Forest city, Malaysia, and Chinese expansionism

Over the past decade, an acceleration of Chinese state and private investment in urban infrastructure and real estate has transformed many skylines around the world. In 2014, a private Chinese company in collaboration with Malaysia’s Sultan of Johor state started construction on Forest City, a private gated luxury mega-development for 700,000 people on four reclaimed islands in the narrow strait that separates Malaysia and Singapore. While the official material for Forest City claims it is for all nationalities, it is being marketed predominantly in China and to ethnic Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. This paper investigates the broader implications for Singapore, Malaysia, and the region and makes two key arguments. First, I suggest Forest City is more than a Chinese-financed real estate development, rather it constitutes a Chinese neocolonial outpost to which Malaysia has largely conceded sovereignty and advances China’s expansionist agenda. Second, Forest City challenges current geopolitical dynamics and threatens to undermine Malaysia’s relationships with neighbouring countries.