$100 billion eco-friendly ‘Forest city’ is now a ghost town
- The city and its buildings were made to be eco-friendly with plants all over
- However, the overgrown plants are now slowly consuming it
- The city is also home to stray dogs and crocodile-infested waters
Published on Mar 23, 2024 at 4:14 PM (UTC+4)
by Nalin Rawat
Last updated on May 08, 2024 at 5:50 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
A $100 billion ‘eco-friendly’ Forest City that was supposed to be home to a million people is now little more than a ghost town.
Situated on the coast of Johor, Malaysia, the so-called ‘Forest City’ was launched in 2016 to great fanfare.
However, it has now been left to rot, and nature has started to reclaim it.
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Although built in Malaysia, the mega-city project Forest City is a Chinese initiative.
The plan was to build a $100 billion coastal city to house up to a million people.
However, it has now turned into a complete ghost town full of stray dogs, overgrown vegetation, and crocodile-infested waters.
It’s a bit like a map from some apocalyptic video game, but this is real life.
Let’s just hope China’s other projects – like the floating city with underwater streets – don’t share the same fate as this one.
According to its website, it was supposed to be an eco-friendly city with a golf course, water park, restaurants, and many other things.
Unfortunately, only about 15 percent of Forest City has been built with around one percent occupancy, another contributing factor to why it is now a ghost town.
Despite being marketed as eco-friendly, Forest City has been criticized by some for allegedly failing to meet that criteria.
If you want to check out some more amazing cities, take a look at South Korea’s Floating City or China’s Ice and Snow City.
So, how did it come to this? How did this Forest city turn into a ghost town?
The properties in the Forest City were too expensive for most of the people living there as it was aimed at selling properties in Malaysia to Chinese buyers.
However, due to the pandemic and Chinese foreign spending laws, not many people bought the properties.
Plus, no one wants to buy flats which have been built in the middle of nowhere.
That last point is a pretty relevant one.
In a few years, perhaps nature will have completely reclaimed the city, and it will be a true Forest City after all.
Nalin Rawat
Nalin started his career by working with various national newspapers in India. He has also worked as a writer/editor for many popular websites, while still pursuing his journalism and mass communication degree. Working as a digital nomad has allowed him to inform and educate through his work. When he is not writing, you can find him playing video games or travelling the mountains on his bike.
