| Project Detail |
Land reclamation along the Malaysian coast
Land reclamation involves creating new land and artificial islands from the sea, often for large-scale construction projects. However, concerns have been raised about the environmental and socio-economic impacts on coastal communities. The EU-funded MaReLand project will investigate the competing discourses of sustainability and cultural heritage related to land reclamation along the Malaysian coast. The project will examine environmental activism and critiques of heritage hierarchies and study urbanisation at sea to enhance understanding of the right to the city/right to the sea. MaReLand will also investigate master plans and compensation policies for yet-to-be-built islands, generating empirical and theoretical knowledge on this topic.
MaReLand is an interdisciplinary project and ethnographic study of land reclamation along the Malaysian littoral. Reclamation is the act of creating new land and artificial islands from the sea. The approach that the state and developers are taking is reminiscent of neo-colonial and neoliberal conceptions of the mare nullius (‘nobody’s sea’), an empty space to be transformed by large-scale construction projects. Many are concerned about the socio-ecological effects for the environment and coastal communities. On the one hand, reclaimed landscapes are being planned for the development of high-tech fantasies of a luxurious lifestyle in a greener and smarter environment. On the other hand, such projects are intended to transform spaces that nevertheless represent enduring heritage such as fisheries, seascapes and biodiversity. Reclaimed landscapes thus emerge as contested spaces where what is not considered heritage becomes attractive for development. MaReLand explores the competing discourses of sustainability and cultural heritage held by a variety of actors. Situated at the intersection of urban anthropology and critical heritage studies, the project will examine two under-researched themes: a) environmental activism and the critique of heritage hierarchies, and b) the study of urbanization at sea. Through ethnographic research in two field sites, interviews and the organization of co-design activities with local stakeholders, the project seeks 1) to advance empirical knowledge on practices related to the right to the city/right to the sea, and the ways environmental activism and discourses on sustainability and heritage conservation unfold on the ground; 2) to advance theoretical knowledge on the masterplans and compensation policies at work around yet-to-be-built-islands; and 3) to develop a Toolkit that disseminates solutions to conflicts over land reclamation, by using ethnographic evidence to reshape policy-oriented practices in land reclamation. |
