The Singapore architecture community (and perhaps, the world) was was sceptical when Forest City was announced. This HUGE development in Malaysia (by Chinese developers) is proposed to be built on a series of artificial islands, just off the western coast of Singapore.
However, land reclamation to create the series of islands is well underway, and the building in the foreground of the model photo below has already been completed on the first completed portion of reclaimed land. I recently stumbled upon the massive model at the sales gallery in the centre of Singapore’s CBD, and was promptly offered a free visit to the development where according to the developer, over 8,000 units have been sold (all of the conventional rectangular buildings on the right side of the model photo below), mostly to mainland Chinese buyers).
View of the completed sales gallery located on reclaimed land off the coast of Malaysia.
Current satelite view of the development from Google Earth
Image by Sasaki Associates
The Forest City Masterplan (selected in an international competition) was designed by Sasaki Associates, and appears at least superficially to be well considered. Intended to house over 700,000 people and spanning nearly 14 square kilometers, the city is envisaged with the density of a city centre, and interspersed with generous green spaces including ample high-rise greenery.
The city is planned to be well connected with light rail systems linking up the various islands, possibly to Singapore, and to mainland Malaysia. The individual buildings will be linked up with an elevated deck, separating pedestrians from vehicles.
Image by Sasaki Associates
Image by Sasaki Associates
I’m still skeptical, but it’s hard to deny the appeal of a new green city popping up out of the sea (except perhaps environmental concerns). It already seems that some of the curvaceous sexiness of the original concept has been diluted in the first construction phase (a sea of cookie-cutter residential towers), but I can only hope that this mega-project could play a major part in the emergence of greater cooperation in the development of a cohesive megacity encompassing the Singapore-Johor-Riau regions, which have a rapidly growing population of nearly 11 million*.
The massive model of the development (pictured above) can be viewed at the project Sales Gallery, lodated at GB Building, 143 Cecil Street #01-01.
Images by Jonathan Choe unless otherwise stated.
*
Singapore Population – 5.4 million
Johor, Malaysia Population – 3.5 million
Riau Islands, Indonesia Population – 2.0 million
Total Population of the Region – 10.9 million
http://www.urbanarchnow.com/2017/04/forest-city-johor.html