Man explores £80 billion 'ghost city' and makes surprising discovery
A man who explored an £80 billion 'ghost city' made a surprising discovery whilst he was out there.
YouTuber Ben Morris decided to visit a high-tech development in Johor, Malaysia, which was supposed to be a futuristic urban hub with heavy investment from China.
Dubbed 'Forest City', it promised luxury living, modern infrastructure, and an eco-friendly environment.
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However, after the project launched back in 2016, things definitely didn't go to plan.
Partly due to changes in China’s capital controls in 2017, there ended up being a lack of investment from wealthy buyers.
In his YouTube video, Morris explained: "It's speculated, the reasons behind this are down to a few different issues.
"First, a major property crisis in China occurred which not only affected developments in the country, but ones overseas as well.
"This had major repercussions for projects such as Forest City, where developers had run into major cash issues and couldn't finish what they had started.
"And lastly, this city was built to cater to a high ticket Chinese market, where the buyers would own a secondary property abroad.
"However, mid build, the former prime minister of Malaysia imposed restrictions on visas for Chinese buyers in order to avoid it becoming a city built for foreigners.
"With Malaysians already being priced out of buying, this created a huge imbalance of supply against demand for the properties."
These reasons, combined with the high costs involved, are why many units have been left vacant.
That being said, Morris was massively surprised with just how luxurious the properties were.
Whilst being shown around a state-of-the art complex, the content creator said: "This
is your own private floor and entrance, you can even see the bridge from your balcony."
The apartments had tennis courts, swimming pools, gyms and pretty much everything you need.
Nazmi Hanafiah, an IT engineer who moved to Forest City, told the BBC that he left the area after just six months.
"I managed to escape this place," Nazmi, who rented out a one-bedroom flat, said.
"I didn't care about my deposit, I didn't care about the money. I just had to get out.
"I'm getting goosebumps just being back. It's lonely around here - it's just you and your thoughts."
He added: "To be honest, it's creepy. I had high expectations for this place, but it was such a bad experience. There is nothing to do here."
Topics: Travel, World News, YouTube, Weird
Anish Vij