost city", merely a "place for investors to park their money", Solomon added.
Once China's biggest private property developer, Country Garden defaulted on its debt payments in October, said Reuters, amid "mounting problems" in the country's "cash-squeezed and indebted property sector". Insiders have since told Bloomberg that it has been placed on the Chinese government's draft list of developers eligible for financing support, but the firm is yet to comment.
In Forest City, there were "signs of development everywhere", said Business Insider's Marielle Descalsota last year, but no "signs of life". Even the locals continue to remain unclear about what the project is, with one describing it as an "enclave".
There is an "unexpected" glimmer of hope, Nikkei Asia reported. The city, with its "expansiveness, buildings and scenery", has attracted TV producers from around the world for shows such as Netflix's US reality series "The Mole".
And Forest City’s regional vice-president, Syarul Izam Sarifudin, insists the development is still "on track", although he has "admitted interest in the 5,000 unsold units was lacklustre", said Al Jazeera.
Property consultant Samuel Tan was less optimistic, blaming the project's desire for a "high proportion of foreign ownership". For him, Forest City was always "doomed for failure".
This article first appeared in The Week’s Global Digest newsletter. Sign up for a preview of the international news agenda, sent to your inbox every Monday.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
May 25 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday's political cartoons feature Donald Trump's tariffs, Big pharma, and cuts to Medicaid
-
Why men have a bigger carbon footprint than womenUnder the Radar 'Male identity' behaviours behind 'gender gap' in emissions, say scientists
-
5 richly deserved political cartoons about tax breaks for billionairesCartoons Artists take on Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill'
-
'The national appetite has been waning'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
U.S. hits brakes on trade war with ChinaFeature The Trump administration agreed to a 90-day tariff pause with China
-
'Two dolls': Can Trump sell Americans on austerity?Feature Trump's tariffs may be threatening holiday shelves but they've handed Democrats a 'huge gift'
-
Trump shrugs off warnings over trade war costsFeature Trump's tariffs are spiraling the U.S. toward an economic crisis as shipments slow down—and China doesn't plan to back down
-
'Congress could help by providing federal protections'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trade war with China threatens U.S. economyFeature Trump's tariff battle with China is hitting U.S. businesses hard and raising fears of a global recession
-
How 'China shock 2.0' will roil global marketsFeature An overflow of Chinese goods is flooding the global market. Tariffs won’t stop it.
-
'New firms are created to serve the economy of which they are part'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
