First announced in 2006 as a twenty-year investment project mostly financed by a consortium of mainland Chinese private real estate developers, pitched under the Belt and Road Initiative.

The project was not targeted at local Malaysians but rather at upper-middle-class citizens from China who were looking to park their wealth abroad, by offering relatively affordable seafront properties compared to expensive coastal cities within their country such as Shanghai.

[5][6] However, initial strong sales from China collapsed after its leader Xi Jinping implemented currency controls, including a $50,000 annual cap on how much buyers could spend outside the country.

[21][22] Residents from Kampung Tanjung Kupang, a traditional fishing village, complained of reduced catches and other issues to the local and Johor State authorities to no avail.

[19][25][26] Singapore subsequently sent a diplomatic note in May 2014 to the Malaysian Federal government requesting clarification on issues including: potential changes in water current speeds and the subsequent impact on navigational safety; possible erosion that might affect shoreline and Malaysia-Singapore Second Link bridge infrastructure; and changes in water quality and morphology that might affect the coastal and marine environment and local fish farms.

[21] Concerns also remained about the permanent impact on the seagrass, water hydrology, and loss of traditional fishing grounds, which these measures will not fully alleviate.

[20] Fishermen also reported the reduced space for fishing in the Johor Straits due to the land reclamation work had forced them further out into the sea, resulting in occasions where they were accused of crossing the international boundary line with Singapore.

[29][30] While Country Garden employed some locals, most of Forest City's workforce comprised low-wage labourers from South Asia or white-collar workers from China.

[5] In 2018, Mahathir Mohamad, campaigning on a platform which included criticism of Chinese investment and corruption, defeated the incumbent Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak who had originally approved the project, and issued a "ban" on foreigners buying property.

[31] This was subsequently re-structured as changes to the long term visa program in order to mitigate objections and potential legal challenges raised by the developer.