Forest City in Johor, Malaysia, was meant to be a smart and green futuristic city that could house 700,000 people by 2035. Nearly a decade later, the development by Chinese real estate developer Country Garden is still mostly empty.
Now, Network School, founded by former Coinbase executive Balaji Srinivasan, has set up in Forest City, turning a hotel into a campus where hundreds of “techno-optimists”, including remote workers, digital nomads, online creators, personal trainers, self-improvers, event organisers, and engineers of all stripes, are attending.
As curious individuals continue to visit Malaysia’s US$100 billion (S$128.25 billion) ghost town, saying the place is still “oddly lifeless”, will Network School create enough buzz to bring more people and investment to the estate?
Balaji Srinivasan’s Network School in Forest City
Last week, The Japan Times reported that Mr Srinivasan, author of The Network State, is trying to turn Forest City into a test bed for his vision of “startup societies,” with plans to roll out the movement globally.
So far, around 400 students—mostly entrepreneurs—have spent coding sessions, building crypto projects, and attending afternoon seminars on governance and statecraft, all while indulging in gym sessions and protein-heavy meals.
Notably, the Marina Hotel restaurant, which serves as the school’s social hub, offers a menu heavy on steak and protein shakes.
On Network School’s website, fees start at US$1,500 a month for a shared room under its inclusive package, while private rooms cost about US$3,000.
The package includes 24/7 gym access, community events, coworking spaces, fitness classes, healthy meals, lectures, office pods, serviced accommodation, WiFi and workshops, along with access to content studios. The school also advertises hosting communities for those who want to run hackathons, meetups, retreats, and pop-ups.
Forest City remains “eerily empty”, with limited facilities and empty shops
However, Network School attendees who were there for a month or more had differing opinions of the place. Some said they enjoyed the facilities, while others pointed to the lack of pharmacies and hospitals in what one attendee called a “male-skewed” society. “No hospital, no pharmacy on the island. Women’s needs clearly weren’t prioritised in the design. Mr Balaji needs a female co-leader at his level – representation matters for attracting and retaining women,” he said.
Those who visited Forest City this year shared similar impressions.
A Medium blogger, Mia Isabel, who rented a room in the estate, said there was a “distinct quietness” to the place. She added that the Marina Hotel, one of the city’s central attractions, looked grand and pristine, but its lobby was “eerily empty.”
As she walked around the place, she said, while there were a few people by the pool, which looked freshly filled, the emptiness of the surroundings still loomed over it.
Most shops and restaurants were closed, with only a duty-free store and a few groceries open, while some stores were still under construction. The beach drew slightly more people, but numbers were still low.
“There’s no denying that some people live here, but the vast majority of units remain unoccupied,” she added.
Just last month, The Sydney Morning Herald’s Lisa Visentin shared similar observations, noting that hotel staff and maintenance workers far outnumbered residents or guests, with only about 20 people around when she arrived for her mid-week stay at the 283-room beachfront hotel in Forest City.
This came after a sales rep told her the area was “not a ghost town” and that an international community lived there.
Meanwhile, at the Forest City sales gallery, a large-scale model of the four-island project is on display, with a promotional video in the background claiming the city is home to 15,000 residents and “gradually growing.”
Ms Visentin also noted that at midday, many shops in the mall next to the hotel were shuttered, some seemingly permanently, while the few open had no customers—one coffee shop server was even slumped asleep at a table.
A key selling point for Forest City is its duty-free status, but a licensing issue meant none of its four duty-free shops were selling alcohol—a major draw for visitors, especially from Singapore, where taxes make drinking a luxury.
One shop was left selling only chocolates, its shelves nearly bare except for a few boxes of wafer biscuits, oddly staffed by two shop assistants.
However, one woman in her 40s who had moved from Kuala Lumpur with her children said the tower she’s living in was fairly populated, mostly with Malaysian renters commuting to Singapore for work. She added that she enjoyed Forest City because “it’s very quiet.”
Still, Ms Visentin noted that by sundown, the beach had more crowd with some playing a volleyball game, while the hotel seemed “reasonably buzzy”, partly from Mr Srinivasan’s tech school.
The Network State Conference heads to Singapore
On Oct 3, Network School will have The Network State Conference at Marina Bay Sands’ Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore about founding, funding, and finding new communities. Speakers include Vitalik Buterin, Amjad Masad, Nuseir Yassin, Ranveer Allahbadia, Solana, and Coinbase, with tickets listed at US$99 for in-person attendance, while remote access is free.
While this could draw more people and interest to Mr Srinivasan’s startup society, the question remains whether the buzz it creates will be enough to bring life back to the island—or if Forest City will remain Malaysia’s US$100 billion ghost town. /TISG
Follow Google News
Join us on WhatsApp
Follow us on Telegram