12 May 2024 , 09:06
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Luxurious skyscrapers in Malaysia developed by the Chinese were going to be a "dream paradise" - until it turned into a "ghost city."
The multi-billion dollar estate was aimed to be "for all mankind" but instead lies empty on the coast of the sea - only surrounded by nature. The Forest City may seem like a lavish resort, only a stone's throw away from Singapore - but it is far from reality.
At a first glance, it appears to be a regular metropolis with hundreds of high-rise buildings, luxurious villas and perfect roads. However, visitors will soon realise that it is an eerie "ghost city" with the only sound coming from birds ' chirping.
There are also no cars. The developers spent 100 billion dollars on the property in order to attract middle-class buyers who live abroad.
The plan was to construct an eco-friendly city that included water park, golf course, offices, bars, and restaurants. The Chinese developers planned for 1 million people to live in the "paradise" city.
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The developers believed that investors would flock to the area next to Asia's financial hub, Singapore, for great opportunities. While a house in Singapore costs an eye-watering 4 million dollars on average, the typical condo in Forest City retails for a fraction of that and is just across the water.
Forest City is a ghost land (AFP via Getty Images)Despite 80 per cent of units sold, most of them were left unoccupied due to restrictions on visas for Chinese buyers back then. Eight years later, Forest City is now merely a deserted ghost town, with a river full of crocodiles.
Only a few hundred people reside in the high-rise structures, and just 15 per cent of the project has been completed. As well as that, Chinese government introduced strict laws which banned its citizens from spending more than 50,000 dollars abroad.
Residents are rare in the locality, with most people you see actually staff from the premises. However, the city's mall has a working restaurant, a shop, and a duty-free store. The rest of the shops are closed due to lack of business.
But with cheap rent, around 800 dollars a month for a brand-new unit, some people ended up moving to the abandoned city. The 30-year-old IT engineer, Nazmi Hanafiah, decided to rent a one-bedroom flat overlooking the sea, but soon wished he didn't.
He told BBC: "To be honest, it's creepy. I had high expectations for this place, but it was such a bad experience. There is nothing to do here. It's lonely around here - it's just you and your thoughts."
According to the BBC, some analysts criticised the concept in a country were the economy and politics are unstable. However, Country Garden remains "optimistic" about the future of their project despite struggling to repay huge debt.