Archive Gelang Patah, Johor, Malaysia
Forest City
Forest City, Pulau Satu, 79250 Gelang Patah, Johor, Malaysia approximate location
Forest City delivered towers on only part of its long-range 1,600-hectare plan, while occupancy remained far below the 20-year target of 700,000 residents. The often-used "ghost city" label is attributed commentary, not proof that every completed tower is empty.
What got built
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What changed
- Announced in 2016, Forest City's 20-year master plan called for a 1,600-hectare (4,000-acre), four-island development on reclaimed land with a long-range target of 700,000 residents; that figure was not an opening-year population target.
- The developed footprint was later reduced to less than 405 hectares (1,000 acres) of the original plan, according to reporting on the project's scaled-back build-out.
- By the end of 2019, only about 15,000 residential units had been sold against the original 700,000-resident target.
- Reporting estimated as few as 500 residents in 2020 and roughly 8,000-9,000 residents or occupants by June 2023. Those dated estimates are not a verified 2026 population and may use different definitions, including permanent residents, occupants, or registered owners.
- From 2023 through 2025, Malaysian authorities designated Forest City for special financial-zone treatment within the Johor-Singapore economic initiative. Those policies aim to attract activity but do not demonstrate delivery of the original eco-city buildout.
Why it changed
Reporting attributes the shortfall in residents to a combination of factors: Chinese capital controls that restricted money flowing out of China after roughly two-thirds of buyers were expected to be mainland Chinese, Malaysia's tightening of visa rules for foreign buyers, and broader political and regulatory instability in both countries. Developer parent Country Garden separately experienced a nationwide liquidity crisis in China's property sector starting in 2023, which is documented but reported as a company-wide issue rather than specific to the Forest City site.
Details
- Status
- Partly delivered, still in design, or revised before construction.
- Where
- Gelang Patah, Johor, Malaysia
- Neighborhood
- Johor Strait, near Singapore
- Developer
- Country Garden Pacificview Sdn Bhd (Country Garden Holdings, 60 percent; Johor state agency KPRJ, 40 percent)
- Architect
- Sasaki Associates led early master planning reported in coverage; Country Garden's in-house design teams developed the built towers
- Rendering credit
- Country Garden / Forest City CGPV
- The built result
- Photographed by Jonashtand, 2019-05-31
Sources
- Wikipedia: Forest City (Johor) en.wikipedia.org
- Foreign Policy: Malaysia's Forest City Went From Boomtown to Ghost Town foreignpolicy.com
- Marketplace: Inside Forest City, the $100 billion Malaysian ghost city marketplace.org
Research checked . Status and figures are updated when a source changes.
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