Urban wellbeing
At Happy Cities, our research explores how the design of our homes and neighbourhoods can have profound impacts on social connections, resilience, health, belonging, and more. Explore our research reports and design guidelines:
Urban mega-development and eco-cities
My MA thesis explores the sociocultural impacts of new urban mega-developments in Iskandar Malaysia, a Special Economic Zone located across the water from Singapore. Specifically, I examine the sustainability claims of these projects, and how they have evolved from their original master plans in response to local dynamics.
My research is situated within broader global trends including the financialization of housing, speculative urbanism, smart cities, and resulting socio-spatial exclusions. I am interested in understanding how urban mega-development in Iskandar Malaysia stands to impact local residents, and whose priorities are reflected in processes of planning and construction. I also interrogate the discourse of smart urbanism and green development in the region, asking where planners and developers draw their inspiration from and how these discourses construct a particular vision for the future.
This project was funded by graduate awards from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Société et Culture.
Forest City, currently under construction on artificial islands in the Johor Strait, is the largest new city project in Malaysia and one of China's most expensive foreign urban projects. Located just across the water from Singapore, Forest City intends to house 700,000 residents and will cost around $100 billion. (Image: Forest City CGPV)
Publications
Avery, Emma and Moser, Sarah. (2023) ‘Prizes for fantasy: The role of the urban awards industry in validating greenfield eco-cities.’ Cities 140 (September): 104418.
Avery, Emma and Moser, Sarah. (2023) ‘Urban speculation for survival: Adaptations and negotiations in Forest City, Malaysia.’ Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space 41 (2): 221-239.
Moser, Sarah and Emma Avery. (2021) 'The multi-scalar politics of urban greening in Forest City, Malaysia.' Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 60 (May): 1-5.Avery, Emma and Moser, Sarah. (February 14, 2020) Les mégadéveloppements urbains chinois en Malaisie : Une nouvelle forme de colonialisme par la construction? (Chinese urban mega-developments in Malaysia: A new form of colonialism through construction?). l'Asie en 1000 Mots.
Book reviews
Avery, Emma. (2021) 'Exporting urban Korea? Reconsidering the Korean urban development experience'. Urban Geography.