1. Malaysia’s Forest City
Location: Malaysia’s Johor
All in all: $4 billion*
Year Completed: 2035
On the four artificial islands near Johor, a twenty-year project was proposed in 2006 to build an environmentally conscious and ecologically sensitive city. Chinese real estate developer Country Garden (60% stake) and Johor People’s Infrastructure Group (40% stake) split the costs and jointly ventured to undertake the mammoth project, which, when finished, would have covered more land than 2,500 football fields. The objective was to sell about 700,000 dwelling units in the city by the end of 2019, even though the project was still in the planning stages. The real figure was much closer to fifteen thousand units and fell well short of the aim.
Pinterest / Forest City, Malaysia @indiaholiday007
Malaysia started reclaiming land in the future Forest City area in 2014, however they did not complete the legally needed Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment first. As per the 2005 ruling by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea between Singapore and Malaysia, Malaysia was required to notify Singapore about the impending reclamation. The planned size of Forest City was reduced to one-quarter of its original size due to their failure to do so and the fact that a portion of the land on which it was to be built was in an environmentally sensitive location. It is presently anticipated that Forest City won’t be completed until the middle of the following ten years, following several delays.