Lynette Khoo
AS far as Chinese developer Country Garden is concerned, no effort is spared to turn Forest City, a mega project in Johor just north of Singapore's Tuas, into a smart green city.
For a project of this scale, the Guangzhou-headquartered developer is working to bring it into the Guinness World Records for being the largest mixed development to be built on man-made islands.
Assuring to do "everything possible" to ensure zero impact to surrounding areas during the reclamation process, a Country Garden spokesman told BT in an email interview that environmental consultants have been engaged to carry out thorough studies and research to identify and mitigate potential risks.
"For example, we have run more than 20 models to ensure the best reclamation size and shape for Forest City, wherein there shall be close to zero impact to the surrounding area."
The size of the 1,386-ha project to be built on reclaimed land - almost three times the size of Sentosa island - had earlier drawn some flak from both sides of the border for its potential environmental impact.
Country Garden was founded in the 1990s by its chairman Yang Guoqiang, who bought vacant land for development in the Shunde district of Foshan to leverage on a residential boom unleashed by China's emerging middle class.
"This was a pivotal moment for us as we took advantage of good market conditions to focus on delivering high quality homes, instantly setting a benchmark for the company and China's real estate industry," Mr Yang told BT in an email response. "There was no turning back from there."
It has since developed more than 200 projects across 26 provinces in China, mainly in emerging cities and suburban areas, and was listed in Hong Kong in 2007. As at June 30, it has a land bank with an expected gross floor area of 93.4 million square metres in China, with more than half located in the third and fourth-tier cities.
Though Mr Yang transferred all his holdings in Country Garden in 2007 to his daughter Yang Huiyan, 34, who is the group vice-chairwoman, Mr Yang said he has not decided to retire yet.
Original article was published on The Business Times