Forest City: How China's R$ 570 Billion Megaproject in Malaysia Became a "Ghost Town" – Now Millions of Tons of Abandoned Concrete and Steel Remain

Forest City: How China’s R$ 570 Billion Megaproject in Malaysia Became a “Ghost Town” – Now Millions of Tons of Abandoned Concrete and Steel Remain

Written by Roberta Souza

Published on 26/10/2024 at 15:18

foto/reprodução: Amrita Chandradas /The New York Times 1

Uma pessoa reagiu a isso.

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What was once dreamed of as a luxury megaproject of R$ 570 billion, meant to be a “dream paradise” for the Chinese middle class, is now known as a ghost town. Located in Malaysia and envisioned by the giant Country Garden, the development Forest City promises a futuristic and sustainable city on four artificial islands, with 700,000 apartments facing the Johor Strait, near Singapore, according to infomoney. However, a decade later, this ambitious project is mostly inhabited by maintenance workers, with empty streets and nearly deserted residential towers.

The Obstacles That Challenged the Construction of Forest City

The story of Forest City began in 2014 when trillions of dollars in investments flooded the Chinese real estate market. Seeing an opportunity for international expansion, Country Garden heavily invested in building a self-sustaining city outside China. But in the early years, the company encountered problems: environmental concerns raised by Singapore, along with financial restrictions from China on overseas real estate investment, halted construction for months.

“china, “global”, “malásia”, “construção” — photo/reproduction: Amrita Chandradas /The New York Times 1

Despite this, the project advanced, and the first phase was completed with 26,000 apartments and some basic infrastructure. However, the concept of “build it and they will come” did not apply. Today, Forest City is a place full of inactive towers, while most of the apartments remain unoccupied. Country Garden, one of the largest developers in China, now faces a massive financial challenge, having defaulted on its debts.

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Malaysia Seeks to Attract New Investors

To prevent Forest City from becoming a true “white elephant” in the global real estate sector, the Malaysian government has been making efforts to revitalize the project, offering tax incentives for investors and turning the city into a special financial zone. Recently, the government eliminated taxes for family offices of large international investors in an attempt to reactivate the flow of people and businesses in the region.

Although these initiatives have offered some hope, the real impact is still limited. Michael Grove, a landscape architect from Sasaki, who was hired to make the project vision more feasible, comments that “the company relied on an outdated construction model without considering the real market demand.” Country Garden’s quick decisions, made to leverage the housing boom, ignore fundamental factors such as affordability and integration with local needs.

Life in a Luxury “Ghost Town”

Visitors to Forest City today see a curious city: rows of tall buildings with lights off, empty squares, and only a few merchants and maintenance workers circulating. The city has served as a backdrop for reality shows and for a temporary technology school organized by a cryptocurrency investor, yet the environment still resembles an abandoned city.

The prospect of new life in Forest City attracts some buyers. This is the case of Su Mu, who traded the peacefulness of Shanghai for the tranquil climate of Forest City. “The prices here are not as high as in China,” he explains. However, the lack of residents is evident. For many investors, the dream of a “paradise in Malaysia” still seems distant, while Forest City remains a huge and silent monument to the Chinese real estate boom.

The future of Forest City remains uncertain, with Country Garden promising to continue construction as demand and financial conditions allow. For now, the city stands as a reminder of the challenges and ambitions that have transformed the global real estate market in recent years.

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Forest City: How China’s R$ 570 Billion Megaproject in Malaysia Became a “Ghost Town” – Now Millions of Tons of Abandoned Concrete and Steel Remain

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