Introduction
Forest City, a project located in Johor, Malaysia, has become a global model of green and intelligent construction. In this post, we will discuss the recent recognition that Forest City received, its sustainability practices and initiatives, its corporate social responsibility programs, and its financial performance.
Forest City’s Recognition
Forest City has won several Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Awards (SCAHSA) for six consecutive years. Its most recent recognition came during the 17th Annual Session of the Global Forum on Human Settlements (GFHS) in 2022, where it won the SCAHSA Global Model of Green and Intelligent Construction award. SCAHSA recognizes excellence in sustainable development practices and innovations and aims to promote exemplary and replicable best practices to inspire and influence more cities, companies, organizations, and individuals to follow suit, thereby helping scale up sustainable development actions.
Sustainability Practices and Initiatives
Forest City’s success in sustainability is due to its commitment to creating a nature-positive city. It integrates nature into the city and living in harmony with nature to improve people’s health and well-being, tackle biodiversity loss, and build climate resilience. To achieve this, Forest City uses green building practices, such as using recycled materials in construction and implementing energy-saving measures. Additionally, it has a wastewater treatment plant that recycles and reuses water for irrigation, flushing, and cooling, and has a solid waste management system to reduce waste sent to landfills.
Corporate Social Responsibility Programs
Apart from its commitment to sustainability, Forest City also has various corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs that benefit the local community. One of these programs is the Iftar Ceremony, where Forest City breaks fast with students from Madrasah Tahfiz Al-Quran Ulumuddin, orphans from welfare homes, and care centers around Johor Bahru. Another CSR program is the bubur lambuk cooking and distributing program held in seven villages around Mukim Tanjung Kupang, Johor.
Financial Performance
Forest City is a project developed by Country Garden Holdings Company Limited, a Hong Kong-based real estate developer. According to Country Garden’s 2021 financial report, the company achieved contracted sales attributable to shareholders of approximately 558 billion yuan (approx. US$87.7 billion) and a compound growth rate of contracted sales reaching 29%. Additionally, the Group booked revenue of 523.06 billion yuan (approx. US$82.2 billion), gross profit of 92.78 billion yuan (approx. US$14.6 billion), and net profit of 40.98 billion yuan (approx. US$6.4 billion) for the full year.
Conclusion
Forest City’s recognition as a global model of green and intelligent construction is a testament to the project’s sustainability practices and initiatives. Forest City’s commitment to sustainability is not only beneficial to the environment, but it also helps improve people’s health and well-being, tackle biodiversity loss, and build climate resilience. Moreover, Forest City’s CSR programs benefit the local community and its financial performance demonstrates its operational resilience.
