Inside abandoned £80,000,000,000 ghost city where skyscrapers stand empty
A deserted beach, an empty children’s playground and closed shopping centres – this is the reality of a luxury estate left to rot.
Originally intended as ‘a dream paradise for all mankind’, Forest City in southern Malaysia sounded like the perfect $100 billion (£80 billion) development.
But eight years later, it’s known as the ‘ghost city’ with empty skyscrapers which stand on the banks of a crocodile-infested river.
Resident Joanne Kaur, who rents an apartment, told the BBC: ‘This place is eerie. Even during the day, when you step out of your front door, the corridor is dark.
‘I feel sorry for people who actually invested and bought a place here. We are looking to move out as soon as possible.’
She lives on the 28th storey of one of the tower blocks with her husband, and says they are the only people on the whole floor.
Joanne added: ‘If you were to Google “Forest City”, it’s not what you see here today.
‘It should be the project that was promised to the people, but that’s not what it is.’
Forest City is built on reclaimed land far away from the nearest major city of Johor Bahru.
It started to be built by China’s largest property developer, Country Garden, in 2016 and was set to be home to one million residents.
But although it was aimed at middle-class people, with the average apartment in the development retailing for $1.14 million (£905,000), the price was far out of reach for most Malaysians.
The average sale price of a property in Johor Bahru is around $141,000 (£112,000), and the city is more accessible than Forest City, which requires a car to get around.
The metropolis was set to be eco-friendly and feature a golf course, waterpark, offices, bars, and restaurants.
But now only 15% of the project has been completed, and only a few hundred people live in the tower blocks.
Only a few flats are seen with their lights on, and at night the entire city is left in pitch black.
The development is on the bank of a river filled with crocodiles, with warning signs next to it telling people not to swim in it.
The shopping malls are either closed or have been abandoned due to a lack of business.
A deserted beach features rusting cars and empty bottles of alcohol dumped everywhere.
BBC analysts called the development ‘a classic case of ambition versus reality’ and’a tough sell’, also hampered by travel lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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