{"id":21582,"date":"2016-08-01T18:55:14","date_gmt":"2016-08-01T11:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/forest-city-luxury-utopia-or-ecological-disaster\/"},"modified":"2016-08-01T19:01:49","modified_gmt":"2016-08-01T12:01:49","slug":"forest-city-luxury-utopia-or-ecological-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/forest-city-luxury-utopia-or-ecological-disaster\/","title":{"rendered":"Forest City: Luxury utopia or ecological disaster?"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nEnvironmentalists protest the \u201ceco-city,\u201d which ironically entails ambitious land reclamation and may destroy marine ecosystems
\nSultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex in Johor Bahru. Image credit: Stefan Fussan (Flickr)
\nA planned Malaysian city near Singapore may not live up to its \u201cliveable eco-city\u201d billing after all.
\nEnvironmentalists are protesting the development of Forest City, a project\u00a0that was put on hiatus\u00a0in 2015 due to ecological concerns and has since\u00a0resumed, spelling disaster for marine life and fishermen\u2019s livelihood in the area.
\n\u201cIt has the potential to change the ecology of the whole area in profound ways,\u201d Greenpeace scientist Paul Johnston said.
\n\u201cIt might change the things that are living there, it might change the vegetation that can grow there.\u201d
\nForest City involves land reclamation on a massive scale, requiring around 162 million cubic metres of sand to be dumped on four Malaysian islands around Johor Strait, close to Singapore.
\nAt high risk is the Merambong Shoal, which covers Malaysia\u2019s largest intertidal seagrass meadow, an important habitat for underwater fauna.
\nCountry Garden Pacific View, the joint venture between Chinese developer Country Garden and Esplanade Danga 88, a firm partly owned by Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, conceded in an environmental study that \u201cpermanent loss of traditional fishing ground\u201d may arise from the development.
\nMore: Singapore ranks second in the world for green buildings
\nHowever, Country Garden Pacific View executive director Mohamad Othman Yusof said that the reclamation was approved on the back of some 20 simulation studies. In addition, Forest City used \u201cdouble silt curtains\u201d to keep silt and sediment from spreading throughout the seabed.
\nForest City\u2019s size has been downsized to 1,370 hectares from 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres).
\nCosting SGD56 billion (USD42 billion), Forest City will come with 700,000 residential units upon its 2035 completion. In its first phase, the city will offer some 482 condominium units and 132 serviced apartments, along with hotels, shopping malls, schools, and convention centres, all within a duty-free zone.
\nForest City officials have claimed pre-sales of 500 units, mainly to mainland Chinese buyers. Analysts are concerned that such a demographic would be a bleak prospect though, in light of China\u2019s slowing economy and the Chinese government\u2019s recent clampdown on capital outflows.
\nCiting risks from aggressive land acquisitions, Standard & Poor\u2019s has taken a \u201ccautious\u201d stance on Forest City. The financial services company assigned a long-term corporate rating of \u201cBB\u201d from \u201cBB+\u201d on Country Garden in March.
\nRead next: Western zones of Iskandar Malaysia to see price surge in next 10 years
\n
\nSource : property-report.com
\nRead more…Forest City: Luxury utopia or ecological disaster?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Environmentalists protest the \u201ceco-city,\u201d which ironically entails ambitious land reclamation and may destroy marine ecosystems...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-property-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75ss1-5C6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2614,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/cars-arent-welcome-in-iskandar-malaysias-humongous-new-eco-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":21582,"position":0},"title":"Cars aren\u2019t welcome in Iskandar Malaysia\u2019s humongous, new eco-city","date":"January 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Multibillion-dollar project covers four man-made islands Forest City is reportedly Southeast Asia\u2019s largest | Image courtesy of Country Garden Holding Co Ltd The first phase of Forest City, a mixed-use, sustainable development spanning 13.86 sq km in Iskandar Malaysia, was recently unveiled for public viewing to whet the appetite\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Forest-City_Country-Garden.jpg?fit=740%2C494&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11518,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/umm-al-quwain-signs-on-sobha-group-to-build-dh25bn-tourist-resort-on-al-sinniyah-island\/","url_meta":{"origin":21582,"position":1},"title":"Umm Al Quwain signs on Sobha Group to build Dh25bn tourist resort on Al Sinniyah Island","date":"April 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\r The government of Umm Al Quwain has signed a joint venture with Sobha Group to build a Dh25 billion tourism resort on Al Sinniyah Island. 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He\u00a0explained that the authorities will \u201cstudy all the feedback received in detail, as we consider possible plans for the site\u201d. Image: Google Maps\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/dover-forest-google-street-view.jpg?fit=820%2C410&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24691,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/what-will-shanghai-look-like-in-2040\/","url_meta":{"origin":21582,"position":5},"title":"What will Shanghai look like in 2040?","date":"September 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\r We would be looking at a more eco-friendly, less overpopulated metropolis More greenery, less air pollution for Shanghai in 2040. Iakov Kalinin \/ shutterstock With its futuristic skyscrapers and historic allures, Shanghai can go toe to toe with the world\u2019s best cities. 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