Forest City, Johor

Forest City is an integrated property development and special financial zone (SFZ) in Iskandar Puteri, Johor, Malaysia. It is located in the southwestern part of Johor Bahru District, the second largest district in Malaysia by population. First announced in 2006 as a twenty-year investment project mostly financed by Country Garden, pitched under the Belt and Road Initiative. Since 2024, Forest City has been designated by the government as Malaysia's first tax-free SFZ, primarily attracting global business services, banking institutions and financial technology companies.

It was officiated by then Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak in 2016, with the approval of the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Ismail. Forest City is a joint venture between Esplanade Danga 88, an affiliate of state government subsidiary Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor (KPRJ), through a joint venture, Country Garden Holding Ltd (CGPV), with CGPV holding 60 percent of shares, while KPRJ holds the other 40 percent. Forest City is under the management of the Iskandar Puteri City Council and the Iskandar Regional Development Authority.

The development of Forest City is contentious. The project was not targeted at local Malaysians but rather at upper-middle-class citizens from China who were looking to park their wealth abroad, by offering relatively affordable seafront properties compared to expensive coastal cities within their country such as Shanghai. However, initial strong sales from China collapsed after its leader Xi Jinping implemented currency controls, including a $50,000 annual cap on how much buyers could spend outside the country. Such lackluster sales were exacerbated by the 2020–2022 Malaysian political crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, with the project being described as a "ghost town" in 2022. The project, which is located on reclaimed land, has also been criticised for causing large amounts of habitat destruction in the vicinity.