A nearly £80billion city in Malaysia, intended to be a haven for families and businesses, stands largely deserted. Forest City has a reputation of being something of a ghost town with several unfinished skyscrapers, vacant streets and buildings.

In 2023, it was estimated just 15% of the ambitious project had been completed, with around 1% of the development occupied. It was launched in 2016 by China’s largest property developer, Country Garden, as part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative designed to invest in global infrastructure. The cost of the project is eyewatering at £78.9billion, with aspirations to build an eco-friendly metropolis which would provide hundreds of thousands of jobs for locals, helping to reduce unemployment in Malaysia’s Johor region in the south of the Malay Peninsula.

Reports suggest Forest City is designed for 700,000 people, although Country Garden has said it would eventually be home to up to one million residents, per the BBC.

Despite the lofty ambitions, the project has faced a number of hurdles.

Stricter capital controls from China have reportedly limited the flow of investment from Chinese nationals — the development’s primary target market.

Political instability in Malaysia and the COVID-19 pandemic have also impacted progress.

One person who bought a property in the city previously described it as a “ghost town”, complaining about living facilities and how it is hard to get around without a car.

Plans for Forest City include offices, restaurants, bars and leisure areas like a golf course and waterpark.

In a shopping mall, some units have been reported as being vacant construction sites, with empty children’s trains doing loops around the area.

There have also been concerns of the ecological impact of the development on reclaimed land from the Johor Straits.

Efforts to revitalise Forest City are said to be continuing, with Country Garden and the Malaysian government reportedly hoping an increase in Chinese tourism will help the project come to fruition.