Green Facades

Abstract This article examines the development of ‘Forest City’ in the Iskandar Malaysia development Corridor within the broader context of China’s international expansion, focusing on Forest City portrayal as a model of sustainability. Despite being promoted as ‘eco-cities’ and ‘green cities’, these mega-projects often fall short of these ideals, revealing a significant gap between their marketed image and their actual environmental practices (Ouis 2011). Through the lens of Practice Theory enriched by the developmental state model, this study analyses the alignment between the promotional rhetoric of Chinese-backed green city projects and their real-world execution. Practice Theory offers a valuable tool for identifying inconsistencies between stated commitments to sustainability and the tangible outcomes observed in Chinese-finance development projects in Southeast Asia. The developmental state model helps to understand the practices that are translated, transplanted, and embedded by Chinese developers across borders. This analytical framework is critical as it sheds light on the underlying dynamics of ‘global China’ initiatives, which have gained increased global attention. Such scrutiny is particularly pertinent in highlighting the contrast between the marketed sustainability of these cities and the principles of genuine sustainable development. This critique provides a deeper understanding of the environmental implications of China’s overseas investments. Based on this analysis, the overarching research question is: why do Chinese-backed green city projects, such as Forest City in Iskandar Malaysia, frequently exhibit discrepancies between their promoted environmental sustainability and the actual environmental outcomes?